Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Common Cognitive Profile in Elderly Fallers and in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: The Prominence of Impaired Executive Function and Attention

The present study examined the cognitive profile of elderly fallers relative to healthy elderly controls and patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), a positive-control group, using a computerized battery. Fallers performed more poorly than controls on executive function, attention, and motor skills, but performed comparably on memory, information processing and the Mini-Mental State Examination. A similar profile was evident for PD patients. However, unlike PD patients, fallers were abnormally inconsistent in their reaction times. These findings indicate that elderly fallers may have a unique cognitive processing deficit (i.e., variability of response timing) and underscore the importance of executive function and attention as potential targets for fall risk screening and interventions.
Decompositions and Extremal Type II Codes over Z4

In previous work by Huffman and by Yorgov (1983), a decomposition theory of self-dual linear codes C over a finite field F/sub q/ was given when C has a permutation automorphism of prime order r relatively prime to q. We extend these results to linear codes over the Galois ring Z/sub 4/ and apply the theory to Z/sub 4/-codes of length 24. In particular we obtain 42 inequivalent [24,12] Z/sub 4/-codes of minimum Euclidean weight 16 which lead to 42 constructions of the Leech lattice.
Periareolar Reduction Mammaplasty

This paper examines the technique of periareolar reduction mammaplasty. Periareolar reduction mammaplasty is a less aggressive procedure than traditional techniques. It preserves a greater number of central glandular lobules, as well as the papillary artery and nerve. It can be performed under local anesthesia, and the area to be anesthetized is smaller because the amount of breast tissue to be resected is reduced. The sutures required number less than a third of those used for conventional techniques, and operative time is shorter. The greatest advantage is the inconspicuous periareolar scar left, combined with an acceptable result for both surgeon and patient.
A systematic review of the effectiveness of delegation interventions by the registered nurse to the unlicensed assistive personnel and their impact on quality of care, patient satisfaction, and RN staff satisfaction.

Review questions/objectives The objective of this systematic review is to synthesise the best available evidence on the impact of the effectiveness of delegation interventions by the registered nurse (RN) to the unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) and their impact on quality of care, patient satisfaction, and RN staff satisfaction. Inclusion criteria Types of participants The review will consider studies that include RNs and unlicensed assistive personnel in any patient care setting where delegation by the RN to the UAP occurs. For the purposes of this systematic review we will use the following definitions: Registered nurse: A person that has graduated from a nursing program and has been licensed to practice. Unlicensed assistive personnel: Persons that are in a position to assist the RN under the registered nurse’s direct supervision. Activities are generally restricted to patient care activities delegated to them by the RN based on the nursing process. Types of interventions This review will consider studies that evaluate the effectiveness of delegation interventions by the RN to the UAP and their impact on quality of care, patient satisfaction, and RN staff satisfaction. For the purposes of this systematic review we will use the following definition: RN-UAP delegation: “Entrusting the performance of a selected nursing task to an individual who is qualified, competent, and able to perform such tasks. The nurse retains the accountability for the total nursing care of the individual”. Comparator The comparator is to that of usual nursing cares delivery. Types of outcomes The outcomes to be examined are quality of care, patient satisfaction, and RN staff satisfaction measured by validated and reliable tools. Validated and reliable measurement tools are considered measurement tools that have been previously tested and found to have acceptable psychometric properties. TRUNCATED AT 350 WORDS
Linking strategic information systems concepts to practice: systems integration at the portfolio level

Surveys during the past two decades have consistently shown that many of the most critical management concerns with information systems arise at the portfolio, rather than application, level. Architecture-driven planning with a view to the implementation of integrated information systems structures has been widely canvassed as a means of dealing with portfolio-level issues, particularly the problems of inconsistent data and uncoordinated processes which have affected many organizations in recent years. The benefits anticipated from this type of initiative have been such that many organizations have persisted with architecture-based strategies despite reports of high failure rates. This paper reports on some research into IS integration planning in the organization Telstra (formerly Telecom Australia)) during a period of 40 years. The research was conducted as an interpretive case study, with practitioners' assessments and perspectives on IS planning being incorporated in the data analysis. The focus of the study was on four critical assumptions, which were identified during an initial review of the theoretical literature as having to hold true for an organization to expect success with this form of planning. The study revealed that none of these assumptions held reliably throughout the period studied, a point fundamental to understanding why relatively little progress was made towards published integration targets. The paper then canvasses the view that though traditionally understood as blueprints for implementation, information systems architectures could be reconceptualized as knowledge assets, with independent value as sources of core planning concepts. The conclusion drawn is that their use in this type of role could facilitate the achievement of many, if not all, of the benefits anticipated from more comprehensive approaches.
Morphometric analysis of mice uteri treated with the preservatives methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butylparaben

The alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) known as parabens (Pbens) are widely used as preservatives in food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Several in vivo and in vitro studies have shown these compounds to be estrogenic. Here, for the first time, we present evidence of their estrogenicity using a morphometric analysis of uteri from mice treated with the preservatives methylparaben (MePben), ethylparaben (EtPben), propylparaben (PrPben), and butylparaben (BuPben) compared with estradiol (E2). Different groups of adult ovariectomized (Ovx) CD1 mice were subcutaneously (sc) treated daily for three days with two different equimolar doses (362 and 1086 mmol/kg) of the Pbens: MePben (55 and 165 mg/kg), EtPben (60 and 180 mg/kg), PrPben (65 and 195 mg/kg), BuPben (70 and 210 mg/kg), E2 (10 mg/kg; 0.036 mmol/kg), and vehicle (propyleneglycol; V, 10 mL/kg). On the fourth day, uteri were dissected, blotted, weighed, and placed in a fixative solution for 24 h. The paraffin embeded uteri were cut to obtain 7 mm thick transversal sections. Luminal epithelium heights (LEH), glandular epithelium heights (GEH), and myometrium widths (MW) were measured. The highest Pbens dose was able to produce uterotrophic effects (38 to 76%) compared to E2 efects (100%). The relative uterotrophic potency to E2 (100) was from 0.02 to 0.009. Significant increases (P <0.05) in LEH, GEH, and MW as compared with V were obtained: LEH from 87 to 113% (E2 153%), GEH from 10 to 40% (E2 60%), and MW from 35 to 43% (E2 88%). These results confirm that Pbens at the doses assayed here induce estrogenic histological changes in the uteri of Ovx mice.
Conformational energy map of a dipeptide unit in relation to infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance data.

The variation of energy of the conformation of a dipeptide unit with the dihedral angles \phi and \psi is a fundamental aspect, which is of great importance to the study of protein structure. Good reviews are available dealing with the energy changes associated with the variation of different parameters such as bond lengths, bond angles, dihedral angles etc. Also recently, attempts have been made to obtain satifactory expression for hydrogen bond energy as a function of the parameters relating to it . Although various results of interest in relation to the conformation of polypeptides and proteins have been worked out from such theory, the theoretical results have not been dirertly tested in many cases in relation to available data from physicochemical studies on a dipeptide unit, or fragments of simple compounds which sufficiently approximate to it. The purpose of this prelimiiiary note is to point out the possibility of making such tests and to indicate some results which show reasonable agreement with data obtained from infrared arid NMR studies.
An Unscented Kalman Filter for the estimation of circuit nonidealities with implicit decimation in continuous-time multibit Sigma-Delta modulators

Circuit imperfections such as non-ideal opamp behaviour and coefficient mismatch are known to drastically reduce the performance of continuous-time delta-sigma modulators. In this paper, we present a possibility for the online estimation and background correction of these non-idealities based on an Unscented Kalman Filter. In order to reduce the overhead of the additional hardware for the estimator, with a minor modification the proposed method also allows for the decimation process to be simultaneously performed. Thus, the overall efficiency is increased since an explicit decimation filter is not needed. Simulation results concerning filter coefficient mismatch prove on the proposed method, while almost all non-idealities which can be corrected in the digital or analog domain might be addressable with this estimation technique.
Prosodic variation across sampling tasks in normal and dysarthric speakers

Speech assessments are commonly based on structured elicitation tasks. Despite the value of these tasks, the extent to which their results are a valid reflection of natural speech performance is being increasingly questioned. This is particularly warranted in the light of research findings indicating significant differences in normal speech behaviour across sampling tasks. There is, however, a paucity of research into how disordered speakers' performance varies across elicitation tasks. This study investigated ten prosodic parameters in structured and unstructured speech tasks (reading and conversation) in 12 dysarthric and 12 control subjects. The results suggest that the nature of sampling task affected dysarthric speakers differently to the control group. The implications of these findings for the assessment of disordered speakers are addressed.
Role of Nose in Sleep-Disordered Breathing

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) includes a wide range of breathing difficulties during sleep from primary snoring to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and its estimated prevalence is from 0.9% to 13% in children.1 Repeated partial (flow limitation, hypopnea) or complete (apnea) airway obstruction and increased respiratory effort are usually observed in subjects with SDB and these disrupted breathing cause adverse effects on body, growth, academic performance, et al. The prevalence of habitual snoring (mild form of SDB) has been reported to be 3 to 6 times higher than that of OSA. Although habitual snoring does not always imply the presence of OSA, habitual snoring itself is also related to a variety of adverse effects on children.2 Therefore, it can be said that undisrupted breathing during sleep is very essential for physical and mental health in children and any factors to negatively affect sleep can be negative factors of physical and mental health in children. Unfortunately, to date, the exact pathophysiology and mechanisms of SDB have not been completely understood and the role of nose in SDB has been much less understood. The nose accounts for more than 50% of the total resistance of the upper airway and nasal breathing serves important physiological functions, including humidification, heating and filtration.3-6 In addition to physiologic role of nose, it must be noted that normal respiratory route during sleep is nose and mouth breathing by nasal obstruction can make mandible, hyoid bone downward and backward and finally upper airway narrowed. Therefore, any conditions to affect normal respiratory route during sleep (nasal breathing) can make breathing during sleep difficult and strenuous, and finally have negative effects on sleep and daily life. Although our understanding of sleep physiology and the effects of nasal and oral breathing on sleep apneas and total airway resistance has progressed over the last decade, the results of previous studies have been inconsistent. This review highlights the role of nose on physiology of sleep, sleep apnea and SDB. Received: September 16, 2014 Revised: October 13, 2014 Accepted: October 21, 2014 Correspondence Chan-Soon Park, MD, PhD Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, St. Vincent’s Hopital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 93 Jungbu-daero, Paldal-gu, Suwon 442-723, Korea Tel +82-31-249-8304 Fax +82-31-248-5520 E-mail pcs0112@catholic.ac. kr Role of Nose in Sleep-Disordered Breathing
Monolithic Integrated Silicon Polarization-Independent Tunable Filter Circuit With Germanium p-i-n Photodetector

We report the design, fabrication, and characterization of a monolithic integrated silicon polarization-independent optical tunable filter circuit with germanium p-i-n photodetector (PD). We demonstrate polarization transparent filter characteristics with an extinction ratio of ~22 dB, and a 3-dB bandwidth of 0.33 nm. The tuning range of the filter is ~11.5 nm. The measured fiber-to-PD responsivity of the photonic integrated circuit is ~0.10 A/W at a reverse bias of 5 V.
Index model for image retrieval using SIFT distortion

An image index model had been proposed that uses the distortion produced by using vector quantisation (VQ) on block vectors of the image to index the image database. In this paper, the novel SIFT distortion (SD) is used as a similarity measure to enable faster retrieval of images from the index model. Each image is represented as a single distortion value. The SD value is compared with various other similarity measures. The results show higher precision for the SD values for the same recall. SD is scale invariant and hence has higher mean average precision for the retrieval of similar images.
The trajectory of minor stroke recovery for men and their female spousal caregivers: literature review.

AIM This paper is a report of a narrative review to examine the current state of knowledge regarding the impact of minor stroke on male patients and their female spousal caregivers' recovery trajectory and quality of life. BACKGROUND Minor stroke survivors are often discharged early in the recovery process. The perception of the healthcare community that these patients and their female spousal caregivers will experience an uneventful recovery may lead to inadequate preparation for the postdischarge period. METHODS A range of databases was searched to identify papers addressing 'minor stroke', 'transitions', 'quality of life', 'chronic disease', 'caregivers' and 'spouse caregivers', including AARP Ageline, AMED, CINAHL, Evidence Based Medicine Reviews, MEDLINE and PsychInfo. Papers published in English from 1990 to December 2006 were included. Thirty-four papers were in the final data set. RESULTS Minor stroke survivors and their female spousal caregivers may experience major challenges in adaptations postdischarge. The trajectory of minor stroke recovery may necessitate a re-evaluation of life plans, rethinking of priorities and integration of resulting disabilities into current and emerging life situations for both stroke survivors and their female spousal caregivers. In many cases these adaptations are compounded by transitions associated with the normal ageing process. CONCLUSION While there is extensive literature on stroke recovery and the role of caregivers in general, there is little available describing the recovery of minor stroke survivors in relation to the normal ageing process. Further research is needed examining recovery from a transitional perspective, to support nurses and other health professionals discharge planning.
TARGET TRACKING BASED ON A MULTI-SENSOR COVARIANCE INTERSECTION FUSION KALMAN FILTER

In a multi-sensor target tracking system, the correlation of the sensors is unknown, and the cross-covariance between the local sensors can not be calculated. To solve the problem, the multi-sensor covariance intersection fusion steady-state Kalman filter is proposed. The advantage of the proposed method is that the identification and computation of cross-covariance is avoided, thus the computational burden is significantly reduced. The new algorithm gives an upper bound of the covariance intersection fused variance matrix based on the convex combination of local estimations, therefore, ensures the convergence of the fusion filter. The accuracy of the covariance intersection (CI) fusion filter is lower than and close to that of the optimal distributed fusion steady-state Kalman filter, and is far higher than that of each local estimator. A numerical example shows that the covariance intersection fusion Kalman filter has enough fused accuracy without computing the cross-covariance.
Laser surgery as a treatment for histologically confirmed sarcoids in the horse.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY Laser resection for the treatment of sarcoids is an established part of equine practice; however, few studies have provided long-term follow-up results. Additionally, many previous reports have evaluated several treatments concurrently or have not been able to provide a definitive histological diagnosis of sarcoid. OBJECTIVES To establish the success rate following laser resection as a sole treatment for histologically confirmed sarcoids and evaluate risk factors for recurrence. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective time-to-event analysis. METHODS Horses included had laser surgery to remove at least one sarcoid between 1 July 2005 and 1 September 2012. No previous known/concurrent veterinary treatment was administered. Diagnosis was confirmed by histology in all cases. Clinical data were retrieved from the hospital database. Follow-up information was obtained by telephone questionnaire. RESULTS Ninety-nine horses, with a total of 235 sarcoids, were included in the analysis; 82 (83%) had no recurrence of the sarcoid removed and 71 (72%) had no occurrence of any sarcoids following surgery. Horses with sarcoids on the head and neck and those with verrucose sarcoids were at increased risk of recurrence (hazard ratios of 1.61 and 4.03, and 95% confidence intervals of 1.02-2.56 and 1.11-14.7, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Laser resection of sarcoids in the horse has a positive post operative prognosis. Further work is required to fully evaluate risk factors for recurrence fully.
Determinants of Eligibility and Use of Ehealth for Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients: Preliminary Results

To foster implementation of eHealth in care practice, it is important to gain insight into the factors that influence acceptance. The aim of this study was to identify determinants of eligibility and use for completing an electronic needs assessment for cardiac rehabilitation. We analysed the influence of age, gender, diagnosis, health literacy, quality of life scores, and depression and anxiety scores. Among 240 patients entering CR in two clinics, 101 patients were deemed eligible to use the system by their CR professional, of which 75 (74.2%) actually used it. Only 50% of the patients who had an acute coronary syndrome and 20% of the patients with chronic heart failure were deemed eligible. Furthermore, there was a decreasing trend towards usage in female patients, patients with symptoms of anxiety, and patients with a better quality of life. In the future we will continue to explore barriers and success factors as experienced by the patients and the participating clinics to optimize the system.
Fast noise prediction for process optimization using only standard DC and S-parameter measurements

This paper presents a method to select, amongst a series of devices differing on their process, the best device in terms of high-frequency noise characteristics, only from standard DC and S-parameter measurements and without the need of noise measurements. The method is developed and tested using synthetic input data and noise data generated with the MEXTRAM compact model and validated against on-wafer noise measurements on a series of devices with different process variations. A very simple equivalent circuit, with base, emitter and collector resistances as the only external components, is shown to be sufficient to rightfully sort devices in terms of their high-frequency noise performance. This allows to fully automate noise prediction procedure based on standard DC and S-parameter measurements without the need of manual data manipulation.
Complex musical hallucinosis in a professional musician with a left subcortical haemorrhage

Auditory hallucinosis consists of abnormal acoustic perceptions that occur in the absence of a corresponding acoustic stimulus while the patient is aware of their non-real nature.1 Musical hallucinosis represents a particular type of acoustic hallucinosis, in which the acoustic perception is formed by music, sounds, or songs. It is frequent in psychiatric diseases and is sometimes reported in sensory neural deafness, but rarely after stroke.1 2 We describe a case of musical hallucinosis in a professional musician with a left subcortical haemorrhagic lesion, presumably caused by a cavernous angioma. A 35 year old, right handed man was referred to our inpatient department in July 1999 7 days after the onset of a slight clumsiness of his right hand followed by complex acoustic perceptions. The patient had attended a symphonic concert where an orchestral transcription of Wagner's “Siegfried” was played: the patient is a connoisseur of music and a composer. When he returned home, about 1 hour later, his musical hallucinosis started. Auditory perceptions were described by the patient as a symphonic piece of music performed by an orchestra with numerous kettledrums and percussion instruments. It was a rather familiar music, unknown to him, but similar to what he had heard during the concert. The theme was played in a minor tonality with frequent use of drums and other percussion instruments interspersed with string instruments. A chorus played by string instruments accompanied the theme. …
Design of Wireless Communication System Applied for Power Lines Field Operations

With the concept of smart grid appear, the power grid is strengthening their own grid monitoring maintenance gradually by technology, specially to its built on overhead transmission line's construction, maintenance and monitoring. Because the working places are usually in the wild and remote areas, so how to keep the communication link unobstructed, and how to keep a real-time communication between the job site with the background information communication command center is the urgent problem for the electrical power system. This paper presents a new wireless communication platform, applying wireless IP digit spread spectrum wireless network combined with 3G wireless public network, this kind of design can provide a wireless communication platform for the electric power field, with the characteristics of high transmission rate, unaffected by topography influence, simple erected and low cost. It can solve the problem of communications disconnected in fieldwork thoroughly.