Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Brain‐Computer Interfaces With Multi‐Sensory Feedback for Stroke Rehabilitation: A Case Study

Conventional therapies do not provide paralyzed patients with closed-loop sensorimotor integration for motor rehabilitation. This work presents the recoveriX system, a hardware and software platform that combines a motor imagery (MI)-based brain-computer interface (BCI), functional electrical stimulation (FES), and visual feedback technologies for a complete sensorimotor closed-loop therapy system for poststroke rehabilitation. The proposed system was tested on two chronic stroke patients in a clinical environment. The patients were instructed to imagine the movement of either the left or right hand in random order. During these two MI tasks, two types of feedback were provided: a bar extending to the left or right side of a monitor as visual feedback and passive hand opening stimulated from FES as proprioceptive feedback. Both types of feedback relied on the BCI classification result achieved using common spatial patterns and a linear discriminant analysis classifier. After 10 sessions of recoveriX training, one patient partially regained control of wrist extension in her paretic wrist and the other patient increased the range of middle finger movement by 1 cm. A controlled group study is planned with a new version of the recoveriX system, which will have several improvements.
Pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in postmenopausal women with the metabolic syndrome

Background. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (METS) and its components significantly increase after the menopause. Related increased cardiovascular risk may partially be explained by a pro-inflammatory state. Objective. To assess pro-inflammatory cytokine serum levels in postmenopausal women with and without the METS. Methods. Serum of 90 postmenopausal women who previously participated in a METS screening programme was analysed for tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). Cytokine levels were compared among those with and without the syndrome, and for each of its components. Linear relationships were also assessed between cytokine levels and several continuous variables including each diagnostic METS criteria and menopausal symptoms assessed with the Menopause Specific Quality of Life tool (MENQOL). Results. For all studied women mean age was 55.1 ± 7.3 years with 63.3% having abdominal obesity, 15.6% hyperglycaemia, 58.9% high triglycerides, 44.4% hypertension and 25.6% high total cholesterol levels. Women with the METS (n = 45) significantly had higher body mass index values, and higher rates of abdominal obesity, hyperglycaemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension and lower HDL-C levels. Cytokine levels did not differ among women with or without the METS; however, independent of METS diagnosis those with abdominal obesity displayed significantly higher IL-6 levels and those with hypertension higher levels of both cytokines. Levels of both cytokines positively correlated with age and time since menopause, IL-6 positively correlating with waist circumference values and TNF-α positively with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels. A significant positive correlation was also found between the number of positive METS criteria (0–5) and both cytokine levels. Cytokine levels did not correlate with vasomotor and psycho-social MENQOL scores. Conclusion. Pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in this postmenopausal series positively correlated with age, time since the menopause, abdominal circumference, blood pressures levels and the number of positive METS diagnostic criteria. There is a need for more research in this regard.
The Changes in the Scale of Non-observed loan in China from 1978 to 2008

Non-observed loan(NOL) is the outstanding loan formed by informal financing,underground financing and individuals lending and borrowing at a time point.Since it is difficult to get loans from formal financial institutions,farmers,private entrepreneurs and individual economic units mainly depend on informal moneylenders. In this paper,the author measures the scale of NOL from 1978 to 2008 by using the methods of SNA and financial statistics based on the theory of financial and economic development.The author also analyzes the changing trend of NOL and discloses the evaluation characters of credit market and the lacks of small and medium -sized financial institutions that made the informal financing develop quickly in supporting private enterprises and individual economic units financing.Finally,the author suggests pushing the reform of rural financial system and fostering small and medium-sized banks to form a multi-level credit market and strengthen the research on how to account and measure non-observed financing and the financial regulation on informal financial activities.
Multitiered and Distributed WSAN for Cooperative Indoors Environment Management

For the past decade, wireless sensor networks have focused primarily on data collection. As a result the network topology for these systems was usually heavily centralized. However, for these networks to form a full system, the introduction of proper actuation units and decision-making intelligence is inevitable. Such a new wireless sensor and actuator network system enables new architectural research issues that have not been previously studied. In this work, we introduce the DWSAN system architecture, which effectively combines both sensor and actuation hardware devices to a single network and manages this network so that the actuation decisions are made in a distributed manner and the topology of the network maintains a multitier architecture. Our intensive set of evaluations reveal that, compared to the centralized approach that has been used in most wireless sensor network systems until now, when actuation units are introduced to the system, the DWSAN architecture reduces the transmission load of the network and the actuation decision-making latency by close to twofold and threefold, respectively. Furthermore, we show that this benefit naturally leads to better scalability of the system, making it suitable for various sensing applications in different environments.
Information Needs and Information-seeking Behaviors of Men With Prostate Cancer and Their Partners: A Review of the Literature

A critical review of the literature was carried out in the United Kingdom to identify the information needs and information-seeking behaviors of men with prostate cancer and their partners. Relevant papers published between 1990 and 2000 were reviewed and despite having several methodologic limitations, a number of conclusions can still be drawn from this review. First, men with prostate cancer have distinct information needs and information-seeking behaviors throughout their cancer journeys. Although there is considerable variation in the amount and type of information that men require, the majority of men with prostate cancer are satisfied with the information they receive. Second, although partners of men with prostate cancer have needs for information, these needs are often unmet. Partners undergo an information-seeking pattern that is comparable with, if not more active than, patients’ information-seeking behaviors. These findings have a number of implications for cancer nursing practice and research, which are discussed in the article.
Women’s Resources and Use of Strategies as Risk and Protective Factors for Reabuse Over Time

Using a longitudinal and ecological approach, we investigated the relationships between women’s material and emotional resources and strategies and their ability to stay safe over time in a sample of 406 help-seeking African American women. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that social support served as a protective factor and resistance strategies as risk factors for reabuse during a 1-year period. It also showed an interaction between social support and history of violence such that for participants who had experienced the most severe violence, social support did not serve as a protective factor; however, for the other participants, those with the least amount of social support had a 65% predicted probability of reabuse during the next year, compared to a 20% predicted probability for women reporting the highest level of social support. Policy and programmatic implications of these findings are discussed.
Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells mitigate chemotherapy-associated tissue injury in a pre-clinical mouse model.

BACKGROUND AIMS Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been shown to be a promising candidate for tissue regeneration and cancer therapy. However, their therapeutic potential against chemotherapy-induced side-effects remains unclear. METHODS We treated murine Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) and xenograft human colon tumors with adriamycin (ADM) for 3 consecutive days followed by one intravenous (i.v.) injection of human umbilical cord (hUC) MSC for several cycles. RESULTS MSC treatment mitigated ADM-induced cardiomyopathy, reduced the extent of ADM-induced apoptosis in intestinal crypts, suppressed body weight loss in mice treated with ADM and increased the survival rate of mice treated with a lethal dose of ADM. The examination of hematologic parameters indicated a moderate recovery in MSC-injected mice. Systemic administration of MSC did not increase the growth of murine LLC cells and human colon carcinoma in vivo while it strongly inhibited the lung metastases of LLC cells. CONCLUSIONS We evaluated the prophylactic and therapeutic action of hUC MSC on the chemotherapy agent ADM-induced side-effects in two different tumor models. Our observations suggest that MSC can be used as auxiliary means in chemotherapy for certain tumor types.
New perspectives on the definition and the management of severe osteoporosis: the patient with two or more fragility fractures.

BACKGROUND Osteoporosis is the most common skeletal disorder in the elderly, being characterized by impaired bone strength and increased risk of fracture. Severe osteoporosis is currently defined by the threshold of bone density value below the -2.5 SDS of T-score, determined by dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry, and the presence of one or more fragility fractures. This definition does not entirely reflect the spectrum of severity of the disease that provides a variable increase in fracture risk. METHODS This manuscript reports a consensus statement on the diagnostic criteria for severe osteoporosis in real-life clinical setting, achieved in an event held by Italian physicians with expertise in osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases. RESULTS The group stated that a large number of fractures occur in subjects with T-score above -2.5. In light of recent advances on the structural basis of skeletal fragility, it became clear that bone density represents only one of the contributors to bone strength and number and severity of fragility fractures. The group suggests that the condition of two or more fragility fractures should be considered as severe osteoporosis, independently of bone density. CONCLUSIONS The consensus statement proposes a more specific definition of severe osteoporosis, which should consider not only densitometric measurements, but also the number and severity of fragility fractures. Patients' management and choice of treatment should take into consideration the type and severity of osteoporotic fractures, in addition to bone density.
Wear of moderately cross-linked polyethylene in fixed-bearing total knee replacements

Cross-linked polyethylene has been introduced into total joint replacement to improve wear resistance. Although the performance of highly cross-linked polyethylene is well documented clinically and experimentally for total hip replacements, the reduction in mechanical properties with increasing irradiation is of concern for application to total knee replacement. The aim of this study was to investigate the wear performance of a moderately cross-linked polyethylene material in a fixed-bearing total knee replacement. The study was conducted using two femoral geometries, a conventional cruciate-retaining femoral and a high-flexion femoral geometry. The femoral geometry appeared to have no effect on the wear of the knee replacement under standard gait conditions. A significant reduction in wear volume was measured with the moderately cross-linked polyethylene compared with the conventional polyethylene over a six-million-cycle wear study. This study indicates the use of a moderately cross-linked polyethylene in a fixed-bearing total knee replacement may provide a low wearing option for total knee replacement.
Fetal congenital anomalies diagnosed by ultrasound in Asian and non-Asian women

Summary The incidence of congenital heart defects in Asian children is significantly higher than in non-Asian, however little data are available for other anomalies. The Fetal Management Unit at St Mary's Hospital is a tertiary referral centre for prenatal diagnosis in the north-west region. Using data collected after routine prenatal ultrasonography between 1996–2001, we show that in a defined population there was a significant reduction in the incidence of central nervous system (CNS) anomalies over this period but not in other anomalies. Furthermore, fetal congenital anomalies were diagnosed in a higher proportion of Asian than non-Asian women, with CNS, cardiac, bowel, thoracic and facial anomalies and hydrops being statistically significant. Monitoring local trends in a multiethnic community is essential for appropriate counselling, providing parents with an informed choice and in assessing the effectiveness of interventions.
Prospects for fungus identification using CO1 DNA barcodes, with Penicillium as a test case

DNA barcoding systems employ a short, standardized gene region to identify species. A 648-bp segment of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 (CO1) is the core barcode region for animals, but its utility has not been tested in fungi. This study began with an examination of patterns of sequence divergences in this gene region for 38 fungal taxa with full CO1 sequences. Because these results suggested that CO1 could be effective in species recognition, we designed primers for a 545-bp fragment of CO1 and generated sequences for multiple strains from 58 species of Penicillium subgenus Penicillium and 12 allied species. Despite the frequent literature reports of introns in fungal mitochondrial genomes, we detected introns in only 2 of 370 Penicillium strains. Representatives from 38 of 58 species formed cohesive assemblages with distinct CO1 sequences, and all cases of sequence sharing involved known species complexes. CO1 sequence divergences averaged 0.06% within species, less than for internal transcribed spacer nrDNA or β-tubulin sequences (BenA). CO1 divergences between species averaged 5.6%, comparable to internal transcribed spacer, but less than values for BenA (14.4%). Although the latter gene delivered higher taxonomic resolution, the amplification and alignment of CO1 was simpler. The development of a barcoding system for fungi that shares a common gene target with other kingdoms would be a significant advance.
Cell Surface-Associated Elongation Factor Tu Mediates the Attachment of Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC533 (La1) to Human Intestinal Cells and Mucins

ABSTRACT The aim of this work was to identify Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC533 (La1) surface molecules mediating attachment to intestinal epithelial cells and mucins. Incubation of Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells with an L. johnsonii La1 cell wall extract led to the recognition of elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) as a novel La1 adhesin-like factor. The presence of EF-Tu at the surface of La1 was confirmed by analysis of purified outer surface protein extract by immunoblotting experiments, by electron microscopy, and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays of live bacteria. Furthermore, tandem mass spectrometry analysis proved that EF-TU was expressed at the La1 surface as an intact molecule. Using recombinant La1 EF-Tu protein, we were able to determine that its binding to intestinal cells and to mucins is pH dependent. Competition experiments suggested that EF-Tu has an important role in La1 mucin binding capacity. In addition, immunomodulation studies performed on HT29 cells showed that EF-Tu recombinant protein can induce a proinflammatory response in the presence of soluble CD14. Our in vitro results indicate that EF-Tu, through its binding to the intestinal mucosa, might participate in gut homeostasis.
The metabolic, locomotor and sex-dependent effects of elevated temperature on Trinidadian guppies: limited capacity for acclimation

SUMMARY Global warming poses a threat to many ectothermic organisms because of the harmful effects that elevated temperatures can have on resting metabolic rate (RMR) and body size. This study evaluated the thermal sensitivity of Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) by describing the effects of developmental temperature on mass, burst speed and RMR, and investigated whether these tropical fish can developmentally acclimate to their thermal conditions. These traits were measured following exposure to one of three treatments: 70 days at 23, 25, 28 or 30°C (acclimated groups); 6 h at 23, 28 or 30°C following 70 days at 25°C (unacclimated groups); or 6 h at 25°C following 70 days in another 25°C tank (control group). Body mass was lower in warmer temperatures, particularly amongst females and individuals reared at 30°C. The burst speed of fish acclimated to each temperature did not differ and was marginally higher than that of unacclimated fish, indicative of complete compensation. Conversely, acclimated and unacclimated fish did not differ in their RMR at each temperature. Amongst the acclimated groups, RMR was significantly higher at 30°C, indicating that guppies may become thermally limited at this temperature as a result of less energy being available for growth, reproduction and locomotion. Like other tropical ectotherms, guppies appear to be unable to adjust their RMR through physiological acclimation and may consequently be susceptible to rising temperatures. Also, because larger females have higher fecundity, our data suggest that fecundity will be reduced in a warmer climate, potentially decreasing the viability of guppy populations.
A Comparison of Frequency Offset Synchronization Algorithms for WiMAX OFDM Systems

Synchronization of the carrier frequency offset (CFO) is a crucial issue in the implementation of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. Several estimation techniques for frequency offset have been proposed in the literature but varied test conditions make comparison difficult. This paper compares different synchronization algorithms for the wireless communication standard IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) with a QPSK signal constellation in a Rayleigh channel. Furthermore, two of the synchronization techniques compared are novel schemes proposed in this paper. Bit error rate (BER) results of different data-aided and non-data-aided synchronization schemes in frequency and time domain are shown and compared. Acquisition is always based on the properties of the short or long preambles defined in WiMAX. Tracking is based on either the pilot tones included in a WiMAX OFDM symbol, or decision-directed algorithms. Results show that synchronization schemes with decision-directed tracking improve the BER with respect the pilot-aided tracking technique at the cost of increased complexity. Furthermore, non-data-aided synchronization schemes maintain the BER within 10% of the value obtained from an offset free system.
The Rise of Bilateralism: Comparing American, European, and Asian Approaches to Preferential Trade Agreements

As multilateral negotiations become increasingly complex and protracted, preferential trade agreements have become the centrepiece of trade diplomacy, pushing beyond tariffs into deep integration and beyond regionalism into a web of bilateral deals, raising concerns about coercion by bigger players. This study examines American, European and Asian approaches to preferential trade agreements and their effect on trade, investment and economic welfare. It draws on the rich field of theoretical works, but also fills a gap in the literature by examining in detail the actual substance of agreements negotiated and envisaged. With bilateralism in trade driven by foreign policy, environmental and social concerns, as well as market access objectives, the key question today is not preferential agreements or multilateralism, but how the various negotiating forums interact. This volume argues that preferential agreements can complement the multilateral system but only if that system is strong enough to continue to reduce barriers to trade and strengthen rules and so limit the distorting effects of bilateralism.
Predicting and observing responses of algal communities to photosystem ii‐herbicide exposure using pollution‐induced community tolerance and species‐sensitivity distributions

Various test strategies are in use in ecotoxicology to assess the potential risks of toxicants on aquatic communities. The species‐sensitivity distribution concept (SSD) works by arranging single‐species laboratory test data in a cumulative frequency distribution. The pollution‐induced community tolerance concept (PICT) uses observable community responses by measuring increases in community tolerance caused by the replacement of sensitive species after exposure. The aim of this study was to compare these two concepts in assessing the effects of three herbicides. Atrazine, prometryn, and isoproturon were found to increase community tolerance by a factor up to six. Atrazine increased community tolerance only at higher test concentrations (0.125 mg L−1). Species‐sensitivity distributions correspond well to community responses: The median effective concentrations (EC50s) of untreated periphyton communities tested covered 55 to 65% of affected species represented in the SSD. The sensitivities of tolerant algal communities shifted to the right end of the SSDs. In the microcosm experiments, higher test concentrations affected biomass, species numbers, and community structure. Community tolerance could not be induced any further, suggesting that these concentrations represent a maximum of functional redundancy of a functional group. At higher concentrations, even the least‐sensitive species are affected. These results can be interpreted as a confirmation of the SSD concept by observed algal community responses, when applied to photosystem II (PSII)—inhibiting herbicides.
An Ultra Low Voltage Low Power Self Biased Latched Comparator with Wide Input Common Mode Range for Biomedical Applications

This work describes an ultra low voltage, low power and self biased comparator with wide input common-mode range. The proposed comparator consists of a preamplifier followed by a regenerative back-to-back inverter latch, where two push pull NMOS and PMOS pairs are exploited to bias the preamplifier and adjust its output common mode voltage. This leads to a wide input common mode voltage range (from 0 V to 390 mV). Furthermore, the operation of proposed structure is relatively insensitive to process and temperature variations due to the push pull transistors, and low power consumption is achieved through sub-threshold region operation. The comparator circuit is designed using 65-nm CMOS technology with minimum supply voltage of 0.4 V. Simulation results show an average power consumption ranging from 141 nW to 188 nW for different input common mode voltage levels, where a simple power gating technique is employed to further reduce the power consumption. The Monte Carlo simulation shows an average offset of 450 μV with standard deviation of 3.3 mV. In addition, the comparator shows a kickback noise range of 0.3–2.4 mV (with input common mode range from 0 V to 390 mV) and input referred noise of 0.9 mV. The proposed comparator operates up to clock frequency of 1 MHz in most process corners and temperature range of 0–100°C which is suitable for most of the biomedical sensing applications.