Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PHONOCARDIOGRAPHYBASED MITRAL VALVE PROLAPSE DETECTION USING AN ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is the most common valve anomaly and the most frequent cause of isolated mitral insuffi ciency. MVP has a mostly benign course and prognosis in childhood; however, complications, such as severe mitral regurgitation, infectious endocarditis, pulmonary embolism, arrhythmia and sudden death, occur more often in elderly people, demonstrating the need for prompt diagnostics and prevention. Due to its frequent occurrence, failures in diagnosing MVP and the clinical importance of early MVP detection, the aim of this study was to develop an original, non-invasive and easily applicable diagnostic method for MVP detection in children and adolescents by using an artifi cial neural network (ANN). Cardiac sounds were recorded by auscultation using electronic stethoscope in 48 children with MVP, 49 healthy children and 38 children with a pathological heart murmur from atrial septal defect (ASD), ventricular septal defect (VSD), ductus arteriosus persistence (DAP), aortic stenosis (AS), pulmonic stenosis (PS), aortic coarctation (ACo), mitral regurgitation (MR), mitral insuffi ciency (MI) and tricuspid insuffi ciency (TI). In electronic stethoscopes, the sound is archived in the internal memory of the stethoscope and then transmitted to a computer by a transmitter. Basic software for the check-up and sound analysis is provided along with the electronic stethoscopes and provides a phonocardiograph and spectral presentation of auscultative fi ndings. For further qualitative analysis, the digital form (format *. е4k) of the phonocardiogram is transformed into standard *. wav format, which is the fi rst step in the processing of the digital signal for studying and testing with an ANN. Th e obtained precision of MVP classifi cation category was 71.2%. Th ese results may be interesting for the phonocardiograph diagnosis of MVP in children and adolescents.
Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension--not so rare after all.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTPH) is believed to result from single or recurrent pulmonary thromboemboli arising from sites of venous thrombosis. The occurrence of CTPH after a diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism has been considered to be rare. A recent article in the Journal estimated that CTPH occurs in 0.1 to 0.5 percent of cases of acute, nonfatal pulmonary thromboemboli.1 The natural history of pulmonary thromboemboli includes total resolution or resolution with minimal residua and restoration of normal pulmonary hemodynamics within 30 days in more than 90 percent of patients. Repeated catheterization after acute pulmonary embolism has led to the .
Cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis.

We designed a study to assess the specific contribution of cognitive dysfunction to multiple sclerosis patients' problems in daily living. Based on the results of a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery, we classified 100 MS patients as either cognitively intact (N = 52) or cognitively impaired (N = 48). In addition to a neurologic examination, MS patients completed questionnaires on mood and social functioning, underwent a comprehensive in‐home occupational therapy evaluation, and were rated by a close relative or friend regarding specific personality characteristics. While there were no significant differences between the two groups on measures of physical disability and illness duration, patients in the cognitively impaired group were less likely to be working, engaged in fewer social and avocational activities, reported more sexual dysfunction, experienced greater difficulty in performing routine household tasks, and exhibited more psychopathology than cognitively intact patients. These findings suggest that cognitive dysfunction is a major factor in determining the quality of life of patients with MS. NEUROLOGY 1991;41:692‐696
Long-term knowledge acquisition using contextual information in a memory-inspired robot architecture

In this paper, we present a novel cognitive framework allowing a robot to form memories of relevant traits of its perceptions and to recall them when necessary. The framework is based on two main principles: on the one hand, we propose an architecture inspired by current knowledge in human memory organisation; on the other hand, we integrate such an architecture with the notion of context, which is used to modulate the knowledge acquisition process when consolidating memories and forming new ones, as well as with the notion of familiarity, which is employed to retrieve proper memories given relevant cues. Although much research has been carried out, which exploits Machine Learning approaches to provide robots with internal models of their environment (including objects and occurring events therein), we argue that such approaches may not be the right direction to follow if a long-term, continuous knowledge acquisition is to be achieved. As a case study scenario, we focus on both robot–environment and human–robot interaction processes. In case of robot–environment interaction, a robot performs pick and place movements using the objects in the workspace, at the same time observing their displacement on a table in front of it, and progressively forms memories defined as relevant cues (e.g. colour, shape or relative position) in a context-aware fashion. As far as human–robot interaction is concerned, the robot can recall specific snapshots representing past events using both sensory information and contextual cues upon request by humans.
Self-reported password sharing strategies

This paper contributes to the growing body of literature on privacy and security by looking at self-reported password sharing practices. 62 men and 60 women recruited through a combination of snowball sampling and small ads answered a series of open-ended questions about their password sharing strategies. One third of respondants shared their personal email password, and a quarter shared their Facebook password, both primarily with partners and close friends. Approximately 20% of people who had work email passwords reported sharing them with colleagues. These results support understanding password sharing not as a deviant practice to be stamped out, but rather a nuanced practice engaged in with thought and care.
Incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III, and cancer of the cervix uteri following a negative Pap‐smear in an opportunistic screening

BACKGROUND To investigate the influence of screening history on the diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade three (CIN III) and cervical cancer in an opportunistic screening program. DESIGN Follow-up study of women with a negative Pap-smear at entry. MATERIALS Records from 41212 women pertaining to cervical specimens in the Pathology Registry of the University Hospital in Tromsø. RESULTS During the 175,673 person-years (pyr) of observation, 396 incident cases (379 of CIN III and 17 of cervical cancer) were identified. The age specific incidence rate was highest among women who were 25 to 29 years old (396 per 100,000 pyr). A Poisson multiple regression model yielded statistically significant positive associations between time since last negative Pap-smear and the incidence of CIN III and cervical cancer. Most CIN III cases were diagnosed subsequently to a CIN I or CIN II diagnosis. Including only women with a CIN III diagnosis directly after a negative Pap-smear in the analyses revealed that women with less than two years (Relative rate (RR)= 1.O; 95% CI 0.7-1.4) and three years (RR=0.8; 95% CI 0.4-1.4) since their last negative Pap-smear were not at an increased risk compared with the women with a negative Pap-smear within the last year. Women with three or more years since their last negative Pap-smear were at an increased risk (RR=1.3; 95% CI 0.6 3.2) for CIN III. No meaningful association between number of negative specimens and the risk of CIN III was revealed. CONCLUSION This study indicates that time since last negative Pap-smear does, while number of such does not, influence the risk of CIN III and cervical cancer in an opportunistic screening.
Rosiglitazone prevents murine hepatic fibrosis induced by Schistosoma japonicum.

AIM To evaluate the effect of rosiglitazone in a murine model of liver fibrosis induced by Schistosoma japonicum infection. METHODS A total of 50 mice were randomly and averagely divided into groups A, B, C, D and E. The mice in group A served as normal controls, while those in the other four groups were infected with Schistosoma japonicum to induce the model of liver fibrosis. Besides, the mice in groups C, D and E were treated with praziquantel, rosiglitazone and praziquantel plus rosiglitazone, respectively. NF-kappaB binding activity and expression of PPAR gamma-mRNA were determined by Western blot assay and real-time quantitative PCR. Radioimmunonassay technique was used to detect the serum content changes of TNF-alpha and IL-6. Histological specimens were stained with HE. Expression of TGF-beta1, a-smooth muscle actin and type I and type III collagen was detected by immunohistochemistry and multimedia color pathographic analysis system. RESULTS Inflammation and fibrosis in the rosiglitazone plus praziquantel treatment group (group E) were lightest among the mice infected with Schistosoma (P < 0.05). To further explore the mechanism of rosiglitazone action, we found that rosiglitazone can significantly increase the expression of PPAR gamma [E: -18.212 +/- (-3.909) vs B: -27.315 +/- (-6.348) and C: -25.647 +/- (-5.694), P < 0.05], reduce the NF-kappaB binding activity (E: 88.89 +/- 19.34 vs B: 141.11 +/- 15.37, C: 112.89 +/- 20.17 and D: 108.89 +/- 20.47, P < 0.05), and lower the serum level of TNF-alpha (E: 1.613 +/- 0.420 ng/mL vs B: 2.892 +/- 0.587 ng/mL, C: 2.346 +/- 0.371 ng/mL and D: 2.160 +/- 0.395 ng/mL, P < 0.05) and IL-6 (E: 0.106 +/- 0.021 ng/mL vs B: 0.140 +/- 0.031 ng/mL and C: 0.137 +/- 0.027 ng/mL, P < 0.05) in mice with liver fibrosis. Rosiglitazone can also substantially reduce the hepatic expression of TGF-beta1, alpha-SMA type I and type III collagen in mice with liver fibrosis. CONCLUSION The activation of PPAR gamma by its ligand can retard liver fibrosis and suggest the use of rosiglitazone for the treatment of liver fibrosis due to Schistosoma japonicum infection.
Assessing haptic video interaction with neurocognitive tools

Haptic interaction is a form of a user-computer interaction where physical forces are delivered to the user via vibrations, displacements and rotations of special haptic devices. When quality of the experience of the haptic interaction is assessed, mostly subjective tests using various questionnaires are performed. We proposed novel neurocognitive tools for assessing both overall experience of the haptic interaction, as well as particular time-stamped activities. Our assessment tools are based on recognition of emotions and stress obtained from Electroencephalograms (EEG). We used them in a feasibility study on adding haptic interaction to Skype video conversation.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Immunogenicity of therapeutic antibodies

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Implantation of BM cells transfected with phVEGF165 enhances functional improvement of the infarcted heart.

BACKGROUND Experimental data have suggested that BM-cell implantation can improve infarcted cardiac function. However, the number of implanted cells that survive is still unknown. The present study was performed to investigate whether implantation of autologous BM mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) transfected with phVEGF165 can increase the number of surviving implanted cells, and enhance functional improvement of infarcted hearts in rabbits. METHODS Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in rabbits was replicated by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery, and animals were randomly divided into the following three groups: I AMI control group (n=7); II BM-MNCs transfected with phVEGF165 implantation group (n=7); III BM-MNCs implantation group (n=7). In addition, sham-operated (n=5) rabbits were randomly selected to serve as a non-infarction control group (VI). Animals for cell implantation received intramyocardial injections of autologous BM-MNCs 14 days after AMI. Echocardiography and hemodynamic studies were performed to evaluate cardiac structure and function 28 days after implantation. The implanted sites were examined using immunofluorescence to identify the phenotypes and number of the labelled cells. Reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR and Western blot analysis were performed to detect the expression of hVEGF165 gene and VEGF165 protein respectively. RESULTS Failed cardiac function produced by AMI was significantly improved in Groups II and III 28 days after cell implantation. BM-MNCs transfected with phVEGF165 implantation conferred a further improvement of cardiac function, with significant changes of all assessed parameters when compared with BM-MNCs implantation alone (all P<0.05). The implanted cells demonstrated myogenic differentiation with the expression of Troponin T and organized contractile proteins. The positive staining for Factor VIII-related Ag indicated the induction of angiogenesis in the infarct area. The percentage of Brdu-positive myocyte, endothelial cells was 75+/-%, 34.1+/-4.6% in Group II, significantly higher than that in Group III(51+/-7%, 11.3+/-2.5% respectively, P<0.05). RT-PCR analysis demonstrated exclusive expression of hVEGF165 gene in Group II, and Western blot showed the expression of VEGF165 protein was significantly higher in Group II than in Group III (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Implantation of BM-MNCs transfected with phVEGF165 can increase the number of implanted cells surviving, and enhance the impaired cardiac function after AMI.
Analysis of interactions between high voltage direct current lines based on time-delay margin

The number of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) links connected to the system is growing rapidly in Europe. These active devices may interact with each other through the network and impact the system stability. In this paper, a method is proposed to study HVDC high level interactions based on the time-delay margin. First, the method is described for one HVDC link connected to two infinite nodes using a linear model. Both analytical analysis and software-based computation are performed to determine the time delay margin. Second, these results are validated through nonlinear time-domain simulations. Third, the proposed method is applied to a system with two HVDC links connected through an AC line. Finally, the impact of the network and control system parameters on the time-delay margin enables us to analyze their influence on the small-signal stability of the studied system. Simulation results show that the stability is deteriorated when HVDC links are closely connected in a low-SCL network.
Involvement of CNS cholinergic systems in alcohol drinking of P rats

Abstract Experiments were undertaken to determine if CNS muscarinic‐ and nicotinic‐cholinergic receptors are involved in regulating alcohol drinking of rats from the selectively‐bred alcohol‐preferring P line. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) drug infusions were administered into the lateral ventricle of female P rats 15 minutes before ethanol access. The muscarinic antagonists pirenzepine and scopolamine were tested on limited access (4 hours/day) to a 10% (v/v) ethanol solution. Food and water were available ad libitum. Nicotine and the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine were tested on limited access (4 hours/day) to 10% (v/v) ethanol and 0.0125% saccharin solutions. Food was available ad libitum and water was available during the remaining 20 hours. The baseline ethanol intakes ranged between an average of 3.0 ± 0.3 g/kg/4 hours and 3.4 ± 0.3 g/kg/4 hours. Administration of 40‐100 m g pirenzepine (M1‐selective antagonist) had no effect on ethanol, food or water consumption. However, 20‐80 m g scopolamine, a non‐selective muscarinic antagonist, dosedependently decreased ethanol intake as much as 60% (p < 0.05) without altering food or water consumption. The nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine (20‐120 m g) did not alter ethanol intake, but nicotine (40‐80 m g) dose‐dependently decreased ethanol drinking as much as 60% within the first 30 minutes (p < 0.05) without an effect on saccharin intake. The results suggest that: (a), muscarinic receptors, with the possible exception of the M1 subtype, are involved in regulating alcohol drinking and (b), activation of nicotinic receptors can reduce alcohol drinking of the P line of rats.
Specificity and degeneracy in antigen recognition: yin and yang in the immune system.

One of the hallmarks of the immune system is specificity, a concept based on innumerable observations that antibodies react with the substance that elicited their production and only a few other structurally similar substances. The study of T cells has begun to suggest, however, that in responses mediated by their antibody-like receptors (T cell receptor or TCR) an individual T cell, expressing a singular TCR, can discriminate as exquisitely among antigens as the most specific antibodies but also exhibit "degeneracy": i.e., it can react with many disparate antigens (peptide-MHC complexes). An explanation for this duality (specificity and degeneracy) can be found in (i) the powerful amplifying signal transduction cascades that allow a T cell to respond to the stable engagement of very few TCR molecules, initially perhaps only one or two out of around 100,000 per cell, by their natural ligands (peptide-MHC complexes or epitopes on antigen-presenting cells--or APC) and (ii) the inverse relationship between TCR affinity for epitopes and epitope density (the number of copies of an epitope per APC). Older observations on the excess of total globulin production over specific antibody production in response to conventional immunization procedures suggest that B cells also exhibit degeneracy, as well as specificity. These views are developed against a backdrop describing how the author became interested in the immune system and has pursued that interest. ". a concept of science drawn from . is [textbooks]. is no more likely to fit the enterprise that produced them than an image of a national culture drawn from a tourist brochure. " Thomas Kuhn, Structure Of Scientific Revolutions
Airborne satellite antenna steering and mounting systems

This paper describes the steering and mount systems of Airborne Satellite Antenna (ASA) as a most important and sensitive part of both Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Communication (AMSA) and Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Broadcasting (AMSB) systems. In general, most of ASA solutions are small and easy to install onboard aircraft such as Low Gain Antenna (LGA). However, in particular, some of ASA systems are quite complex, relatively large and heavy, especially airborne High Gain Antenna (HGA) for Aircraft Earth Stations (AES), such as Inmarsat-H, High Speed Data (HSD), Swift64, SwiftBroadband and Digital Video Broadcasting-Return Channel via Satellite (DVB-RCS) antennas, so they need sophisticated steering and mounting systems. Over the past decade are developed the steering ASA broadband system, which main components are reduced considerably in both physical size and weight. These reductions are presented in this research that brings greater Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) from satellite transponders coupled with GaAs-FET technology at the front end the satellite receiver. In this paper are also introduced existing types of mechanical, electrical, combined and other mount systems of ASA steering system. The ASA has to be always pointed towards the satellite in spite of aircraft motions. At this point, the mount airborne satellite system as one of the main requirements in designing the mobile satellite antenna systems from the technical and rational viewpoints is discussed.
MATERNAL EFFECTS ON OFFSPRING SIZE: VARIATION THROUGH EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF CHINOOK SALMON

We performed two breeding experiments with chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) to explore maternal effects on offspring size. We estimated the magnitude of maternal effects as the differences between sire‐offspring and dam‐offspring regression slopes. Early in life, offspring size is largely influenced by maternal size, but this influence decreases through early development, with the maternal effect becoming negative at intermediate offspring ages (corresponding to a period of reduced growth of progeny hatching from large eggs) and converging on zero as offspring age. Also, egg size was positively correlated with early survival, but negatively correlated with maternal fecundity.
Journal Article Reviews

Barbaresi WJ, Colligan RC, Weaver AL, et al. Mortality, ADHD, and psychosocial adversity in adults with childhood ADHD: A prospective study. Pediatrics. 2013;131:637–644. The long-term outcomes of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were examined using a population-based sample of adult subjects with a history of childhood ADHD. Childhood ADHD cases and controls from the 1976–1982 Rochester, MN, birth cohort participated in this prospective follow-up study. Of the 379 subjects originally identified as having childhood ADHD, 367 cases were identified as eligible for the prospective study and 232 (63%) participated, with 355 non-ADHD controls recruited from the same birth cohort. The mean age of study participants was 27 years. No differences were found for overall survival rate or cause-specific mortality for accidents between childhood ADHD cases and controls; however, the cause-specific mortality for suicide was significantly higher among child ADHD cases than among controls (standardized mortality ratio, 4.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14–20.46; p 5 .032). The presence of adult ADHD that was associated with other psychiatric disorders was assessed using ADHD symptoms greater than 2 standard deviations above those endorsed by the non-ADHD control group and results of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). When examining persistence of ADHD in adulthood, 29% of the original ADHD cases met the study criteria for adult ADHD, with no differences between males and females. Adults with persistent ADHD were more likely to have $1 comorbid psychiatric disorder (57% vs 35%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.8–3.8). The most common comorbid psychiatric disorders were alcohol dependence/abuse (26%), antisocial personality disorder (16.8%), and other substance dependence/ abuse (16.4%). A.L.