Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current Predictors of Atrial Fibrillation Progression

Aim. To identify predictors of progression of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with hypertension (HT), coronary heart disease (CHD) and chronic heart failure (CHF) with recurrent AF. Material and methods . The study included 31 2 patients with recurrent AF. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to a leading underlying condition: essential HT (n=1 36), CHD (n=11 2), and CHF with III-IV functional class by NYHA (n=64). The average follow-up duration was 60±3 months. Progression of AF was defined as development of long-standing persistent or permanent AF. Results. All three groups of patients with recurrent AF revealed progression of the arrhythmia from paroxysmal or persistent to a sustained permanent form during the 5-year prospective follow-up. The rate of AF progression in the patients with CHF was significantly higher and accounted for 59% as compared to 46% in the patients with hypertension (p=0.002) and 51% in the patients with CHD (p=0.008). AF progression in patients with HT correlated significantly with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (odds ratio [OR] 1.25; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.03-1.52) and increased arterial wall stiffness (OR 2.3; 95%CI 1.95-2.65). The independent predictors of arrhythmia progression in patients with CHD were a history of myocardial infarction (OR 1.23; 95%CI 0.9-1.5), irreversible LV wall motion abnormalities (OR 1.41; 95%CI 1.1-1.7), and increased plasma level of N-terminal pro-A-type natriuretic peptide (Nt-proANP; OR 1.16; 95%CI 0.8-1.4). Reduction in LV ejection fraction below 40% (OR 0.84; 95%CI 0.7-0.89) and increased plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (Nt-proBNP; OR 2.3; 95%CI 1.93-2.67) were independent predictors of AF progression from persistent to permanent form in the patients with systolic heart failure. Conclusion. Progression of AF is related to the underlying cardiovascular disease. The early vascular aging syndrome and LV hypertrophy are the main factors of AF progression in patients with HT. Previous myocardial infarction with irreversible hypokinesia is associated with AF progression in patients with CHD. Reduced LV ejection fraction and increased plasma BNP predict AF progression in patients with CHF.
Reflex regulation of airway sympathetic nerves in guinea‐pigs

Sympathetic nerves innervate the airways of most species but their reflex regulation has been essentially unstudied. Here we demonstrate sympathetic nerve‐mediated reflex relaxation of airway smooth muscle measured in situ in the guinea‐pig trachea. Retrograde tracing, immunohistochemistry and electrophysiological analysis identified a population of substance P‐containing capsaicin‐sensitive spinal afferent neurones in the upper thoracic (T1–T4) dorsal root ganglia (DRG) that innervate the airways and lung. After bilateral vagotomy, atropine pretreatment and precontraction of the trachealis with histamine, nebulized capsaicin (10–60 μm) evoked a 63 ± 7% reversal of the histamine‐induced contraction of the trachealis. Either the β‐adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol (2 μm, administered directly to the trachea) or bilateral sympathetic nerve denervation of the trachea essentially abolished these reflexes (10 ± 9% and 6 ± 4% relaxations, respectively), suggesting that they were mediated primarily, if not exclusively, by sympathetic adrenergic nerve activation. Cutting the upper thoracic dorsal roots carrying the central processes of airway spinal afferents also markedly blocked the relaxations (9 ± 5% relaxation). Comparable inhibitory effects were observed following intravenous pretreatment with neurokinin receptor antagonists (3 ± 7% relaxations). These reflexes were not accompanied by consistent changes in heart rate or blood pressure. By contrast, stimulating the rostral cut ends of the cervical vagus nerves also evoked a sympathetic adrenergic nerve‐mediated relaxation that were accompanied by marked alterations in blood pressure. The results indicate that the capsaicin‐induced reflex‐mediated relaxation of airway smooth muscle following vagotomy is mediated by sequential activation of tachykinin‐containing spinal afferent and sympathetic efferent nerves innervating airways. This sympathetic nerve‐mediated response may serve to oppose airway contraction induced by parasympathetic nerve activation in the airways.
Introduction to the special section on child and adolescent psychotherapy research

Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK; Psychology Department, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Department of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; School of Social Work Mount Scopus Campus Jerusalem, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel & Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Factors Influencing Implementation of Smoking Cessation Treatment Within Community Mental Health Centers

Objective: Consumers with serious mental illness smoke more and are at higher risk for smoking-related illness. We examined provider and consumer factors influencing the implementation of the evidence-based “5 A's” (ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange) in six community mental health centers in greater Baltimore. Methods: Data collected as part of a larger study examining the effectiveness of delivery of the 5 A's at patient visits. First, we examined responses to a survey administered to 49 clinicians on barriers and attitudes toward delivering the 5 A's. Second, we used multilevel models to examine variance between patients (n = 228), patient factors, and variance between their psychiatrists (n = 28) in the delivery of the 5 A's (and first 3 A's). Results: The most strongly endorsed barrier was perceived lack of patient interest in smoking cessation. Psychiatrists and patients both accounted for significant variance in the delivery of the 5 A's and 3 A's. Patient “readiness to change” predicted delivery of the full 5 A's, while smoking severity predicted delivery of the first 3 A's. Conclusions: There is a critical need for creative and collaborative solutions, policies, and clinician training to address actual and perceived obstacles to the delivery of evidence-based smoking cessation treatment in the mental health care setting.
RECENT STUDIES ON THE MOUSE MAMMARY TUMOR AGENT

it was demonstrated that the MTA could be administered in extracts of either normal or cancerous tissues from infected mice1216-20 including seminal vesicles2' and cauda epididymidis.22 During the past ten years various workers have found that, in certain matings, when agent-free females of some inbred strains, either susceptible or relatively resistant to the development of spontaneous mammary cancer, were mated with males of cancerous strains, a relatively high incidence of mammary cancer might be observed in the progeny, especially in those born in the later litters. It has been accepted that the development of these tumors was dependent upon the transfer of the agent by the male, first infecting the mother, who then transferred the MTA to her offspring in her
The Effect of Monitoring

Background: The impact of surveying on individuals’ behavior and decision making has been widely studied in academic literature on market research but not so much the impact of monitoring on economic development interventions. Objectives: To estimate whether different monitoring strategies lead to improvement in participation levels and adoption of best practices for coffee production for farmer who participated in TechnoServe Agronomy Training Program in Rwanda. Research Design: Farmers were identified randomly for monitoring purposes to belong to two different groups and then selected depending on the additional criterion of having productive coffee trees. We estimate treatment-on-the-treated and intention-to-treat effects on training attendance rates and farmers best-practice adoptions using difference-in-differences estimation techniques. Subjects: Farmers were randomly identified to a high or low monitoring with different type and frequency of data collection and selected if they had productive coffee trees as part of the monitoring strategy. Measures: Attendance to training sessions by all farmers in the program and best-practice adoption data for improving coffee yield. Results: We find that monitoring led to surprisingly large increases in farmer participation levels in the project and also improved best-practice adoption rates. We also find that higher frequency of data collection has long-lasting effects and are more pronounced for low-attendance farmers. Conclusions: Monitoring not only provides more data and a better understanding of project dynamics, which in turn can help improve design, but can also improve processes and outcomes, in particular for the least engaged.
Interacting effects of genetic predisposition and depression on adolescent smoking progression.

OBJECTIVE The goal of the present study was to identify specific genetic associations with smoking progression in adolescents and to determine whether these genetic effects on smoking practices are potentiated by depression symptoms. METHOD Effects of dopamine transporter (SLC6A3) and dopamine receptor (DRD2) genetic variants on smoking progression were evaluated in a cohort of 615 adolescents, including those who had never smoked, and in a subgroup including only adolescents who had been exposed to nicotine (i.e., smoked at least a puff of a cigarette) (N=292). These adolescents were followed from 9th to 11th grade. Depression symptoms were also assessed. RESULTS In the model of adolescents with a previous smoking experience, the likelihood of progressing to a higher level of smoking by the 11th grade increased almost twofold with each additional DRD2 A1 allele. The likelihood of smoking progression with each additional A1 allele was more pronounced among adolescents with substantial depression symptoms. The model including never-smokers revealed no significant genetic effects. Neither model revealed effects of SLC6A3. CONCLUSIONS These results provide the first evidence, to the authors' knowledge, for an association of the DRD2 A1 allele with smoking progression among adolescents. This effect is potentiated by depression symptoms. These effects appear to be specific to adolescents who have had at least some nicotine exposure (i.e., at least a puff of a cigarette).
Unresponsiveness of Mycobacterium w vaccine in managing acute and chronic Leishmania donovani infections in mouse and hamster

SUMMARY The role of Mycobacterium w (Mw) vaccine as an immunomodulator and immunoprophylactant in the treatment of mycobacterial diseases (leprosy and pulmonary tuberculosis) is well established. The fact that it shares common antigens with leishmanial parasites prompted its assessment as an immunostimulant and as an adjunct to known anti-leishmanials that may help in stimulating the suppressed immune status of Leishmania donovani-infected individuals. The efficacy of Mw vaccine was assessed as an immunomodulator, prophylactically either alone or in combination with anti-leishmanial vaccine, as well as therapeutically as an adjunct to anti-leishmanial treatment in L. donovani-infected hamsters, representing a chronic human Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) model. Similarly, its efficacy was also evaluated in L. donovani-infected BALB/c mice, representing an acute VL model. The preliminary studies revealed that Mw was ineffective as an immunostimulant and/or immunoprophylactant in hamsters infected with L. donovani, as estimated by T-cell immunological responses. However, in the BALB/c mice-VL model it appeared as an effective immunostimulant but a futile prophylactic agent. It is therefore inferred that, contrary to its role in managing tuberculosis and leprosy infections, Mw vaccine has not been successful in controlling VL infection, emphasizing the need to find detailed explanations for the failure of this vaccine against the disease.
Animal Pneumoviruses: Molecular Genetics and Pathogenesis

SUMMARY Pneumoviruses are single-stranded, negative-sense, nonsegmented RNA viruses of the family Paramyxoviridae, subfamily Pneumovirinae, and include pathogens that infect humans (respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus), domestic mammals (bovine, ovine, and caprine respiratory syncytial viruses), rodents (pneumonia virus of mice), and birds (avian metapneumovirus). Among the topics considered in this review are recent studies focused on the roles of the individual virus-encoded components in promoting virus replication as well as in altering and evading innate antiviral host defenses. Advances in the molecular technology of pneumoviruses and the emergence of recombinant pneumoviruses that are leading to improved virus-based vaccine formulations are also discussed. Since pneumovirus infection in natural hosts is associated with a profound inflammatory response that persists despite adequate antiviral therapy, we also review the recent experimental treatment strategies that have focused on combined antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory approaches.
Using ArchiMate to Assess COBIT 5 and ITIL Implementations

The assessment of Enterprise Governance of IT (EGIT) mechanisms, such as COBIT and ITIL, is considered highly complex and implies a duplication of resources. The main goal of this research is to reduce the complexity of EGIT mechanisms by facilitating the assessment of these mechanisms when used simultaneously. Organisational stakeholders should be able to easily understand the impact of implementing ITIL on COBIT 5 Processes Performance without being COBIT experts. On the other hand, they should know their organisation’s positioning according to ITIL, even if they just follow COBIT and do not master ITIL. In order to fulfil our goal, we propose a model that uses TIPA for ITIL, COBIT PAM and ArchiMate to analyse the impact of ITIL implementation on COBIT processes performance, and vice-versa. We demonstrate our proposal by analysing the impact of the Incident Management and Request Fulfilment ITIL processes on the COBIT 5 related process.
The I-ID - An IT Solution to Supplement Conventional Identification Cards: The Air Transportation Systems Use Case

The documentation of births has been started in ancient human civilizations. Today, each person holds many cards and documents such as ID, passport, driving license etc. The loss of one of these documents causes a great amount of work for the affected person and for many governmental and non-governmental offices. Starting the middle of the last century, mobility of people has increased dramatically. Trains, cars, airplanes and other methods of transportation facilitated movements of people around the world. Many hundred thousands persons are crossing the borders every minute. The necessity of tracking this movement and identifying people entering or leaving a country is essential, especially for security reasons. Therefore, authorities provide identified passports to be used, helping other authorities to recognize who is entering their territory. The I-ID is a global idea to supplement conventional identification cards (personal ID, health insurance cards, driving licenses, passports, etc.) with an IT based integrated solution where no need for paper documents. In this paper, after proposing the I-ID concept, and its technical feasibility, an IT solution to supplement conventional passports will be provided and investigated as a use case.
Cytokines involved in the progression of multiple myeloma

We have investigated which of the cytokines that are relevant in the in vitro growth of multiple myeloma (MM) malignant plasma cells are actually produced in vivo by MM patients. To this end, we have measured the levels of IL‐1β, IL‐3, IL‐4, IL‐6, IL‐7, IL‐8 and tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) both in sera and in the supernatant of bone marrow (BM) stromal cell cultures from patients with MM and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). The significance of our findings is three‐fold. First, IL‐6 and IL‐8 are produced by MM BM stromal cells, while IL‐1β, TNF‐α, IL‐4 and IL‐7 are not. Second, IL‐3 is the only cytokine consistently raised in serum samples; we have also detected low levels of serum IL‐6 in a minority of cases, usually in advanced stage of the disease. Third, MM BM stromal cells are active IL‐6 and IL‐8 producers, while both normal and MGUS BM stromal cells are low producers, thus suggesting that in the BM of MM a number of environmental cells, that would normally be quiescent, are instead activated and that, in MM, activated BM stromal cells play an active role in supporting the progressive expansion of the B cell clone.
Facial Resemblances between Heterosexual, Gay, and Lesbian Couples

Researchers have noted a physical resemblance (homophily) between human sex partners. To date, these studies and their related interpretations have been based on heterosexual couples. The present study compared physical resemblances between gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples, using 40 photographs of each from national newspapers, which were rated by 34 men and 56 women (M age = 53 yr., SD = 12.1). Half the photographs were of actual couples and half were randomly mixed within each group. Actual couples were rated as significantly more similar in appearance than random pairings of people. Ratings of similarity were significantly higher (indicating greater perceived homophily) for gay couples than heterosexual couples, while there was no statistically significant difference in similarity ratings between lesbian couples versus gay and heterosexual couples. The results were interpreted in terms of evolutionary and parental imprinting hypotheses.
Threshold ultrasonic dosages for structural changes in the mammalian brain.

The relationship between the acoustic intensity and the time duration of exposure, for a single pulse, necessary to produce a threshold lesion in the cat brain was studied. Focused ultrasound of 1, 3, and 4 MHz was employed with intensities ranging from 102 to 2×104 W/cm2 with the corresponding pulse durations from 7 to 2×10−4 sec, respectively. Three types of lesions were observed attending three regions. At the lower intensities and long time durations of exposure, the lesion is produced by a thermal mechanism. At the highest intensities and shortest time durations, cavitation is believed to be the mechanism responsible for the sometimes randomly appearing lesions. At intermediate dosages, the lesions are formed by a mechanical mechanism which is thus far not well understood. These results exhibit good agreement with that of other investigators on both the cat and the rat brain.
Spatio-temporal and kinematic asymmetry ratio in subgroups of patients with stroke.

AIM To determine the spatio-temporal and kinematic gait asymmetry in hemiparetic patients after stroke, and to compare the subgroups in terms of asymmetry ratio. METHODS Spatio-temporal and kinematic characteristics of gait in 100 patients (37 females, 63 males) with hemiparesis after stroke were retrospectively evaluated. The mean+/-SD age was 57.9+/-12.1 years (range 18-80) and time since stroke was 5.75+/-5.9 months (range 1-36). Subgroups were based on age, gender, side of paresis, lesion type, motor recovery level, sensory status, time since stroke and walking velocity. RESULTS The older patients (65 years) had a higher temporal asymmetry in terms of single-support time whereas the younger patients (<65 years) had a higher kinematic asymmetry in terms of ankle joint kinematics at both stance and swing phases (P<0.05). In the poor motor recovery group, asymmetry ratios of step length, hip and knee extension at stance, and ankle kinematics were significantly higher than those of the good motor recovery group (P<0.05). In the slow walking group, step length showed a greater asymmetry than in the fast walking group (P<0.05). Gait asymmetry was similar among the patients when they were grouped according to their gender, side of paresis, lesion type, proprioception, and time since stroke. CONCLUSION For better interpretation of quantitative gait data and to offer appropriate rehabilitation programs, clinicians should consider that spatio-temporal and kinematic asymmetry might vary according to age, motor recovery level and walking speed of hemiparetic patients after stroke.
Sex Differences in Recognizing the Correct Answer to a Problem

Previous research has shown the superiority of performance of males over that of females in solving Maier's horse trading problem. This investigation represented an attempt to reduce this sex difference by requiring Ss only to recognize the correct answer and its underlying reason. Consistent with earlier findings, 67.4% of the males and 34.2% of the females correctly solved the problem (p < .01). Comparison with results of Hoffman and Maier (1961) suggests that the modified version of the problem had little effect on the percentage of males and females correctly solving the problem.
Cell Searching and DoA Estimation for a Mobile Station with Antenna Array in mm-Wave Cellular Communications

In this paper, a beamforming and cell searching method is proposed for a mobile station (MS) with antenna array to compensate the high attenuation in a millimeter wave (mm-wave) OFDM-based cellular systems. A cell searching and direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation method is proposed for a multipath environment, even with the existence of the symbol timing offsets (STOs) and carrier frequency offsets (CFOs). It is shown by simulation that the proposed method can successively estimate both cell IDs and DoAs from adjacent base stations (BSs) in a multipath environment and is robust to STO and CFO.
Do contour tones induce syllable lengthening in Catalan and Spanish ? *

In both Spanish and Catalan, narrow contrastive focus and presentational broad focus in nuclear position have different pitch accent choices, namely a rising or a falling pitch accent, respectively. In oxytonic words, narrow contrastive focus displays a rise-fall complex pitch gesture in the last syllable of the utterance. This article investigates the effects of the complexity of such a pitch pattern on the durational properties of the syllables in both languages when compared to the simpler falling pitch movement. The results of a production experiment reveal that in general, the presence of a complex pitch pattern tends to have a lengthening effect on the target syllable. Yet we also find that some instances of this complex contour can be partially truncated, in which case it does not trigger lengthening. In sum, even though truncation and compression have been claimed to be languageand dialect-specific strategies (Ladd 1996, Grabe et al 2000), in our data, truncation can be considered a phonetic realization strategy that interacts with timing in such a way that there is a trade-off relationship between the two factors.
Discrete-time robust adaptive control for robotic manipulators

This paper deals with a design of discrete-time robust adaptive controllers with fixed compensators for robotic manipulators. Although several adaptive control schemes with fixed compensators for minimum-phase systems have been proposed, they can not be applied for robotic manipulators because their discrete-time models are not of minimum-phase. In this paper, first, we design a direct adaptive controller for robotic manipulators using an existing discrete-time model with unstable zeros. Then a fixed compensator is also designed for improving the robustness of the adaptive control system based on the fact that the stable zeros and poles of the open-loop transfer function improve the feedback properties. The fixed compensator is obtained by solving a convex optimization problem. The proposed method is applied to a two-link manipulator and its effectiveness is experimentally examined.