Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of the French Version of the DSM-5 Yale Food Addiction Scale in a Nonclinical Sample

Objective: The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) is the only questionnaire that assesses food addiction (FA) based on substance dependence criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Following recent updating of addiction criteria, a new DSM-5 version (YFAS 2.0) has been developed. Our study tested the psychometric properties of the French YFAS 2.0 in a nonclinical population. Method: We assessed 330 nonclinical participants for FA (French YFAS 2.0), eating behaviour, and eating disorder (Binge Eating Scale, Emotional Overeating Questionnaire, Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18, Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-Revised, Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale). We tested the scale’s factor structure (confirmatory factor analysis based on 11 diagnostic criteria), internal consistency, and construct and incremental validity. Results: Prevalence of FA was 8.2%. Our results supported a 1-factor structure similar to the US version. In both its diagnostic and symptom count versions, the YFAS 2.0 had good internal consistency (Kuder-Richardson alpha was 0.83) and was associated with body mass index (BMI), binge eating, uncontrolled and emotional eating, binge eating disorder, and cognitive restraint. FA predicted BMI above and beyond binge eating frequency. Females had a higher prevalence of FA than males but not more FA symptoms. Conclusions: We validated a psychometrically sound French version of the YFAS 2.0 in a nonclinical population, in both its symptom count and diagnostic versions. Future studies should investigate psychometric properties of this questionnaire in clinical populations potentially at risk for FA (that is, patients with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, or other metabolic syndrome risk factors).
Utilização dos fungos na biorremediação de substratos contaminados por petróleo: estado da arte

A presenca de compostos de petroleo em solos e sedimentos tem sido uma grande preocupacao ao longo dos ultimos anos. A biorremediacao e uma tecnologia muito eficaz e promissora na recuperacao de areas contaminadas por petroleo e seus derivados. Esta tecnica e basicamente um processo natural, onde micro-organismos degradam os contaminantes ambientais em formas menos toxicas. Os hidrocarbonetos encontrados no meio ambiente sao degradados principalmente por bacterias e fungos e a extensao da biodegradacao de hidrocarbonetos por micro-organismos dependem das condicoes do ecossistema e do meio ambiente local. Um dos principais fungos degradantes, encontrados na literatura, sao as especies de Penicillium sp. e Aspergillus niger. Mas muitas vezes, cada especie e responsavel em degradar um unico componente do oleo, sendo necessario o uso de consorcios puros (somente fungos) ou consorcios mistos (varios micro-organismos) para melhorar a eficiencia da biorremediacao. Varios trabalhos foram e estao sendo desenvolvidos no Brasil e no exterior com a finalidade de identificar os fungos para degradar hidrocarbonetos. O principal objetivo desta pesquisa foi coletar informacoes sobre o uso de fungos em biorremediacao de substratos contaminados com oleo.
A Behavior Level Operation System for Humanoid Robots

This paper introduces the construction of a behavior level operation system for humanoid robots. One of the future applications for humanoid robots is to serve in environments like homes or offices. These places are partially-unknown environments where some knowledge of the world can be described and stored in the system before hand. A heuristic methodology utilizing an online operation system to actually operate a humanoid robot to act on objects in designing object oriented actions is introduced. Autonomous behaviors are constructed by integrating the designed object oriented actions with 3D visual recognition functions equipped with a library of geometrical object library. A behavior level operation system allowing an operator to monitor and modify the robots behavior online is constructed. The behavior level operation system is implemented on humanoid robot HRP-2 and experiments realizing a drink serving task which includes taking out a can of drink from a fridge are reported
Heritability estimates of endophenotypes of long and health life: the Long Life Family Study.

BACKGROUND Identification of gene variants that contribute to exceptional survival may provide critical biologic information that informs optimal health across the life span. METHODS As part of phenotype development efforts for the Long Life Family Study, endophenotypes that represent exceptional survival were identified and heritability estimates were calculated. Principal components (PCs) analysis was carried out using 28 physiologic measurements from five trait domains (cardiovascular, cognition, physical function, pulmonary, and metabolic). RESULTS The five most dominant PCs accounted for 50% of underlying trait variance. The first PC (PC1), which consisted primarily of poor pulmonary and physical function, represented 14.3% of the total variance and had an estimated heritability of 39%. PC2 consisted of measures of good metabolic and cardiovascular function with an estimated heritability of 27%. PC3 was made up of cognitive measures (h(2) = 36%). PC4 and PC5 contained measures of blood pressure and cholesterol, respectively (h(2) = 25% and 16%). CONCLUSIONS These PCs analysis-derived endophenotypes may be used in genetic association studies to help identify underlying genetic mechanisms that drive exceptional survival in this and other populations.
Desarrollo de insuficiencia renal crónica posterior a nefrectomía radical. Factores de riesgo

Objetivos: Monitorear la funcion renal en el seguimiento de pacientes sometidos a nefrectomia radical e identificar factores de riesgo preoperatorios para el desarrollo de insuficiencia renal cronica (IRC). Material y metodos: Estudio retrospectivo, analitico, de corte transversal. Evaluacion de pacientes sometidos a nefrectomia radical por patologia tumoral, con funcion renal preoperatoria normal y seguimiento mayor al ano en el Hospital Privado de Comunidad, durante el periodo comprendido entre enero de 2006 y diciembre de 2011. Los datos se obtuvieron del analisis de las historias clinicas. Se determino la prevalencia de IRC en el seguimiento y el tiempo hasta la aparicion de la misma. Analisis de factores de riesgo prequirurgicos para su desarrollo. Evaluacion de datos con test de Mann-Whitney y curvas de Kaplan-Meier con prueba de logaritmo de rango. Analisis multivariado con modelo de riesgo proporcional de Cox. Resultados: Ingresaron al estudio 100 pacientes con un seguimiento promedio de 44 meses (50% varones). Media de edad de 65 anos en mujeres y de 59 en varones. El 27% presentaba hipertension arterial (HTA) y el 7% diabetes (DBT). Creatinina preoperatoria promedio de 0,87 mg/dl (rango 0,43-1,27), tasa de filtrado glomerular (TFG) de 85 ml/min por 1,73 m2 (rango 61-173). Todos los pacientes presentaban una TFG preoperatoria mayor a 60. En el seguimiento, 48 pacientes (48%) desarrollaron IRC. Ninguno requirio hemodialisis. En el estudio univariado de factores de riesgo asociados con desarrollo de IRC, edad (p≤0,0001), TFG (p≤0,0001) y antecedente de DBT (p=0,117), presentaron una p<0,15 e ingresaron al estudio multivariado. El analisis multivariado evidencio que la edad (p=0,001) y la TFG preoperatoria (p≤0,0001) constituyen factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de IRC en el posoperatorio de nefrectomia radical. Conclusiones: La prevalencia de desarrollo de IRC posterior a nefrectomia radical es elevada. Pacientes con edad avanzada y baja TFG preoperatoria se asocian con desarrollo de IRC en el posoperatorio de una nefrectomia radical.
Estimation of three-dimensional intrinsic dosimetric uncertainties resulting from using deformable image registration for dose mapping.

PURPOSE This article presents a general procedural framework to assess the point-by-point precision in mapped dose associated with the intrinsic uncertainty of a deformable image registration (DIR) for any arbitrary patient. METHODS Dose uncertainty is obtained via a three-step process. In the first step, for each voxel in an imaging pair, a cluster of points is obtained by an iterative DIR procedure. In the second step, the dispersion of the points due to the imprecision of the DIR method is used to compute the spatial uncertainty. Two different ways to quantify the spatial uncertainty are presented in this work. Method A consists of a one-dimensional analysis of the modules of the position vectors, whereas method B performs a more detailed 3D analysis of the coordinates of the points. In the third step, the resulting spatial uncertainty estimates are used in combination with the mapped dose distribution to compute the point-by-point dose standard deviation. The process is demonstrated to estimate the dose uncertainty induced by mapping a 62.6 Gy dose delivered on maximum exhale to maximum inhale of a ten-phase four-dimensional lung CT. RESULTS For the demonstration lung image pair, the standard deviation of inconsistency vectors is found to be up to 9.2 mm with a mean sigma of 1.3 mm. This uncertainty results in a maximum estimated dose uncertainty of 29.65 Gy if method A is used and 21.81 Gy for method B. The calculated volume with dose uncertainty above 10.00 Gy is 602 cm3 for method A and 1422 cm3 for method B. CONCLUSIONS This procedure represents a useful tool to evaluate the precision of a mapped dose distribution due to the intrinsic DIR uncertainty in a patient. The procedure is flexible, allowing incorporation of alternative intrinsic error models.
Biomechanical effects of bone cement volume on the endplates of augmented vertebral body: a three‐dimensional finite element analysis

Background Previous studies have suggested that percutaneous vertebroplasty might alter vertebral stress transfer, leading to adjacent vertebral failure. However, no three‐dimensional finite element study so far accounted for the stress distributions on different cement volumes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the stress distributions on the endplate under different loading conditions after augmentation with various volumes of bone cement. Methods L2‐L3 motion segment data were obtained from CT scans of the lumbar spine from a cadaver of a young man who had no abnormal findings on roentgenograms. Three‐dimensional model of L2‐L3 was established using Mimics software, and finite element model of L2‐L3 functional spinal unit (FSU) was established using Ansys10.0 software. For simulating percutaneous vertebral augmentation, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) was deposited into the bipedicle of the L2 vertebra. The percentage of PMMA volume varied between 15% and 30%. The stress distributions on the endplate of the augmented vertebral body were calculated under three different loading conditions. Results In general, the stress level monotonically increased with bone cement volume. Under each loading condition, the stress change on the L2 superior and inferior endplates in three kinds of finite element models shows monotonic increase. Compared with the stress‐increasing region of the endplate, the central part of the L2 endplate was subject to the greatest stress under three kinds of loading conditions, especially on the superior endplate and under flexion. Conclusions The finite element models of FSU are useful to optimize the planning for vertebroplasty. The bone cement volume might have an influence on the endplate of the augmentation, especially the superior endplate. It should be noted that the optimization of bone cement volume is patient specific; the volume of the bone cement should be based on the size, body mineral density, and stiffness of the vertebrae of individual patients.
Therapeutic protein-drug interactions: plausible mechanisms and assessment strategies

ABSTRACT Introduction: Over the last three decades, therapeutic proteins have played an increasingly important role in pharmacotherapy. Owing to an expected significant increase in the coadministration of biotherapeutics with established pharmacotherapy regimens or even with other biotherapeutic agents, there is an increasing likelihood for the occurrence of clinically relevant drug interactions, so called therapeutic protein-drug interactions (TP-DIs). Areas covered: Our current understanding of TP-DIs and recent collaborations among industry, academia and regulatory agencies are reviewed in this article. Although most of the observed TP-DIs are mediated by disease states, immune status, and/or target physiology, TP-DI assessments are still done empirically. Plausible mechanisms of major TP-DIs involving therapeutic proteins (primarily monoclonal antibodies), either as victims or as perpetrators, are proposed, with mechanism-based strategies and assessment approaches to better evaluate their propensity are recommended. Expert opinion: Our current understanding of the mechanisms of TP-DIs is in its infancy. Much of the basic research needs to be conducted to verify existing TP-DI hypotheses or help predict and manage potential ones, whose efforts are not considered trivial and may be better achieved through close collaborations among scientists from academia, industry, and regulatory agencies.
The interplay between microRNAs and the neurotrophin receptor tropomyosin-related kinase C controls proliferation of human neuroblastoma cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are tiny noncoding RNAs whose function as modulators of gene expression is crucial for the proper control of cell growth and differentiation. Although the profile of miRNA expression has been defined for many different cellular systems, the elucidation of the regulatory networks in which they are involved is only just emerging. In this work, we identify a crucial role for three neuronal miRNAs (9, 125a, and 125b) in controlling human neuroblastoma cell proliferation. We show that these molecules act in an additive manner by repressing a common target, the truncated isoform of the neurotrophin receptor tropomyosin-related kinase C, and we demonstrate that the down-regulation of this isoform is critical for regulating neuroblastoma cell growth. Consistently with their function, these miRNAs were found to be down-modulated in primary neuroblastoma tumors.
An Adaptive Shape Subspace Model for Level Set-Based Object Tracking

Shape priors have been widely used for level set-based tracking to solve some difficult problems, such as noisy data, partial occlusions and weak contrast at the boundaries. In this paper, we propose a two-layer hierarchical level set-based tracking framework in which color and shape information are fused sequentially. In the first layer, the initial contour is evolved only with the color feature, then the Mahalanobis distance-based discriminant criterion is adopted to determine whether the shape model is needed. If the shape model is needed, in the second layer the contour is evolved with the shape constraint continuously. For the second layer, a weighted shape distance term (WSDT) is introduced into the pixel-wise contour evolution equation to fuse the global shape information and the local color information. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) subspace of shape samples is trained off-line and updated using an on-line algorithm. The experimental results on several real video sequences demonstrate the robustness and the effectiveness of our method.
Semi-supervised Learning on Real-time Pedestrian Detection System

This research proposed a pedestrian detection system in an outdoor scene by a pin-hole camera with field-programmable gate array. We used two different feature descriptors included histograms of oriented gradients and local weighted pattern which were descripted the shape and textural information for the image feature of pedestrians. Semi-supervised learning with linear support vector machine would be used as the classifier to detect pedestrians. A car to vulnerable road users both adult and child scenarios were selected, and the maximum test speed of demonstrated vehicle was 30 km/h. The average detection rates of our proposed system for both scenarios were 100% and 96.67%, respectively.
Simpli fi ed approach for design of raft foundations against fault rupture . Part I : free-fi

Over the past few decades, earthquake engineering research mainly focused on the effects of strong seismic shaking. After the 1999 earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan, and thanks to numerous cases where fault rupture caused substantial damage to structures, the importance of faulting-induced deformation has re-emerged. This paper, along with its companion (Part II), exploits parametric results of fi nite element analyses and centrifuge model testing in developing a four–step semi–analytical approach for analysis of dip-slip (normal and thrust) fault rupture propagation through sand, its emergence on the ground surface, and its interaction with raft foundations. The present paper (Part I) focuses on the effects of faulting in the absence of a structure (i.e., in the free-fi eld). The semi-analytical approach comprises two-steps: the fi rst deals with the rupture path and the estimation of the location of fault outcropping, and the second with the tectonicallyinduced displacement profi le at the ground surface. In both cases, simple mechanical analogues are used to derive simplifi ed semi-analytical expressions. Centrifuge model test data, in combination with parametric results from nonlinear fi nite element analyses, are utilized for model calibration. The derived semi-analytical expressions are shown to compare reasonably well with more rigorous experimental and theoretical data, thus providing a useful tool for a fi rst estimation of near-fault seismic hazard.
DIETAS SUPLEMENTADAS COM ARGININA PARA FÊMEAS SUÍNAS HIPERPROLÍFERAS NO PERÍODO FINAL DA GESTAÇÃO E NA LACTAÇÃO

LIMA, Daniele de. Supplementation of hiper-prolific sows in late pregnancy and during lactation with different levels of arginine. 2010. 61p. Dissertation (Master of Veterinary Science)-Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG. * The experiment was conducted at the pig farm of DanBred (DB) breeding company located in Morada Nova de Minas MG, aiming to evaluate levels of arginine supplementation in diets of hiper-prolific sows from 90 days of gestation and during lactation on reproductive parameters. Were selected one hundred and twenty sows between second and seventh parity order (genetic DB), with number of born pigs in previous farrowing of more than 12 piglets. The experiment was divided into two periods: the first begun at 90 days of gestation to farrowing, and second from birth to weaning (22 days). The design was randomized blocks (parity order) with four treatments (inclusion of levels of arginina – 0; 0,5; 1,0 and 1,5%) and three blocks with an average of 40 sows each. The total number of piglets born, piglets born alive, mummified, stillborn, litter weight born, litter weight born alive, piglet weight born and live, placental weight and placental efficiency were not affected by different levels of arginine. Significant quadratic effect of litter weight and daily weight gain piglet in the first week of lactation were observed, 11% higher with supplementation of 1,0% arginine as control diet. At weaning, the sows that received this level of arginine presented one weaned piglet more. It was observed a quadratic effect of arginina levels on litter weight at 22 days, being 12% higher also with supplementation of 1%. In conclusion, the supplementation of diets for hiper-prolific sows with arginine is important for improving the reproductive efficiency of breeding. The addition of 1.0% of this amino acid in diets containing corn, soybean meal and wheat bran from 90 days of gestation and during lactation increases the number of piglets weaned per sow. _____________________ Guidance Committee: Prof. Luis David Solis Murgas UFLA (Major Professor), Prof. Vinicius de Souza Cantarelli – UFLA and Glauber de Souza Machado Integrall Consultoria.
Reef Habitat Type and Spatial Extent as Interacting Controls on Platform-Scale Carbonate Budgets

A coral reefs carbonate budget strongly influences reef structural complexity and net reef growth potential, and thus is increasingly recognised as a key “health” metric. Despite this, understanding of habitat specific budget states, how these scale across reef platforms, and our ability to quantify both framework and sediment production values remains limited. Here we use in-situ census data from an atoll rim reef platform in the central Maldives to quantify rates of both reef framework and sediment production and loss within different platform habitats, and then combine these data with high-resolution habitat maps to quantify contributions to platform wide carbonate budgets. The net reef framework budget for the entire platform is extremely low (0.12 G, where G = Kg CaCO3 m-2 yr-1), with a very high proportion (143,745 kg or 65.1%) of total framework production generated within the platform margin reef zones, despite these comprising only ~8% of platform area. Net platform-scale sediment budgets are higher (1.04 G), but most is produced in the reef and platform margin hardground habitats, of which ~80% derives from parrotfish bioerosion. Significant quantities of new sediment (up to ~1 G derived from the calcareous green algae Halimeda) are produced only in one habitat. All lagoonal habitats have negative or neutral net carbonate budgets. These data demonstrate the marked inter-habitat differences in reef carbonate budgets that occur across reef platforms, and the major dampening effect on overall platform scale budgets when rates are factored for habitat type and size. Furthermore, the data highlights the disproportionately important role that relatively small areas of reef habitat can have on the maintenance of net positive platform scale budgets. Because of the intrinsic link between carbonate production rates and reef-associated landform development and maintenance, these findings also have implications for understanding reef-associated landform stability. In this context the reef island at this site has been highly mobile over the last ~40 years, and we hypothesise that such instability may be being exacerbated by the measured low overall rates of framework and sediment generation.
and Mixed / Control of Dual-Actuator Hard Disk Drive via LMIs

In this paper, and mixed / controllers are designed for a hard disk drive (HDD) using linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). In the proposed algorithm, the problem of minimizing track misregistration (TMR) in the presence of unmodeled dynamics of voice-coil motor (VCM) is formulated as robust and mixed / problems. Additional stack variables are introduced to characterize and performances. The simulation and comparison results demonstrate the significant performance improvement of TMR under unmodeled dynamics of VCM. Keywords—Linear matrix inequalities(LMIs), hard disk drive, robust control
Obesity and PCOS: Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment

Abstract There appears to be an epidemic of both obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in the world today. However, obesity per se is not a part of the phenotype in many parts of the world. Obesity is likely not a cause of PCOS, as the high prevalence of PCOS among relatively thin populations demonstrates. However, obesity does exacerbate many aspects of the phenotype, especially cardiovascular risk factors such as glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia. It is also associated with a poor response to infertility treatment and likely an increased risk for pregnancy complications in those women who do conceive. Although most treatments of obesity, with the exception of bariatric surgery, achieve modest reductions in weight and improvements in the PCOS phenotype, encouraging weight loss in the obese patient remains one of the front-line therapies. However, further studies are needed to identify the best treatments, and the role of lifestyle therapies in women of normal weight with PCOS is uncertain.