Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy harvesting vibration sources for microsystems applications

This paper reviews the state-of-the art in vibration energy harvesting for wireless, self-powered microsystems. Vibration-powered generators are typically, although not exclusively, inertial spring and mass systems. The characteristic equations for inertial-based generators are presented, along with the specific damping equations that relate to the three main transduction mechanisms employed to extract energy from the system. These transduction mechanisms are: piezoelectric, electromagnetic and electrostatic. Piezoelectric generators employ active materials that generate a charge when mechanically stressed. A comprehensive review of existing piezoelectric generators is presented, including impact coupled, resonant and human-based devices. Electromagnetic generators employ electromagnetic induction arising from the relative motion between a magnetic flux gradient and a conductor. Electromagnetic generators presented in the literature are reviewed including large scale discrete devices and wafer-scale integrated versions. Electrostatic generators utilize the relative movement between electrically isolated charged capacitor plates to generate energy. The work done against the electrostatic force between the plates provides the harvested energy. Electrostatic-based generators are reviewed under the classifications of in-plane overlap varying, in-plane gap closing and out-of-plane gap closing; the Coulomb force parametric generator and electret-based generators are also covered. The coupling factor of each transduction mechanism is discussed and all the devices presented in the literature are summarized in tables classified by transduction type; conclusions are drawn as to the suitability of the various techniques.
Carotid bruit for detection of hemodynamically significant carotid stenosis: the Northern Manhattan Study

Abstract Objective: The prevalence of carotid bruits and the utility of auscultation for predicting carotid stenosis are not well known. We aimed to establish the prevalence of carotid bruits and the diagnostic accuracy of auscultation for detection of hemodynamically significant carotid stenosis, using carotid duplex as the gold standard. Methods: The Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) is a prospective multiethnic community-based cohort designed to examine the incidence of stroke and other vascular events and the association between various vascular risk factors and subclinical atherosclerosis. Of the stroke-free cohort (n=3298), 686 were examined for carotid bruits and underwent carotid duplex. Main outcome measures included prevalence of carotid bruits and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of auscultation for prediction of ipsilateral carotid stenosis. Results: Among 686 subjects with a mean age of 68.2 ± 9.4 years, the prevalence of ≥60% carotid stenosis as detected by ultrasound was 2.2% and the prevalence of carotid bruits was 4.1%. For detection of carotid stenosis, sensitivity of auscultation was 56%, specificity was 98%, positive predictive value was 25%, negative predictive value was 99% and overall accuracy was 97.5%. Discussion: In this ethnically diverse cohort, the prevalence of carotid bruits and hemodynamically significant carotid stenosis was low. Sensitivity and positive predictive value were also low, and the 44% false-negative rate suggests that auscultation is not sufficient to exclude carotid stenosis. While the presence of a bruit may still warrant further evaluation with carotid duplex, ultrasonography may be considered in high-risk asymptomatic patients, irrespective of findings on auscultation.
A new DPC method for single VSC based DFIG under unbalanced grid voltage condition

This paper proposes a new Direct Power Control (DPC) strategy for a single Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) by employing Four Switch Three Phase Inverter (FSTPI) instead of Six Switch Three Phase Inverter (SSTPI). Reduce number of active switch not only improves reliability but also decreases cost, and conduction losses. The new switching table for FSTPI is based on principle of similarity between FSTPI and SSTPI i.e. by using a technique the four unbalanced voltage vectors which generated by FSTPI will be converted to six balanced voltage vectors. In addition, the behavior of the DFIG under unbalanced grid voltage is investigated and then alternative DFIG control targets, such as reducing stator current unbalance, torque, and power pulsation minimization, are identified. Simulation results using Matlab/Simulink are presented for a 1-MW DFIG Wind generation system to validate the proposed control scheme.
One-year outcomes in survivors of the acute respiratory distress syndrome.

BACKGROUND As more patients survive the acute respiratory distress syndrome, an understanding of the long-term outcomes of this condition is needed. METHODS We evaluated 109 survivors of the acute respiratory distress syndrome 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge from the intensive care unit. At each visit, patients were interviewed and underwent a physical examination, pulmonary-function testing, a six-minute-walk test, and a quality-of-life evaluation. RESULTS Patients who survived the acute respiratory distress syndrome were young (median age, 45 years) and severely ill (median Acute Physiology, Age, and Chronic Health Evaluation score, 23) and had a long stay in the intensive care unit (median, 25 days). Patients had lost 18 percent of their base-line body weight by the time they were discharged from the intensive care unit and stated that muscle weakness and fatigue were the reasons for their functional limitation. Lung volume and spirometric measurements were normal by 6 months, but carbon monoxide diffusion capacity remained low throughout the 12-month follow-up. No patients required supplemental oxygen at 12 months, but 6 percent of patients had arterial oxygen saturation values below 88 percent during exercise. The median score for the physical role domain of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form General Health Survey (a health-related quality-of-life measure) increased from 0 at 3 months to 25 at 12 months (score in the normal population, 84). The distance walked in six minutes increased from a median of 281 m at 3 months to 422 m at 12 months; all values were lower than predicted. The absence of systemic corticosteroid treatment, the absence of illness acquired during the intensive care unit stay, and rapid resolution of lung injury and multiorgan dysfunction were associated with better functional status during the one-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Survivors of the acute respiratory distress syndrome have persistent functional disability one year after discharge from the intensive care unit. Most patients have extrapulmonary conditions, with muscle wasting and weakness being most prominent.
Early intervention in psychosis: keeping the body in mind.

Most GPs can remember being faced with a young person experiencing their first psychotic illness: the patient's confusion, their fear, their family's distress. Perhaps some will recall ambivalence about invoking the Mental Health Act, or contacting colleagues to cover surgery while awaiting the arrival of another doctor or the police. The shared sense of bewilderment and sadness may have been balanced by some personal relief that normal working life might soon resume after the hours, days, or maybe weeks of distress, phone calls, and visits. Psychosis affects young people. More than three-quarters of men and two-thirds of women who experience psychosis have their first episode by age 35 years; most are in their late teens and twenties.1 This has prompted the development of more ‘youth sensitive’ early intervention services in England and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Wales. A 3-year package of intensive, specialist, and age-appropriate mental health care results in less traumatic engagement and improved follow-up.2,3 Lester et al , in the current issue of the BJGP , researched whether an educational intervention to raise GPs' awareness of presenting clinical features of first episode psychosis could encourage earlier referral.4 While few would deny the importance of improving these care pathways, the study suggests that promoting diagnostic awareness adds little by itself: GPs are already quite good at detection. What Lester et al did find was that training could facilitate collaboration between GPs and the new early intervention services, and the obstacles were more about how they worked together. Moreover, evidence is now emerging about future physical health problems for these young people. This opens an important new theme which might benefit from strengthened collaboration between specialist early intervention …
shRNA against PTEN promotes neurite outgrowth of cortical neurons and functional recovery in spinal cord contusion rats.

AIM To explore neurite growth/regeneration and spinal cord injury repair after PTEN silencing via lentivirus-mediated RNAi. MATERIALS & METHODS Cortical neurons were seeded on or adjacent to chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. The length, number and crossing behavior of neurites were calculated. Lentivirus was locally injected into spinal cord contusion rats. The functional recovery and immunohistochemical staining were analyzed. RESULTS Neurites with PTEN silencing exhibited significant enhancements in elongation, initiation and crossing ability when they encountered chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in vitro. In vivo PTEN silencing improved functional recovery significantly, and promoted axon and synapse formation, but not scar formation. CONCLUSIONS PTEN silencing may be promising for spinal cord injury repair.
Effects of Shilajit on the development of tolerance to morphine in mice

Effects of concomitant administration of Processed Shilajit (PS, 0.1 and 1 mg/kg, i.p.), in Swiss mice were evaluated on the development of tolerance to morphine induced analgesia in the hot plate test. Chronic administration of morphine (10 mg/kg, i.p., b.i.d.) to mice over a duration of 10 days resulted in the development of tolerance to the analgesic effect of morphine. Concomitant administration of PS with morphine, from day 6 to day 10, resulted in a significant inhibition of the development of tolerance to morphine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) induced analgesia. Processed Shilajit per se, in the doses used, did not elicit any significant analgesia in mice; nor did the chronic concomitant administration of Processed Shilajit alter the morphine‐induced analgesia. These findings with Processed Shilajit indicate its potential as a prospective modifier of analgesic tolerance to morphine. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
75nm 7Gb/s/pin 1Gb GDDR5 graphics memory device with bandwidth-improvement techniques

Memory interfaces for high-speed graphics systems have reached the 4 to 6 Gb/s/pin regime with GDDR4 and the introduction of GDDR5 [1–4] at chip densities up to 512Mb. To satisfy the demand for even higher data bandwidths and increased memory densities, more advanced design techniques are required. In this paper, a 7Gb/s/pin 1Gb GDDR5 DRAM with an array architecture for fast column access, a boosting transmitter, multiple voltage (VINT) domains to control on chip power noise, and a high-speed internal VINT power generator system are presented. This 1Gb GDDR5 memory device is fabricated in a conventional 75nm DRAM process and characterized for a 7Gb/s/pin data transfer rate at 1.5V.
Relación entre la afectación ungueal en psoriasis y presencia de entesitis en las articulaciones interfalángicas distales

El objetivo de este estudio ha sido investigar la presencia de entesopatia utilizando ecografia a nivel de la articulacion interfalangica distal (IFD) en pacientes con psoriasis con afectacion ungueal y compararla con aquellos pacientes psoriasicos que no presentaban alteraciones ungueales. Ademas, se ha investigado el rol del target NAPSI de la una mas afectada en la entesopatia. En total hemos evaluado a 90 pacientes con psoriasis, reclutados de forma prospectiva y consecutiva en la Unidad de Psoriasis del Servicio de Dermatologia del Hospital 12 de Octubre de Madrid, entre 2011 y 2012, clasificados en funcion de la afectacion ungueal en los dedos de las manos, de forma que 61 pacientes tenian manifestaciones a dicho nivel y 29 exclusivamente cutaneas. Hemos analizado datos demograficos y clinicos como la edad, el tiempo de evolucion de la psoriasis, el tipo de manifestaciones cutaneas de dicha entidad, se ha calculado el PASI y el target NAPSI de la una mas afectada y, por otro lado, la presencia o ausencia de entesopatia en el estudio ecografico de las IFD de ambas manos. Hemos encontrado datos de entesopatia en 23 pacientes (25.5 por ciento), de los cuales 19 (82 por ciento) pertenecian al grupo de pacientes con afectacion ungueal y 4 (17.3 por ciento) al grupo control (p igual 0.07). Ademas, hemos demostrado una relacion estadisticamente significativa entre el target NAPSI y el numero de unas afectadas y la entesopatia (p igual 0.010, p igual 0.035, respectivamente). Establecemos, asi mismo, un punto de corte de target NAPSI -4 para la deteccion de entesopatia con una sensibilidad del 60.8 por ciento y una especificidad del 71.64 por ciento En base a los resultados obtenidos, subrayamos la importancia de la afectacion ungueal en relacion a la presencia de entesopatia y destacamos el rol del target NAPSI en este campo.
Phases of Change in the Patient with Alzheimer's Dementia: A Conceptual Dimension for Defining Health Care Management

Since the progressive nature of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders of later life gradually imposes a series of significant limitations upon the patient, a successful clinical management program rests upon a conceptualization of changes in the patient. Postulating psychologic reactions helps professionals to understand and respond to the patient's needs and feelings at different stages of the disease. The phases discussed here provide the basis for defining treatment goals and management plans, selecting therapeutic strategies, identifying needed resources, and evolving innovative approaches to patient care.
Challenges in Interactive Multimedia Document Consistency Verification

A multimedia document may be specified manually or automatically generated, instantiated, adapted or has its content and structure dynamically edited. Therefore, changes in a document specification may occur from its creation to its execution. Such different phases and changes performed over a document caracterize its life cycle. It is important to maintain multimedia document consistency along its life cycle, which means that document execution should always follow guidelines expressed at creation time. Different works in the literature present approaches for addressing this issue by validating multimedia documents along different phases of a document life cycle.
Tumor and lymph node lymphangiogenesis—impact on cancer metastasis

The extent of lymph node (LN) metastasis is a major determinant for the staging and the prognosis of most human malignancies and often guides therapeutic decisions. Although the clinical significance of LN involvement is well documented, little has been known about the molecular mechanisms that promote tumor spread via lymphatic vessels to sentinel and distal LN and beyond. However, recent discoveries have identified novel lymphatic‐specific markers, and the newly discovered lymphangiogenesis factors vascular endothelial growth factor‐C (VEGF‐C) and VEGF‐D were found to promote tumor‐associated lymphatic vessel growth in mouse tumor models, leading to enhanced tumor spread to sentinel LN. Our recent findings indicate that VEGF‐A also acts as a potent tumor lymphangiogenesis factor that promotes lymphatic tumor spread. VEGF‐A overexpressing primary tumors induced sentinel LN lymphangiogenesis even before metastasizing and maintained their lymphangiogenic activity after metastasis to draining LN. Our recent studies showed that primary human melanomas that later metastasized were characterized by increased lymphangiogenesis and that the degree of tumor lymphangiogenesis can serve as a novel predictor of LN metastasis and overall patient survival, independently of tumor thickness. Tumor lymphangiogenesis also significantly predicted the presence of sentinel LN metastases at the time of surgical excision of the primary melanoma. Together, these findings suggest that tumor lymphangiogenesis actively contributes to cancer dissemination, that blockade of lymphatic vessel growth might inhibit tumor metastasis to LN, and that the extent of tumor‐associated lymphangiogenesis could serve as a novel, prognostic parameter for the metastatic risk of human cancers.
Stress Lesion of the Proximal Medial Ulna in a Throwing Athlete

In baseball players, elbow injuries are the second leading cause of time lost from participation; shoulder injuries are the first. Biomechanical studies have demonstrated that high valgus stress to the medial elbow structures peaks just after the cocking phase of throwing. This stress creates a valgus overload syndrome, which has been well described. Lesions attributed to this mechanism include medial collateral ligament sprains, flexor and pronator muscle strain and tendinitis, ulnar nerve neuritis, and avulsion fracture of the medial epicondyle. In this case report, we report a stress lesion of the proximal, medial ulna in a baseball pitcher.
Functional ecology of an Antarctic Dry Valley

The McMurdo Dry Valleys are the largest ice-free region in Antarctica and are critically at risk from climate change. The terrestrial landscape is dominated by oligotrophic mineral soils and extensive exposed rocky surfaces where biota are largely restricted to microbial communities, although their ability to perform the majority of geobiological processes has remained largely uncharacterized. Here, we identified functional traits that drive microbial survival and community assembly, using a metagenomic approach with GeoChip-based functional gene arrays to establish metabolic capabilities in communities inhabiting soil and rock surface niches in McKelvey Valley. Major pathways in primary metabolism were identified, indicating significant plasticity in autotrophic, heterotrophic, and diazotrophic strategies supporting microbial communities. This represents a major advance beyond biodiversity surveys in that we have now identified how putative functional ecology drives microbial community assembly. Significant differences were apparent between open soil, hypolithic, chasmoendolithic, and cryptoendolithic communities. A suite of previously unappreciated Antarctic microbial stress response pathways, thermal, osmotic, and nutrient limitation responses were identified and related to environmental stressors, offering tangible clues to the mechanisms behind the enduring success of microorganisms in this seemingly inhospitable terrain. Rocky substrates exposed to larger fluctuations in environmental stress supported greater functional diversity in stress-response pathways than soils. Soils comprised a unique reservoir of genes involved in transformation of organic hydrocarbons and lignin-like degradative pathways. This has major implications for the evolutionary origin of the organisms, turnover of recalcitrant substrates in Antarctic soils, and predicting future responses to anthropogenic pollution.
Predictive pore‐scale modeling of two‐phase flow in mixed wet media

We show how to predict flow properties for a variety of porous media using pore‐scale modeling with geologically realistic networks. Starting with a network representation of Berea sandstone, the pore size distribution is adjusted to match capillary pressure for different media, keeping the rank order of pore sizes and the network topology fixed. Then predictions of single and multiphase properties are made with no further adjustment of the model. We successfully predict relative permeability and oil recovery for water wet, oil wet, and mixed wet data sets. For water flooding we introduce a method for assigning contact angles to match measured wettability indices. The aim of this work is not simply to match experiments but to use easily acquired data to predict difficult to measure properties. Furthermore, the variation of these properties in the field, due to wettability trends and different pore structures, can now be predicted reliably.
An age–period–cohort analysis of cancer incidence among the oldest old, Utah 1973–2002

We used age–period–cohort (APC) analyses to describe the simultaneous effects of age, period, and cohort on cancer incidence rates in an attempt to understand the population dynamics underlying their patterns among those aged 85+. Data from the Utah Cancer Registry (UCR), the US Census, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) programme were used to generate age-specific estimates of cancer incidence at ages 65–99 from 1973 to 2002 for Utah. Our results showed increasing cancer incidence rates up to the 85–89 age group followed by declines at ages 90–99 when not confounded by the separate influences of period and cohort effects. We found significant period and cohort effects, suggesting the role of environmental mechanisms in cancer incidence trends between the ages of 85 and 100.
The Role of Genetic Polymorphisms in the Chemokine and their Receptors and Cytokines in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Infection

The natural history and pathogenic processes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV1) infection are complex and variable, and depend on many viral and host factors and their interactions (Pantaleo et al., 1997). Individuals are not equal susceptible to the infection and have differences in their viral set points, rates of decline of CD4+ T cells, levels of viremia, emergence of citotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) escape mutants, and development of opportunistic infections resulting in varying incubation periods of the virus (Kaur & Mehra, 2009). HIV-1 infected individuals present different rates of disease progression; while a majority of individual progress to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) after the infection, most of them can be turned aviremic even the absence of antiretroviral therapy (ARV) up to ten years and are called typical progressors. Most importantly, ~5% to 10% of persistently infected individuals show no signs of disease progression for over 12 years and remain asymptomatic and aviremic and are classified as long term nonprogressors (LTNPs). On the other hand, rapid progressors are individuals that rapidly progress to AIDS within four years after primary HIV-1 infection and some individuals have been known to progress to AIDS and death within a year after primary infection (Fauci et al., 1996; Rosenberg & Fauci, 1991). Genetic factors may be one of the host factors responsible for the susceptibility to infection and disease progression. However, no single gene or polymorphism is likely to be responsible for these effects. Brass et al. (2008) have reported that HIV-1 uses at least 250 host-derived dependency factors for gaining entry into target cells and completing its life cycle. Hence, multiple genetic factors are expected to be involved in susceptibility, disease pathogenesis, and progression following HIV-1 infection. Some of these genes that have been established with HIV/AIDS conclusively involve are: (1) genes influencing viral entry by altering the expression on cell surface the levels of chemokine receptors and their ligands as well cytokines (Seisdedos & Parmentier, 2006; Reiche et al., 2007); (2) genes involved in anti-HIV immune response including the antiviral Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like 3G (APOBEC3G) gene family on chromosome 22q13 (An et al., 2009); the virus restriction factor Tripartite Interaction Motif 5  (TRIM5) on