Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urban Aging , Social Isolation , and Emergency Preparedness

ifa global ageing 2010 VOL. 6 No 2 Socially isolated older persons are difficult to find. Like other vulnerable populations, they tend to be invisible. Unfortunately, it takes a crisis to bring the issues of social isolation and vulnerability among older persons to the policy agenda. For example, thousands of older New Yorkers were left dangerously isolated immediately after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 (O’Brien, 2003). Similarly, during the 2003 summer heat wave, there were 2,000 “excess deaths,” in Paris, mostly among persons age 75+ (ORS, 2003). In 1995, Chicago suffered a heat wave. Klinenberg’s “autopsy” of this disaster highlighted the importance of neighborhood characteristics since he found that socially isolated older persons had higher mortality rates in poor neighborhoods with abandoned lots than in equally poor, but more socially-connected neighborhoods (Klinenberg, 2002). Hurricane Katrina reminded us of how visible otherwise invisible problems can become. In 2003, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) recognized that social policy innovations will be required to meet this challenge (ICMA, 2003). They urged local governments to “begin with an analysis of the distribution of population and amenities as these pertain to older adults and active living. ” In 2007, the World Health Organization launched the Global Age-Friendly Cities Project, designed to encourage cities to assess how well they are responding to the needs of their aging populations1. Despite these calls for action, not enough has been done by cities around the world on this agenda, and too little is known about the spatial distribution of older vulnerable persons, including isolated persons across city neighborhoods (Glass & Balfour, 2003). This paper provides a critique of an individual approach to emergency preparedness for older persons and discusses the value of incorporating geographic needs analysis into the planning process. By Michael K. Gusmano and Victor G. Rodwin
A survey of data mining and knowledge discovery process models and methodologies

Abstract Up to now, many data mining and knowledge discovery methodologies and process models have been developed, with varying degrees of success. In this paper, we describe the most used (in industrial and academic projects) and cited (in scientific literature) data mining and knowledge discovery methodologies and process models, providing an overview of its evolution along data mining and knowledge discovery history and setting down the state of the art in this topic. For every approach, we have provided a brief description of the proposed knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) process, discussing about special features, outstanding advantages and disadvantages of every approach. Apart from that, a global comparative of all presented data mining approaches is provided, focusing on the different steps and tasks in which every approach interprets the whole KDD process. As a result of the comparison, we propose a new data mining and knowledge discovery process named refined data mining process for developing any kind of data mining and knowledge discovery project. The refined data mining process is built on specific steps taken from analyzed approaches.
VCSEL Arrays for Multicore Fiber Interconnects With an Aggregate Capacity of 240 Gb/s

We report on the performance and uniformity of dense 2-D six-channel 850-nm vertical cavity surface-emitting laser arrays intended for multimode multicore fiber interconnects. Two circular array designs, differing in their common cathode configuration, are investigated and compared. We demonstrate error-free data transmission (bit-error-rate <;10-12) up to 40 Gb/s and 85 °C for all channels, which can enable an aggregate capacity of 240 Gb/s over a single multicore fiber.
Developmental expression of the SRF co‐activator MAL in brain: role in regulating dendritic morphology

The dynamic changes in dendritic morphology displayed by developing and mature neurons have stimulated interest in deciphering the signaling pathways involved. Recent studies have identified megakaryocytic acute leukemia (MAL), a serum response factor (SRF) co‐activator, as a key component of a signaling pathway linking changes in the actin cytoskeleton to SRF‐mediated transcription. To help define the role of this pathway in regulating dendritic morphology, we have characterized the pattern of MAL expression in the developing and adult brain, and have examined its role in regulating dendritic morphology in cultured cortical neurons. In histological studies of mouse brain, we found prominent expression of MAL in neurons in adult hippocampus and cerebral cortex. MAL immunostaining revealed localization of this protein in neuronal cell bodies and apical dendrites. During development, an increase in MAL expression occurs during the second post‐natal week. Expression of dominant negative MAL constructs or MAL siRNA in cortical neurons grown in primary culture reduces the number of dendritic processes and decreases the basal level of SRF‐mediated transcription. Taken together, these findings indicate that the MAL‐SRF signaling pathway plays a key role in regulating dendritic morphology.
An extended generalized sidelobe canceller in time and frequency domain

In this paper, we propose a so called GSC-ATF approach, which is an extended generalized sidelobe canceller (GSC) suitable for arbitrary transfer functions (TFs) relating the signal source and each sensor. The difference between GSC-ATF and conventional beamforming methods is that the latter one uses pure delay channel model. Consequently, the signal cancellation problem is alleviated while it is serious in the conventional beamforming in the presence of reverberant and multipath effects. The implementations of GSC-ATF in time and frequency domain are discussed. Among them, the frequency domain implementation has a lower computation load in the case of large filter length as well as faster convergence speed.
Prevention of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury

Purpose of review Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) is a frequently occurring complication. It carries the risks of increasing mortality and development of chronic kidney disease. The complex pathophysiologic mechanisms still remain unexplained to a large extent. As a result, there is a considerable lack of sufficient therapeutic strategies with renal replacement therapy still representing the cornerstone for the treatment of severe AKI. Recent findings The identification of patients at high risk for the development of CSA-AKI and the implementation of new biomarkers are the initial steps to be taken toward the prevention of AKI. The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes guidelines make appropriate recommendations to alleviate the risk of AKI, including the avoidance of nephrotoxins, the application of certain therapeutic measures for rapid initial hemodynamic stabilization and tight control of blood glucose levels. Complement-balanced crystalloids should be used instead of physiologic saline solutions to reduce the occurrence of CSA-AKI. Moreover, several recent studies have demonstrated protective effects as well as improved patient outcomes of remote ischemic preconditioning in high-risk patients. On the other hand, up to now, the perioperative use of statins for renal protection lacks the scientific basis. Summary The identification of high-risk patients for AKI and the adherence to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes guidelines constitute the mainstays in the management of CSA-AKI. It is of paramount importance to always maintain a sufficient perfusion pressure throughout the perioperative period. In patients at high risk, the use of new biomarkers and remote ischemic preconditioning should be considered.
Risk factors for training-related injuries among men and women in basic combat training.

PURPOSE Past investigations indicate that training-related injuries are associated with certain performance-oriented measures of physical fitness and certain lifestyle characteristics. This study examined associations between injuries, direct (physiological) measures of physical fitness, and lifestyle characteristics. METHODS Subjects were 756 men and 474 women performing the standardized activities involved in U.S. Army Basic Combat Training (BCT). Before BCT, a subsample of subjects (182 men and 168 women) were administered a series of tests that included a treadmill running test (peak VO2), dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (for body composition), several measures of muscle strength, a hamstring flexibility test, and a vertical jump. A questionnaire addressed smoking habits and prior physical activity. All subjects were administered the Army Physical Fitness test consisting of push-ups, sit-ups, and a 3.2-km run. Gender, age, stature, and body mass were obtained from physical examination records. Injuries incurred during BCT were transcribed from medical records; for each medical visit, the diagnosis, anatomical location, disposition (final outcome of visit), and days of limited duty were recorded. RESULTS Women had over twice the injury rate of men. For men and women, fewer push-ups, slower 3.2-km run times, lower peak VO2, and cigarette smoking were risk factors for time-loss injury. Among the men only, lower levels of physical activity before BCT and both high and low levels of flexibility were also time-loss injury risk factors. Multivariate analysis revealed that lower peak VO2 and cigarette smoking were independent risk factors for time-loss injury. CONCLUSIONS Lower aerobic capacity and cigarette smoking were independently associated with a higher likelihood of injury in both men and women during a standardized program of physical training. Further studies are needed to assess associations between injury and body composition and muscular strength.
Group nightmares about escape from ex-homeland.

Escape nightmares (recurrent nightmares about re-escaping ex-homeland) were studied via a 79-item questionnaire administered to 83 Czechoslovak refugees who were living in Switzerland. The key features of the nightmare were not related significantly to the refugees' age, gender, occupation, or educational level. Further analyses dealt with mutual relationships of the various reported aspects of the escape nightmares. The reports of dreaming about arrival in the ex-homeland by a "mistake," such as boarding a wrong airplane (i.e., a Freudian parapraxis), were associated with higher levels of (subsequent) dream anxiety, with waking up due to mounting dream tension, and with the dreamer not knowing at first upon awakening whether he was now in the free world or elsewhere.
Linear complexity approximate LP decoding of LDPC codes: Generalizations and improvements

The iterative algorithm, for low complexity linear programming (LP) decoding of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, proposed by Vontobel and Koetter, is considered. In this paper the convergence rate and computational complexity of this algorithm are studied using a scheduling scheme that we propose. In particular we are interested in obtaining a feasible vector in the LP decoding problem, with objective function value whose distance to the minimum, normalized by the block length, can be made arbitrarily small. It is shown that such a feasible vector can be obtained with linear, in the block length, computational complexity. Improved bounds on the convergence rate are also presented. The results extend to generalized LDPC (GLDPC) codes. It is also shown that previous results for LDPC and GLDPC codes, on the ability of the LP decoder to correct some fixed fraction of errors, hold with linear computational complexity when using the approximate iterative LP decoder.
High Temperature Operation at 225°C of a Half Bridge Module using GaN HFETs

AlGaN/GaN HFETs are expected to be a good candidates for power switching application at high temperatures. We optimized the fabrication process of the AlGaN/GaN HFET. A low specific on-state resistance of 6.3 mOmegacm2 and a large breakdown voltage of 600 V were achieved at 225degC. We also designed and fabricated a half bridge module using the AlGaN/GaN HFETs and SiC SBDs. Switching characteristics of the AlGaN/GaN HFET were investigated. The small turn-on delay of 7.2 nsec, which is 1/10 of Si MOSFET, was observed. The switching characteristics of the HFET showed no significant degradation up to 225degC
Unique features of internal initiation of hepatitis C virus RNA translation.

The question of whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is translated by a mechanism of internal ribosome entry has been examined by testing whether insertion of HCV sequences between the two cistrons of a dicistronic mRNA promotes translation of the downstream cistron in rabbit reticulocyte lysates. Deletion analysis showed that efficient internal initiation required a segment of the HCV genome extending from about nucleotides 40–370 and that deletions from the 3′‐end of this element were highly deleterious. As the authentic initiation codon for HCV polyprotein synthesis is at nucleotide 342, this demonstrates that, besides 5′‐UTR sequences, a short length of HCV coding sequences is required for internal initiation. This finding was confirmed in transfection assays of BT7‐H cells and was shown to be independent of the nature of the downstream reporter cistron. The strong requirement for coding sequences is in sharp contrast to internal initiation of picornavirus RNA translation. As a probable correlate with this, it was also found that the efficiency of internal initiation was only marginally compromised when the authentic initiation codon was mutated to a non‐AUG codon, again in sharp contrast with the picornaviruses. The finding that coding sequences are required for internal initiation has important implications for the design of experiments to test for internal initiation of translation of cellular mRNAs.
Passionate kissing and microlesions of the oral mucosa: possible role in AIDS transmission.

To the Editor. — Kissing generally is considered protective sex. 1 We do not agree, since the oral mucosa is very fragile. In fact, hepatitis B infection may occur by the oral route through microlesions present in the oral mucosa (inapparent-parenteral route) 2,3 and not by the classic enteric route. 4 Since it is impossible to verify the presence of microlesions in the oral mucosa by inspection, we suggest that the presence of blood in saliva is indirect evidence of them. After encouraging preliminary results, 5 we have verified this phenomenon by carrying out the following experiment. Study. — Ninety healthy subjects (mean age, 25 years; range, 17 to 35 years) forming 45 heterosexual couples completed this study. Each subject was given six containers numbered 1 to 6 and was asked to collect saliva after carrying out the following three events in their normal way: immediately before and two or three
SharedView system: visual communication support for spatial workspace collaboration (abstract)

When people are geographically distributed, video can b e a very useful means to transmit visual information . Currently, there are some video-mediated collaboration systems tryin g to solve some of the problems involved in remote visua l communication [1] . Since most of the research thus far ha s concentrated on office support systems, leas information has been gathered on problems that are less conspicuous to th e office environment. It may be a good idea to try supporting other kinds of collaboration such as manufacturing, fo r instance, to find other factors that will help to develop a more effective video communication system.
Polymer-Waveguide-Based Board-Level Optical Interconnect Technology for Datacom Applications

On the basis of a realized 12times10 Gb/s card-to-card optical link demonstrator, the capabilities of a polymer-waveguide-based board-level optical interconnect technology are presented. The conception and realization of the modular building blocks required for this board-level optical interconnect technology are described in detail. In particular, we report on the fabrication and characterization of board-integrated optical low-loss polymer waveguides that are compatible with printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing processes. We also explain our fully passive alignment technique, superseding time-consuming active positioning of components and connectors. To realize optical transceiver modules comprising vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays with laser drivers and photodetector arrays with transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs), a mass-production concept based on wafer-level processing has been elaborated and successfully implemented.
Cardiorespiratory Function Does Not Improve 2 Years After Posterior Surgical Correction of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

Study Design. A prospective evaluation of cardiorespiratory function following spinal fusion in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Objective. To evaluate the cardiopulmonary function during exercise in patients with severe AIS, before and 2 years after undergoing a posterior spinal fusion. Summary of Background Data. After surgical correction of scoliosis, a greater cardiorespiratory adaptation to exercise would be expected from correction of the rib cage associated with the spine deformity. However, there is no clear evidence regarding whether tolerance to maximum exercise improves in the medium term after surgery in patients with severe curves. Methods. We include patients with AIS proposed for posterior surgical correction aging between 12 and 17 years. Every patient had a Cobb angle >45° and a Lenke type 1A scoliosis. Cardiac and respiratory functional measures, such as heart rate and blood pressure, maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max), eliminated volume of carbon dioxide (VCO2), quotient between ventilation and volume of exhaled carbon dioxide (VE/CO2), respiratory exchange rate, ventilatory capacity at maximal exercise (VEmax), were recorded before and 2 years after surgery. Results. Twenty patients were included in our study, 15 girls and 5 boys, with an average age of 13 years. The main scoliotic curve was corrected in the coronal plane in an average of 71.9%. The maximal aerobic power expressed by body weight normalized VO2max was found preoperatively to have an average of 30.9 ± 6.2 mL/kg/minute, indicating a poor aerobic capacity, which did not improve at final follow-up, decreasing to a mean value of 29.3 ± 5.7 but without statistical significance. However, the percentages of curve correction showed a statistically significant correlation with VO2max (r = 0.534; P < 0.05). Conclusion. Patients with severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis Lenke type 1A showed limited cardiorespiratory tolerance to maximum exercise that did not improve 2 years after surgery. Level of Evidence: 3
“Someone Like Me can be Successful”: Do College Students Need Same-Gender Role Models?

Two studies examined the extent to which matching on gender determines the impact of career role models on the self. Because women face negative stereotypes regarding their competence in the workplace, they may derive particular benefit from the example of an outstanding woman who illustrates the possibility of overcoming gender barriers to achieve success. In contrast, men may not have the same need for same-gender role models. Study 1 assessed the impact of gender-matched and mismatched career role models on the self-perceptions of female and male participants. In Study 2, female and male participants were asked to describe a career role model who had inspired them in the past. In both studies, results indicated that female participants were more inspired by outstanding female than male role models; in contrast, gender did not determine the impact of role models on male participants.
Combination of biometric data and learning algorithms for both generation and application of a secure communication link

We describe a novel secure communication system (SCS) via public networks. For the generation of a unique pair of encryption module (EM) and decryption module (DM), learning algorithms are applied in combination with biometric data of the future DM-user. Subsequently, EM can be attached to any computer to form a generally usable encryption unit (EU) while DM, if attached to another computer to form the matching decryption unit (DU), can only be activated by the specific pair-generating DM-user. EU transforms spatial data to temporal data by means of spatio-temporal (ST) filters. DU uses a combination of analytical- and learning algorithms for decryption.
Effect of dicumyl peroxide on space charge accumulation characteristics of cross-linked polyethylene

The role of DCP on the space charge performance of XLPE was investigated in this paper. Space charge accumulation characteristics of samples were researched through pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) and the trapping behavior was studied by surface potential decay (SPD). The results show that the sample without DCP is injected with homo-charges. However, with the increase of DCP concentration, hetero-charges are firstly found and then homo-charges can be found in the samples with higher concentration of DCP. Less space charge as well as more shallow traps can be found in the samples with 1wt% and 1.5wt% DCP. It is indicated that the change of the microstructure and the residues of crosslinking by-products may play a significant role in space charge accumulation and trap formation process in this research.
Towards cross-lingual patent wikification

This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of cross-lingual patent wikification, which links technical terms in a patent application document to their corresponding Wikipedia articles in different languages. The number of links increases definitely because different language versions of Wikipedia cover different sets of technical terms. We present an experiment of Japanese-to-English cross-lingual anchor text extraction using a dedicated technical term extraction system and a patent parallel corpus. Cross-lingual anchor text extraction retrieves about 10% more technical terms linked to Wikipedia articles than monolingual extraction. We also show that restricting anchor texts to technical terms in a specified Wikipedia category has effect of reducing the number of destination article candidates.
Hyperbaric Oxygen: Its Mechanisms and Efficacy

Background: This article outlines therapeutic mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and reviews data on its efficacy for clinical problems seen by plastic and reconstructive surgeons. Methods: The information in this review was obtained from the peer-reviewed medical literature. Results: Principal mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen are based on intracellular generation of reactive species of oxygen and nitrogen. Reactive species are recognized to play a central role in cell signal transduction cascades, and the discussion will focus on these pathways. Systematic reviews and randomized clinical trials support clinical use of hyperbaric oxygen for refractory diabetic wound-healing and radiation injuries; treatment of compromised flaps and grafts and ischemia-reperfusion disorders is supported by animal studies and a small number of clinical trials, but further studies are warranted. Conclusions: Clinical and mechanistic data support use of hyperbaric oxygen for a variety of disorders. Further work is needed to clarify clinical utility for some disorders and to hone patient selection criteria to improve cost efficacy.