Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Subclinical hypothyroidism in Korean preterm infants associated with high levels of iodine in breast milk.

CONTEXT The dietary iodine intake of lactating women has been reported to be high in Korea. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess iodine balance and to determine its relationship with thyroid function in preterm infants. DESIGN Thyroid functions of preterm infants born at 34 wk gestation or less were evaluated in the first (n = 31) and third (n = 19) weeks. Mothers' breast milk (BM) and random urine samples of infants were taken on the same days for thyroid function tests. RESULTS Iodine concentrations in BM were very high (198-8484 microg/liter), and one third of the infants had an iodine intake of more than 100 microg/kg per day at the third week after birth (excessive iodine intake group). At that time, the levels of TSH were positively correlated with urinary iodine (r = 0.622; P = 0.004). The frequencies of subclinical hypothyroidism were high in the excessive iodine intake group at the third and sixth weeks. The estimated daily iodine intake at the third week (51.2 +/- 45.5 vs. 149.0 +/- 103.8 microg/kg per day; P = 0.033), urinary iodine at the third week (913.2 +/- 1179.7 vs. 1651.3 +/- 1135.2 microg/liter; P = 0.051), and estimated daily iodine intake at the sixth week (32.8 +/- 35.5 vs. 92.1 +/- 51.2 microg/kg per day; P = 0.032) were significantly higher in infants with subclinical hypothyroidism than in controls. CONCLUSIONS Excessive iodine intake from BM contributed to subclinical hypothyroidism in these preterm Korean infants.
Sensory Augmentation for the Blind

Common navigational aids used by blind travelers during large-scale navigation divert attention away from important cues of the immediate environment (i.e., approaching vehicles). Sensory augmentation devices, relying on principles similar to those at work in sensory substitution, can potentially bypass the bottleneck of attention through sub-cognitive implementation of a set of rules coupling motor actions with sensory stimulation. We provide a late blind subject with a vibrotactile belt that continually signals the direction of magnetic north. The subject completed a set of behavioral tests before and after an extended training period. The tests were complemented by questionnaires and interviews. This newly supplied information improved performance on different time scales. In a pointing task we demonstrate an instant improvement of performance based on the signal provided by the device. Furthermore, the signal was helpful in relevant daily tasks, often complicated for the blind, such as keeping a direction over longer distances or taking shortcuts in familiar environments. A homing task with an additional attentional load demonstrated a significant improvement after training. The subject found the directional information highly expedient for the adjustment of his inner maps of familiar environments and describes an increase in his feeling of security when exploring unfamiliar environments with the belt. The results give evidence for a firm integration of the newly supplied signals into the behavior of this late blind subject with better navigational performance and more courageous behavior in unfamiliar environments. Most importantly, the complementary information provided by the belt lead to a positive emotional impact with enhanced feeling of security. The present experimental approach demonstrates the positive potential of sensory augmentation devices for the help of handicapped people.
Progenitor‐Enriched Adipose Tissue Transplantation as Rescue for Breast Implant Complications

Abstract: Breast enhancement with artificial implants is one of the most frequently performed cosmetic surgeries but is associated with various complications, such as capsular contracture, that lead to implant removal or replacement at a relatively high rate. For replacement, we used transplantation of progenitor‐supplemented adipose tissue (cell‐assisted lipotransfer; CAL) in 15 patients. The stromal vascular fraction containing adipose tissue progenitor cells obtained from liposuction aspirates was used to enrich for progenitor cells in the graft. Overall, clinical results were very satisfactory, and no major abnormalities were seen on magnetic resonance imaging or mammogram after 12 months. Postoperative atrophy of injected fat was minimal and did not change substantially after 2 months. Surviving fat volume at 12 months was 155 ± 50 mL (Right; mean ± SD) and 143 ± 80 mL (Left) following lipoinjection from an initial mean of 264 mL. These preliminary results suggest that CAL is a suitable methodology for the replacement of breast implants.
Adaptive Collision Culling for Massive Simulations by a Parallel and Context-Aware Sweep and Prune Algorithm

We present an improved parallel Sweep and Prune algorithm that solves the dynamic box intersection problem in three dimensions. It scales up to very large datasets, which makes it suitable for broad phase collision detection in complex moving body simulations. Our algorithm gracefully handles high-density scenarios, including challenging clustering behavior, by using a double-axis sweeping approach and a cache-friendly succinct data structure. The algorithm is realized by three parallel stages for sorting, candidate generation, and object pairing. By the use of temporal coherence, our sorting stage runs with close to optimal load balancing. Furthermore, our approach is characterized by a work-division strategy that relies on adaptive partitioning, which leads to almost ideal scalability. In addition, for scenarios that involves intense clustering along several axes simultaneously, we propose an enhancement that increases the context-awareness of the algorithm. By exploiting information gathered along three orthogonal axes, an efficient choice of what range query to perform can be made per object during run-time. Experimental results show high performance for up to millions of objects on modern multi-core CPUs.
Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Security in Finnish Companies

Knowledge management includes several aspects, which can sometimes be even contradictory when operationalized in the daily activities of an organization. In this study, we empirically explore the knowledge management activities that large and small and medium sized companies in Finland have. The focus is especially on sharing and securing knowledge. The theoretical background for the paper is in the broader frame of knowledge management literature, and especially the knowledge sharing and knowledge security viewpoints. The empirical study offers a view on the status of both knowledge sharing and knowledge security in companies of different sizes. The study is able to identify the main challenges in knowledge sharing among companies of different sizes. Furthermore, the areas of knowledge security that still need more careful attention and development actions among companies in their daily operations, are also identified.
The Broad-Complex gene is a tissue-specific modulator of the ecdysone response of the Drosophila hsp23 gene

The steroid hormone ecdysone causes dramatic changes in the genetic programs leading to the pupariation of Drosophila melanogaster, and the Broad-Complex (BR-C) gene is known to play a key role in this process. Previously we showed that BR-C regulates developmental changes in transcription and chromatin structure of the 67B heat shock gene cluster, which contains four small hsp genes. Importantly, the downregulation of the hsp23 gene in the BR-C mutants correlates with the absence of a DNase I-hypersensitive site (DHS) at position -1400. To study the functional importance of the DHS-1400, we have introduced genomic fragments containing a modified hsp23 gene into the Drosophila germ line. Our analysis shows that the ecdysone response element is necessary but not sufficient for full developmental expression of hsp23 in the late third instar and that there is, indeed, another regulatory element, in the vicinity of DHS-1400. We also show that hsp23 developmental expression is not tissue specific. A construct lacking the ecdysone response element is unable to direct normal hsp23 expression in all tissues except the brain. Similarly, brain-specific expression is BR-C independent, although in the other tissues we find different requirements for BR-C genetic functions. The effect of the br mutations is restricted to wing imaginal discs and midgut tissue, while that of 2Bc is restricted to the fat body and Malpighian tubules, and mutations in the rbp group have no effect in any of the tissues studied. Thus, BR-C regulatory action is mediated through different genetic functions in a tissue-specific manner.
ViZPar: A GUI for ZPar with Manual Feature Selection

Phrase-structure and dependency parsers are used massively in the Natural Language Processing community. ZPar implements fast and accurate versions of shift-reduce dependency and phrase-structure parsing algorithms. We present ViZPar, a tool that provides an enhacing of the usability of ZPar, including parameter selection and output visualization. Moreover, ViZPar allows manual feature selection which makes the tool very useful for people interested in obtaining the best parser through feature engineering, provided that the feature templates included in ZPar are optimized for English and Chinese. During the demo session, we will run ViZPar for the dependency and the phrase-structure versions and we will explain the potentialities of such a system.
Partitioning of milk accumulation between cisternal and alveolar compartments of the bovine udder: relationship to production loss during once daily milking

Experiments were undertaken to validate a method (using adrenaline injection) for determination of the size of cisternal and alveolar compartments in the udder, to use this method to determine the pattern of milk accumulation in the udder over time and to determine the relationship between the size of the alveolar and cisternal compartments and tolerance of once daily milking. Cows received intrajugular injections of adrenaline (3 mg) immediately before milking, to block milk ejection and allow harvesting of the cisternal milk fraction. This was followed by removal of the alveolar fraction 30 min later after intrajugular oxytocin (5 i.u.) injection. Results obtained were similar to those obtained by catheter drainage. The alveolar compartment was 90% full at 16 h post milking while the cisternal compartment filled more slowly and was only 70% full at 24 h post milking. At full capacity (measured at 40 h), the volumes of milk contained in the cisternal and alveolar compartments were similar. In a further experiment involving identical twin cows, it was shown that the greater the degree of filling of the cisternal compartment at 24 h, the lower was the production loss on once daily milking. This suggests that the freedom of the alveoli to drain was an important factor in the production loss on once daily milking. Although there were significant correlations within twin sets for milk yield and the size of udder compartments, the relationship within twin sets for yield loss on once daily milking was not statistically significant.
Epidemiology of Nosocomial Infections Due to Gram-Negative Bacilli: Aspects Relevant to Development and Use of Vaccines

As part of an epidemiological study of nosocomial infections due to gram-negative bacilli, 5,457 such infections reported to the Center for Disease Control from eight hospitals participating in a collaborative surveillance system were analyzed to determine (1) which infections most often resulted in bacteremia or fatality, and in which patients; (2) when, during hospitalization or in relation to selected procedures, each type of infection occurred; (3) which patients were at greater risk of developing each specific gram-negative infection; and (4) whether rates of infection, bacteremia, or fatality differed by infecting organism. The results of these analyses for four sites of infection (urinary tract, lower respiratory tract, surgical wounds, and bloodstream) and six gram-negative pathogens (Escherichia coli, Proteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter, Serratia, and Klebsiella) are presented. Only minor differences among the six study strains were noted with respect to the likelihood of each genus causing specific infections, secondary bacteremia, or death. Pseudomonas and Serratia were particularly important as causes of infection in patients who were hospitalized for a long time. In conclusion, immunotherapy (with a vaccine or hyperimmune serum) effective against these six common nosocomial pathogens would probably have a major impact on morbidity and fatality due to hospital-acquired infections that are not preventable by currently available measures.
Nursing staff competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction in elderly care: a comparison of home-based care and nursing homes.

AIMS The aims of this study were to: (1) compare older people care nursing staff's perceptions of their competence, work strain and work satisfaction in nursing homes and home-based care; and (2) to examine determinants of work satisfaction in both care settings. BACKGROUND The shift in older people care from hospitals to community-based facilities and home care has had implications for nursing practice. Lack of competence development, high levels of work strain and low levels of work satisfaction among nursing staff in both care settings have been associated with high turnover. Few studies have compared staff perceptions of their competence and work in nursing homes as opposed to home-based care. DESIGN A cross-sectional questionnaire survey. METHODS Nursing staff perceptions of their competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction were measured by questionnaire in 2003 in two older people care organizations in Sweden. Comparisons of all outcome variables were made between care settings both within and between the two organizations. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine predictors of work satisfaction in home care and nursing homes respectively. RESULTS In general, staff in home-based care reported significantly less sufficient knowledge compared with staff in nursing homes. However, home care staff experienced significantly less physical and emotional strain compared with staff in nursing homes. Ratings of work-related exhaustion, mental energy and overall work satisfaction did not differ significantly between care settings. In both care settings, work-related exhaustion was the strongest (inverse) predictor of work satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS Future interventions should focus on counteracting work-related exhaustion and improving competence development to improve work satisfaction among older people care nursing staff in both care settings. Relevance to clinical practice. Work-related exhaustion and lack of competence development may have significant negative implications for work satisfaction among older people care nursing staff in both home care and nursing homes.
Proteolytic Enzymes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Along its length, the intestine is lined by a soft and delicate mucosal layer, -1 mm thick, but 400 m2 in area. The mucosa is a highly vascular, loose connective-tissue matrix containing structural collagens, glycoproteins such as laminin and fibronectin, chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans such as versican, hyaluronic acid, and ground substance. These are secreted by lamina propria stromal cells (also known as myofibroblasts or mesenchymal cells), and where the stromal cells abut the epithelium and endothelium, there is synergy between the two cell types to construct the basement membrane, containing laminin, heparan sulphate proteoglycans, entactin, and collagen IV. Of all the tissues in the body, the intestinal lamina propria is the most plastic and the one in which extracellular matrix degradation and repair must be tightly controlled. For example, whereas matrix degradation in the rheumatoid joint causes pain, deformity, and disability, matrix degradation in the gut leads to ulceration, diarrhea, malabsorption, and protein-losing enteropathy . Inflammatory cells such as neutrophils, macrophages, eosinophils, and mast cells are increased in numbers in the mucoqa in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although there is a great deal of interest in the cytokines and toxic molecules produced by these cells, they are also a rich source of proteolytic enzymes, such as the serine protease neutrophil elastase, and various acidic cysteine proteases. In addition, endogenous fibroblastlike stromal cells are a potent source of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Although in health, stromal cells secrete matrix and low amounts MMPs and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs) as part of nor-
The Pathogenesis of Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody Renal Vasculitis

The vasculitides comprise a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by inflammation and destruction of blood vessels. Vessels of any size can be involved which explains the diverse spectrum of clinical diseases attributed to vasculitis. While the immunological basis of disease for vasculitis was recognized over thirty years ago,[1] a standardized classification system was only adopted nearly twenty years later. The initial classification system proposed by the American College of Rheumatology attempted to classify vasculitis according to standardized criteria. [2] The subsequent system described by the Chapel Hill Conference on the Nomen‐ clature of Systemic Vasculitis[3] introduced a system which coupled contemporary commonly used disease names and the size of vessel(s) involved.
Urokinase plasminogen activator: A prognostic marker in multiple types of cancer

Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) is a serine protease causally involved in cancer invasion and metastasis. Consistent with its role in cancer spread, uPA has been shown to be a prognostic marker in a variety of malignancies, especially breast cancer. Approximately 20 different groups have shown that high levels of uPA in breast tumor tissue predict poor outcome. As a prognostic marker in breast cancer, uPA provides information that is independent of traditionally used factors such as tumor size, tumor grade, axillary node status and estrogen receptor status. Furthermore, uPA is prognostic in node‐negative patients, and a clinical trial is currently under way to assess whether uPA and its inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1, can differentiate between the majority of node‐negative breast cancer patients who are cured by surgery from the minority who might benefit from adjuvant therapy. uPA is also prognostic in other malignancies, such as gastric, colorectal, esophageal, renal, endometrial, and ovarian cancers. uPA may thus be a prognostic indicator for multiple types of adenocarcinoma. J. Surg. Oncol. 1999:71:130–135. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dynamics of single-stranded DNA tethered to a solid

Tethering is used to deliver specific biological and industrial functions. For example, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is tethered to polymerases and long sequences of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) during replication, and to solids in DNA microarrays. However, tethering ssDNA to a large object limits not only the available ssDNA conformations, but also the range of time-scales over which the mechanical responses of ssDNA are important. In this work we examine the effect of tethering by measurement of the mechanical response of ssDNA that is tethered at each end to two separate atomic force microscope cantilevers in aqueous solution. Thermal motion of the cantilevers drives the ends of the ssDNA chain at frequencies near 2 kHz. The presence of a tethered molecule makes a large difference to the asymmetric cross-correlation of two cantilevers, which enables resolution of the mechanical properties in our experiments. By analysis of the correlated motion of the cantilevers we extract the friction and stiffness of the ssDNA. We find that the measured friction is much larger than the friction that is usually associated with the unencumbered motion of ssDNA. We also find that the measured relaxation time, ∼30 μs, is much greater than prior measurements of the free-molecule relaxation time. We attribute the difference to the loss of conformational possibilities as a result of constraining the ends of the ssDNA.
Robust Iterative Learning Control for Nonrepetitive Uncertain Systems

This technical note proposes a robust iterative learning control (ILC) strategy to regulate iteratively-operated, finite-duration nonrepetitive systems characterized by iteration-varying uncertainties in initial states, external disturbances, plant model matrices and desired reference trajectories. Our convergence analysis exploits results on input-to-state stability of discrete parameterized systems. For a class of multiple-input, multiple-output discrete-time linear systems, with all iteration-varying uncertainties bounded, we give one condition that ensures boundedness of all system trajectories and an additional, second condition that ensures convergence of tracking error. Notably, we do not require the standard ILC contraction mapping requirement to hold at each iteration. Moreover, we show that it is possible to achieve perfect output tracking if the iteration-varying uncertainties all converge with increasing iteration.
Polypyrrole-coated Fabric Strain Sensor with High Sensitivity and Good Stability

The sensitivity and stability are mainly factors to hold back the practical applications of Polypyrrole coated fabrics. In this paper, a flexible fabric strain sensor with high sensitivity, good stability and large deformation is reported. It is fabricated by depositing a nano-layer (200nm to 300nm) of polypyrrole on the fabric substrate at low temperature. Thickness and morphology of the conducting thin film on the surface of the fibers were examined by scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The measurement of the conductivity change with strain shows the fabrics so prepared exhibits a high strain sensitivity of ~160 for a deformation as large as 50%, while its good stability is indicated by a small loss of conductivity after the thermal and humidity aging tests, and supported by the slight change in conductivity and sensitivity over a storage of eighteen months. The flexible strain sensor is expected to be a promising "soft" smart material with good sensing properties in the preparation of smart garment, wearable hardware and biomedical applications