Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seeing the First-Person Perspective in Dementia: A Qualitative Personal Evaluation Game to Evaluate Assistive Technology for People Affected by Dementia in the Home Context

The number of people with dementia is increasing rapidly. As a result, care has to be extended towards the home context. This increases the burden on both informal caregivers and persons affected by dementia. To support these people more effectively, technology could play an important role. However, it proves to be challenging to involve them in user-centred research with this purpose. Therefore, there is a need for more research approaches that gather first-hand experiences with technology from people with dementia directly. This research presents a personal evaluation game method, used in the home context to study assistive technology as experienced by its users. In parallel, a questionnaire was applied to explore the difference in data and experiences between both methods. In the study, 12 households participated, each with a person diagnosed with dementia and a partner still living with them as their informal caregiver. During a period of 3 weeks, participants experienced a dynamic lighting armature designed to improve the sleep–wake cycle and evaluated it through one of these methods. The results show that the newly developed method manages to capture the first-person perspective, and is a more appropriate research tool for people with dementia. The information gathered with the tool allowed the researchers to capture the daily lives of the participants in detail, mainly due to the diverse types of input. The personal evaluation game shows a first step towards an ecologically valid tool that includes people with dementia directly. As such the method proved to be qualitative and explorative, and able to provide insights into both the technology and the daily lives of people living with dementia.
Feature Extraction by Dynamically Revising the Discriminant Information in the Objective Space

Recently, O. C. Hamsici points out that, LDA's linear approximation deviates from the original intention of minimizing the Bayes errors, and proposes the Bayes optimality based linear discriminant method. However, the cumulative distribution function employed by their method incurs numerous possible sequences when projected to the 1-dimensional subspace, and moreover, the covariance whiten scheme in the original space neglects the geometry change accompany with the upgrading feature vectors. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm which employs a similarity matrix to evaluate thediscriminative power of each class. Different from the Bayes optimality method, our algorithm introduces an appropriateexpression to optimize the Bayes error, which provides a gradient based scheme to solve the feature vectors in arbitrary reduced dimension, which avoids the 1-dimensional space projection problem, and moreover, dynamically revising mean and covariance in the objective space discloses more accurate discriminant information. The experimental results show the promise of our method.
Trends in cigarette smoking among US physicians and nurses.

OBJECTIVE To determine trends in cigarette smoking prevalence among physicians, registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses since 1974. DESIGN Analyses of data on smoking prevalence among persons 20 years of age and older using combined National Health Interview Survey data sets from 1974, 1976, and 1977; 1978, 1979, and 1980; 1983 and 1985; 1987 and 1988; and 1990 and 1991. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence of cigarette smoking and average annual change in smoking prevalence. RESULTS Based on the data for 1990 and 1991, there were an estimated 18,000 physicians, 322,000 registered nurses, and 128,000 licensed practical nurses who smoked cigarettes in the United States. Compared with 1974, 1976, and 1977, by 1990 and 1991 cigarette smoking prevalence had declined from 18.8% to 3.3% among physicians (average annual decline of 1.15 percentage points); from 31.7% to 18.3% among registered nurses (average annual decline of 0.88 percentage point); and from 37.1% to 27.2% among licensed practical nurses (average annual decline of 0.62 percentage point). CONCLUSION Since 1974, cigarette smoking has declined most rapidly among physicians, at an intermediate rate among registered nurses, and at a lower rate among licensed practical nurses. Because of their important roles as exemplars and health educators, persons in these occupations should not smoke.
Clinical validation of the signs and symptoms and the nature of the respiratory nursing diagnoses in patients under invasive mechanical ventilation.

AIMS The aims of this study were to validate the signs and symptoms of the respiratory nursing diagnoses impaired gas exchange, ineffective airway clearance and ineffective breathing pattern in patients under mechanical ventilation; to verify whether intubation time and ventilatory modalities were related factors for respiratory nursing diagnoses; to verify the occurrence of shared signs and symptoms in the diagnoses and compare them with North American Nursing Diagnosis Association's proposition and to ascertain whether respiratory nursing diagnoses occur in isolated or associated patterns. BACKGROUND The need for mechanical ventilation is common in several patients admitted to intensive care units. Therefore, critical care nurses should identify the respiratory nursing diagnoses of high incidence. DESIGN AND METHODS Descriptive observational study, with 177 evaluations of surgical and medical critically ill adult patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation. The study adopted Fehring's Modified Clinical Diagnostic Validity Model, with a suggested alteration. RESULTS The critical signs and symptoms were the same as proposed by North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, when the diagnoses were separately identified, although no particular sign and symptom was found for ineffective breathing pattern. Impaired gas exchange and ineffective airway clearance were identified as having 88 (49.7%) evaluations sharing the critical signs and symptoms. Intubation time and ventilation modality were related factors for the development of ineffective airway clearance and ineffective breathing pattern. CONCLUSION The critical signs and symptoms of impaired gas exchange were abnormal blood gases and hypoxemia. For ineffective airway clearance, they were rhonchi and decreased breath sounds. No highlights were found for ineffective breathing pattern signs and symptoms. Validation by experts has confirmed these findings. The interface between ineffective airway clearance and impaired gas exchange was confirmed by the presence of the shared critical signs and symptoms. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Studies like this are relevant to clinical practice because they evaluate the adequacy of Taxonomy II for patients under mechanical ventilation in clinical practice, thus allowing for the intensive care nurses to go from one mechanical and routine practice to a critical, reflexive practice, committed to professional progress.
Amplification of neuromuscular transmission by postjunctional folds

Previously, suggestions have been made that postjunctional folds at the vertebrate motor end plate might, in some way, serve to enhance neuromuscular transmission. This suggestion was examined quantitatively using a model junction with geometry similar to that seen in mammalian ‘fast twitch’ muscles. It was found that the depolarization produced at the top of an interfold by a quantum of acetylcholine is significantly greater than that produced in the absence of folds because of the series resistance of the interfold myoplasm. As a result, voltage-sensitive sodium channels in the postsynaptic membrane are activated more readily. In the model, activation of as few as four interfolds by eight quanta is sufficient for excitation to spread to the remainder of the muscle. With no folds, 19 quanta are required.
BEACOPP therapeutic regimen for patients with Hodgkin's disease and HIV infection.

BACKGROUND Hodgkin's disease (HD) is the most common non-AIDS-defining tumor diagnosed in HIV-infected patients. Antineoplastic treatment is difficult considering the underlying immunodeficiency caused by HIV itself and may increase the risk of opportunistic infections. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the chemotherapeutic regimen bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine and prednisone (BEACOPP) in HIV-infected patients with HD (HIV-HD). PATIENTS AND METHODS Twelve patients with HIV-HD were scheduled to receive six cycles of BEACOPP. Five patients received concomitant antiretroviral therapy. Two patients received additional radiotherapy. Restaging was carried out after three and six cycles of chemotherapy. CD4 counts and HIV RNA levels were regularly monitored during the course of chemotherapy. RESULTS Complete remission (CR) was achieved in all patients. Of 12 patients, eight patients received the intended six cycles of BEACOPP. Two patients died of opportunistic infections within the treatment period, one patient died of a relapse after 26 months. The other nine patients remain in CR for their individual follow-up period, median 49 months (range 13-108). The most commonly observed toxicity was bone marrow suppression with National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (NCI-CTC) grade 3/4 leukopenia in 75% of all cases. The mean decline of CD4+ lymphocytes was 238 +/- 230/ micro l, with a mean recovery of 272 +/- 329/ micro l 6 months after the last cycle. Plasma levels of HIV RNA increased moderately or even declined under chemotherapy if highly active anti-retroviral therapy was given concomitantly with BEACOPP. CONCLUSIONS The BEACOPP regimen is feasible and highly effective in HIV-HD patients. With respect to its overall moderate toxicity, BEACOPP is a safe regimen even in the immunocompromised patient.
Encounters with the OPAC: On-line searching in public libraries

This article reports on a qualitative study exploring: (1) strategies and behaviors of public library users during interaction with an on-line public access catalog; and (2) users' confidence in finding needed information on-line. Questionnaires, interviews, and observations were employed to gather data from 32 public library users. The results found search behaviors, confidence, and other feelings varied, based on three types of searches: unknown-item searches, area searches, and known-item searches. Term generation was the most important factor in unknown-item search strategies. Speed and convenience played a role in area searches, and simplicity characterized known-item searches. Of the three types, unknown-item searchers experienced the most frustration and doubt; known-item searchers the most disappointment; and area searchers the most confidence and contentment. Knowledge of these differences may prove helpful for librarians and interface designers.
Comparison of permeability in high-grade and low-grade brain tumors using dynamic susceptibility contrast MR imaging.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare permeability measurements in high-grade and low-grade glial neoplasms using a T2(*)-weighted method. Our hypothesis was that permeability measurements using a T2(*)-weighted technique would show permeability in high-grade neoplasms to be higher than that in low-grade neoplasms. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twelve patients with biopsy-proven high-grade neoplasms and 10 patients with biopsy-proven low-grade neoplasms underwent dynamic susceptibility contrast MR perfusion imaging (TR/TE, 1500/80) after bolus infusion of 0.2 mmol/kg of MR contrast material. Color-coded permeability-weighted maps were created using a model that weights relative contributions to signal intensity from intravascular T2(*) effects and extravascular T1 effects from blood-brain barrier permeability. Two measures of permeability were performed: mean value of highest permeability found on three images through the tumor (mean regional value) and highest value found at any region of interest in the tumor (single area of maximum permeability). Depending on the normality of the data sets, we used the Wilcoxon's rank sum test or the two-tailed Student's t test for statistical analysis. RESULTS For low-grade tumors, the range was 0.006-0.041, and the median of the mean regional value for each image was 0.017. For high-grade tumors, the range was 0.005-0.092, and the median of the mean regional value was 0.035 (p = 0.025). For low-grade tumors, the range was 0.008-0.045, and the mean of the single area of maximum values was 0.02. For high-grade tumors, the range was 0.007-0.136, and the mean of the single area of maximum values was 0.054 (p = 0.018). CONCLUSION Permeability values for high-grade tumors obtained using a T2(*)-weighted method were significantly greater than those for low-grade tumors and are consistent with previous studies reporting results using T1-weighted methods.
The Newcastle Child Depression Project Diagnosis and Classification of Depression

A total of 275 successive referrals to a university child psychiatry unit out-patient department were examined using the Child Depression Inventory. Of these, 95 children were examined further by a structured clinical interview, and the relationship between different instruments for the assessment of depression in childhood was investigated. Just over one-third of the children (35%) had significant depression, and it was found that depression may be missed unless children with other psychiatric diagnoses are examined closely. Multivariate analyses of the clinical data provided factorial validation of diagnoses when employing different clinical diagnostic schemas.
Conformational dynamics of the Hop1 HORMA domain reveal a common mechanism with the spindle checkpoint protein Mad2

Abstract The HORMA domain is a highly conserved protein–protein interaction module found in eukaryotic signaling proteins including the spindle assembly checkpoint protein Mad2 and the meiotic HORMAD proteins. HORMA domain proteins interact with short ‘closure motifs’ in partner proteins by wrapping their C-terminal ‘safety belt’ region entirely around these motifs, forming topologically-closed complexes. Closure motif binding and release requires large-scale conformational changes in the HORMA domain, but such changes have only been observed in Mad2. Here, we show that Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hop1, a master regulator of meiotic recombination, possesses conformational dynamics similar to Mad2. We identify closure motifs in the Hop1 binding partner Red1 and in Hop1 itself, revealing that HORMA domain–closure motif interactions underlie both Hop1’s initial recruitment to the chromosome axis and its self-assembly on the axis. We further show that Hop1 adopts two distinct folded states in solution, one corresponding to the previously-observed ‘closed’ conformation, and a second more extended state in which the safety belt region has disengaged from the HORMA domain core. These data reveal strong mechanistic similarities between meiotic HORMADs and Mad2, and provide a mechanistic basis for understanding both meiotic chromosome axis assembly and its remodeling by the AAA+ ATPase Pch2/TRIP13.
Time‐dependent enhancement of hippocampus‐dependent memory after treatment with memantine: Implications for enhanced hippocampal adult neurogenesis

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been suggested to play modulatory roles in learning and memory. Importantly, previous studies have shown that newborn neurons in the adult hippocampus are integrated into the dentate gyrus circuit and are recruited more efficiently into the hippocampal memory trace of mice when they become 3 weeks old. Interestingly, a single high‐dose treatment with the N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor antagonist memantine (MEM) has been shown to increase hippocampal neurogenesis dramatically by promoting cell proliferation. In the present study, to understand the impact of increased adult neurogenesis on memory performance, we examined the effects of a single treatment of MEM on hippocampus‐dependent memory in mice. Interestingly, mice treated with MEM showed an improvement of hippocampus‐dependent spatial and social recognition memories when they were trained and tested at 3–6 weeks, but not at 3 days or 4 months, after treatment with MEM. Importantly, we observed a significant positive correlation between the scores for spatial memory (probe trial in the Morris water maze task) and the number of young mature neurons (3 weeks old) in MEM‐treated mice, but not saline‐treated mice. We also observed that the young mature neurons generated by treatment with MEM were recruited into the trace of spatial memory similarly to those generated through endogenous neurogenesis. Taken together, our observations suggest that treatment with MEM temporally improves hippocampus‐dependent memory formation and that the newborn neurons increased by treatment with MEM contribute to this improvement when they become 3 weeks old. © 2014 The Authors. Hippocampus Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Intrinsic autoregulation of cardiac output in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at different heart rates

SUMMARY Intrinsic regulation of the heart in teleosts is partly driven by central venous pressure, which exerts a modulatory role on stroke volume according to the well-known Frank-Starling mechanism. Although this mechanism is well understood from heart perfusion studies, less is known about how this mechanism operates in vivo, where heart rate varies markedly. We used zatebradine, a bradycardic agent, to attain resting heart rates in surgically instrumented animals. A dose of zatebradine of 2.79±0.47 mg l-1 decreased heart rate by half, from 44.4±4.19 beats min-1 to 22.1±1.9 beats min-1. Zatebradine had no significant effect on the peripheral vasculature and no inotropic effects, so was a suitable pharmacological agent with which to manipulate heart rate. When heart rate halved, cardiac output dropped to 87.5±4.6% of the control value, due to the concomitant increase in stroke volume to 165±13%. In vivo recordings of venous pressure at varying heart rates indicated that the partial compensation in cardiac output was possible through an increase in pressure in the sinus venosus, from -0.06±0.04 kPa at a control heart rate of 58.3±3.5 beats min-1 (N=10) to 0.07±0.05 kPa after injection of zatebradine (4 mg kg-1). The operation of the so-called time-dependent autoregulatory mechanism was further demonstrated in perfused hearts. The positive pressures recorded in the sinus venosus at low heart rates coincident with non-invasive measurements in trout suggest that atrial filling in trout is more dependent on the build-up of pressure in the venous circulation (vis-à-tergo filling) than a suction mechanism during ventricular contraction (vis-à-fronte filling).
ANALYSIS OF SEQUENTIAL STAGES IN SERUM BACTERICIDAL REACTIONS

Michael, J. Gabriel (House of the Good Samaritan, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Mass.), and Werner Braun. Analysis of sequential stages in serum bactericidal reaction. J. Bacteriol. 87:1067–1072. 1964. —The bactericidal reaction of “normal” human serum against Escherichia coli was found to be separable into two distinctive stages. The early (first) stage of the reaction lasts for a relatively short period of time, and involves factors that are present in sufficient amounts only in slightly diluted serum. The later (second) stage needs more time and requires factors present in highly diluted serum. The first stage depends on the presence of Ca++ and Mg++ and on the activity of all components of complement; the second stage does not require divalent cations and C′1, C′2, and C′4, but requires factors that can be removed by zymosan. Under our conditions, removal of lysozyme did not influence either stage of the reaction. Bacteria exposed to concentrated serum for a short time, during the first stage, are essentially unaffected as far as their potential for subsequent multiplication is concerned; the actual damage to cellular integrity occurs only during the second stage of the reaction. In the absence of cell division, the “sensitization” produced during the first stage can be preserved for prolonged periods, and the bactericidal reaction can be completed later by exposure to antibody-free, highly diluted serum (second stage). Cell multiplication abolishes the sensitizing effects of the first stage.
Detection of nanomaterials in food and consumer products: bridging the gap from legislation to enforcement

This paper describes the requirements and resulting challenges for the implementation of current and upcoming European Union legislation referring to the use of nanomaterials in food, cosmetics and other consumer products. The European Commission has recently adopted a recommendation for the definition of nanomaterials. There is now an urgent need for appropriate and fit-for-purpose analytical methods in order to identify nanomaterials properly according to this definition and to assess whether or not a product contains nanomaterials. Considering the lack of such methods to date, this paper elaborates on the challenges of the legislative framework and the type of methods needed, not only to facilitate implementation of labelling requirements, but also to ensure the safety of products coming to the market. Considering the many challenges in the analytical process itself, such as interaction of nanoparticles with matrix constituents, potential agglomeration and aggregation due to matrix environment, broad variety of matrices, etc., there is a need for integrated analytical approaches, not only for sample preparation (e.g. separation from matrix), but also for the actual characterisation. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for quality assurance tools such as validated methods and (certified) reference materials, including materials containing nanoparticles in a realistic matrix (food products, cosmetics, etc.).
A model-based recognition of glossy objects using their polarimetrical properties

A model-based approach to recognition of glossy objects is presented. Normals of surface patches are obtained by analysing the polarizational state of the observed rays under illumination of light sources of circular polarization. The object is assumed to lie alone in its stable pose on the floor. Solid models are examined to find the one that matches the observed normals. First, a candidate model based on the relative angles between known surface normals is found. Then the translation so that the observed positions of surface normals coincide with those of models in the image is found. Some examples are also presented.
Suicide And Depression In Late Life Critical Issues In Treatment Research And Public Policy

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Usage of spectral models and switching functions for cascaded H-bridges VSC analysis

This paper describes implementation of mathematical analysis based on spectral models and switching functions to simulate operation of three-phase multilevel inverters of the cascaded topologies. Two types of cascaded inverters are considered: conventional one using series connection of the bridges and hybrid topology using both series and parallel connection. It is shown that usage of spectral models with switching functions provides one with a powerful tool for complex analysis of the voltages and currents in a multilevel converter with a complicated topology. Computer simulation is given in order to verify the results obtained via mathematical models.