gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Perceptions of Control in Vulnerable Populations (1991)

A lack of control is a critical social issue when it is experienced by individuals who already have little opportunity to exercise control; thus, this journal issue brings together research on a number of vulnerable populations: children, medical patients, lower level employees, and the elderly. Because of the diverse populations to which this concept has been applied, the perceived control literature is diffuse and fragmented. This article covers the positive outcomes associated with a sense of control—emotional well‐being, successful coping with stress, good health, desired behavior changes, and improved performance. It also identifies common themes that cut across work in this area—the conceptualization and measurement of control, threats to control, conditions that determine the effects of control, and interventions to enhance control. Finally, it suggests how this work may be applied to enhance the well‐being of other vulnerable segments of our society.
Free fatty acids are associated with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance but not inflammation in systemic lupus erythematosus (2012)

Free fatty acids (FFAs) are implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. Inflammatory cytokines promote lipolysis and increase FFAs, a cause of endothelial dysfunction and increased atherosclerosis risk. We hypothesized that increased inflammation is associated with increased FFAs, resulting in insulin resistance and atherosclerosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We measured clinical variables, serum FFAs, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA), inflammatory cytokines, markers of endothelial activation, cholesterol concentrations and coronary artery calcium in 156 patients with SLE and 90 controls. We compared FFAs in patients with SLE and controls using Wilcoxon rank sum tests and further tested for the independent association between FFAs and disease status with adjustment for age, race and sex using multivariable regression models. We assessed the relationship between FFAs and continuous variables of interest using Spearman correlation and multivariable regression analysis. Levels of FFAs were higher in patients with SLE than controls (0.55 mmol/l (0.37-0.71) vs 0.44 mmol/l (0.32-0.60), P = 0.02). Levels of FFAs remained significantly higher among patients with SLE after adjustment for age, race and sex (P = 0.03) but not after further adjustment for body mass index (P = 0.13). FFA levels did not differ according to the usage of current immunosuppressive medications in univariate and adjusted analysis (all P > 0.05). Among patients with SLE, concentrations of FFAs were higher among those with metabolic syndrome compared to those without (0.66 mmol/l (0.46-0.81) vs 0.52 mmol/l (0.35-0.66), P < 0.001). FFAs were positively correlated with insulin resistance (HOMA) (rho = 0.23, P = 0.004, P adjusted = 0.006) and triglyceride levels (rho = 0.22, P = 0.01, P adjusted = 0.004). FFAs were not associated with inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α) (all P > 0.05) but were positively associated with levels of E-selectin (rho = 0.33, P = < 0.001, P adjusted = 0.001) and ICAM-1 (rho = 0.35, P < 0.001, P adjusted = 0.001). FFAs were correlated with coronary artery calcium score (rho = 0.20, P = 0.01) but this was attenuated after adjustment for age, race and sex (P = 0.33). From our study we concluded that FFAs are elevated in patients with SLE, particularly those with metabolic syndrome. FFAs in patients with SLE are not associated with markers of generalized inflammation but are associated with insulin resistance and markers of endothelial activation.
The Role of Epidural Fibrosis and Defective Fibrinolysis in the Persistence of Postlaminectomy Back Pain (1991)

Clinical features, contrast-enhanced lumbar tomographic findings, and biochemical plasma fibrinolytic parameters were critically assessed in 70 patients suffering severe, chronic postsurgical low-back and radicular pain to determine the cause of their persisting symptoms. Patients exhibited gross functional disability and significant impairment of plasma fibrinolytic activity, compared with 84 normal control subjects. This fibrinolytic defect appeared attributable to disproportionate increases in circulating plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 levels. Clinical features were slightly worse in patients with radiologic epidural fibrosis, whereas the frequency of radiologic abnormalities, including epidural fibrosis, was higher in patients with fibrinolytic abnormalities. The results, however, demonstrated no significant associations between patients' symptoms and signs and their biochemical and radiologic abnormalities.
Characterizing land-use change over space and time: applying principal components analysis in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (2013)

We apply a principal component analysis to characterize the dimensions of spatio-temporal change in agriculture within the Brazilian Legal Amazon for the period 1996–2006. Around 80% of spatio-temporal variation across a broad set of descriptors could be explained by four trajectories well observed in the region: large-scale ranching, inactive forested property, small-scale farming, and mechanized agriculture. Spatial clustering based on these trajectories reveals a shift in the characteristics of the agricultural frontier, and provides quantitative method for distinguishing functional sub-regions previously suggested in the literature. Our analysis suggests a marked growth in agriculture over the decade between 1996 and 2006, with agricultural development encroaching toward the interior of the Brazilian Amazon not only from the south and southeast, but also from the west.
Gender Role, Input Use and Technical Efficiency among Rice Farmers at Ahafo Ano North District in Ashanti Region of Ghana (2016)

This paper examined gender role, input use and technical efficiency between male and female rice farmers. Similar studies have been conducted, however, the relationships between gender role, input use and farmer efficiency remains neglected and under researched. The question addressed in this study is ‘Does gender role influence input use and farmer efficiency? Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data from one hundred (100) households, and stochastic frontier model was used to estimate the technical efficiency levels among male and female rice farmers. Our study finds labour, land and fertilizer significant contributors to higher output and yield, and that male labour input tends to promote higher rice output than that of their female counterparts. We also show that males are more efficient in rice production than their female counterparts. Furthermore, farm labour, extension contacts and land size tend to reduce inefficiency in rice production in the study area. Since labour participation was found to be among the variables that contributed to the differences in farm output and efficiency, the study suggests the promotion of multipurpose labour-saving household and farm tools to free up females labour time to improve female output and efficiency to ensure food security in in Ghana.
Acute Dialytic Support for the Critically III: Intermittent Hemodialysis versus Continuous Arteriovenous Hemodiafiltration (1995)

There is still debate about whether continuous renal replacement therapy is superior to intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) as dialytic support for the critically ill patient with acute renal failure, mainly because of lack of comparative data. We sought to address this issue by reviewing the medical records of such patients admitted to a single surgical intensive care unit treated with either continuous arteriovenous hemodiafiltration (CAVHD) or IHD between January 1, 1986, and August 31, 1993. Of 94 consecutive patients who received dialytic support for severe acute renal failure, 34 (36%) patients were treated with IHD and 60 (64%) patients with CAVHD. The patients were comparable in terms of age or gender and represented a similar case mix. Patients treated with CAVHD were more severely ill as manifested by a lower mean arterial pressure (75 ± 3 vs. 86 ± 5 mm Hg; p < 0.05), higher Apache II score (26.5 ± 0.5 vs. 22.2 ± 0.3; p < 0.05), and a higher number of organ system failures (3.4 ± 0.2 vs. 2.6 ± 0.3; p < 0.05). Despite greater illness severity and a higher probability of death (55 ± 2.6 vs. 33 ± 2.5%; p < 0.0001), in those treated with CAVHD, no difference in outcome was observed between groups: CAVHD 26/60 (43%) vs. IHD 20/34 (59%; NS). The mean Apache II score of patients treated with CAVHD who survived was similar to that of patients treated with IHD who died (24.5 ± 0.3 vs. 24.2 ± 0.4; NS). CAVHD was associated with improved hemodynamic stability, better control of fluid balance and biochemistry, increased nutritional intake, and a shorter duration of acute renal failure (p < 0.05). Our data suggest that CAVHD offers several distinct advantages over IHD which may translate in improved survival, particularly in the more severely ill patients.
Aberrant crypts: putative preneoplastic foci in human colonic mucosa. (1991)

Aberrant crypts were identified for the first time in whole-mount preparations of normal-appearing human colonic mucosa after staining with methylene blue. The foci of aberrant crypts varied from single altered glands to plaques of greater than 30 crypts. The mean proportion of colonic mucosa altered and the number of foci with aberrant crypts per cm2 of colonic mucosa were (a) higher in patients with colon cancer than in patients without colon cancer or predisposing conditions and (b) highest in our single case of Gardner's syndrome. Aberrant crypts are postulated to be the earliest identifiable potential precursors of colon cancer. Analysis of aberrant crypts may facilitate the study of the early pathological and molecular changes that precede colon cancer.
Feature extraction for image recognition and computer vision (2009)

Feature extraction and classifier design are two main processing blocks in all pattern recognition and computer vision systems. For visual patterns, extracting robust and discriminative features from image is the most difficult yet the most critical step. Several typical and advanced approaches of feature extraction from image are explored, some of which are analyzed in depth. Various techniques of feature extraction from image are organized in four categories: human expert knowledge based methods, image local structure based approaches, image global structure based techniques and machine learning based statistical approaches. We will show examples of applying these feature extraction approaches to solve problems of the image based biometrics, including fingerprint verification/identification and face detection/recognition. These illustrative application examples unveil the ideas, principles and advancements of feature extraction techniques and demonstrate their effectiveness and limitations in solving real-world problems.
A Method for Clustering and Cooperation in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (2010)

Wireless multimedia sensor nodes sense areas that are uncorrelated to the areas covered by radio neighbouring sensors. Thus, node clustering for coordinating multimedia sensing and processing cannot be based on classical sensor clustering algorithms. This paper presents a clustering mechanism for Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) based on overlapped Field of View (FoV) areas. Overlapping FoVs in dense networks cause the wasting of power due to redundant area sensing. The main aim of the proposed clustering method is energy conservation and network lifetime prolongation. This objective is achieved through coordination of nodes belonging to the same cluster to perform assigned tasks in a cooperative manner avoiding redundant sensing or processing. A paradigm in this concept, a cooperative scheduling scheme for object detection, is presented based on the proposed clustering method.
Novel multi-class feature selection methods using sensitivity analysis of posterior probabilities (2008)

Novel feature-selection methods are proposed for multi-class support-vector-machine (SVM) learning. They are based on two new feature-ranking criteria. Both criteria, collectively termed multi-class feature-based sensitivity of posterior probabilities (MFSPP), evaluate the importance of a feature by computing the aggregate value, over the feature space, of the absolute difference of the probabilistic outputs of the multi-class SVM with and without the feature. In their original form, the criteria are computationally expensive and three approximations, MFSPP1-MFSPP3, are then proposed. In a carefully controlled experimental study, all these three approximations are tested on various artificial and benchmark datasets. Results show that they outperform the multi-class versions of support-vector-machine recursive feature-elimination method (SVM-RFE) and other standard filtering methods, with one of the three proposed approximations having a slight edge over the other two. Based on the experiments, the advantage of the proposed methods is particularly significant when training dataset is sparse.
Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Theory, Practice, and Biomedical Applications (1982)

A comprehensive problem-solving approach to reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography covering the theoretical aspects and practical information needed in diverse areas of research. Also reviews RPLC applications in the biomedical/biochemical field.
Silicon Colloids: From Microcavities to Photonic Sponges (2007)

Silicon colloids with diameters from 0.5 μm to 5 μm are synthesized. Because of their spherical shape and smooth surface they work as optical microcavities with well-defined resonating modes in the near-infrared range. Silicon colloids are also the building blocks of photonic sponges formed by disorder networks of microspheres of different sizes that scatter light strongly in a wide range of wavelengths
Visualization to Support Augmented Web Browsing (2013)

In conventional Web browsing, to explore contents of interest while browsing a Web page, in many cases users need to leave that Web page and switch to external applications or other task-specific Web sites. To avoid switching between Web pages, we present in this paper an approach to support the handling of data and tasks further added onto the browsed Web pages in terms of augmented Web browsing. Without changing the existing Web contents and page-layouts, two levels of visual supports addable onto any existing Web page are suggested: (1) at micro level, visual cues encoding additional information are directly bound to particular hypermedia items, and (2) at macro level, additional visual layers are flexibly attached onto the browsed Web pages. To illustrate the ideas, the Fire fox add-on VizMe is developed with examples mimicking Google as a browser's extension, and to browse Web snippets with geospatial and temporal references.
Changes in the energy response of a dedicated gamma camera after exposure to a high-flux irradiation (1999)

This work reports the effects of the gain variation of the photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) observed on a cardiac dedicated gamma camera after accidental high-flux irradiation. One detector of this dual-headed 90 degrees-fixed gamma camera was accidentally left uncollimated during a quality assurance procedure on the other detector with a 57Co flood source (259 MBq) and received a non-uniform high flux of 1.9-0.6 Mcps over 25000 mm2 areas for about 30 min. To evaluate the severity and the duration of the perturbation effect on the energy response of the detector, the photopeak position was monitored for about 1 month with a 99mTc point source. The 140 keV photopeak shifted to 158 keV soon after irradiation, reached the correct position after 9 days and moved to a stable value of 132 keV after 15 days. Afterwards, a new energy calibration reset the photopeak position at 140 keV and the correct energy response of the gamma camera. This experience suggests that particular care should be taken to avoid exposures to high radiation fluxes that induce persistent gain shifts on the PMTs of this system.
IgA Content of Washed Red Blood Cell Concentrates (1998)

Saline-washed red blood cell (RBC) concentrates are largely depleted of leukocytes, microaggregates, and nearly of all plasma originally contained in the blood unit. Our aim was to determine the concentration of the eliminated IgA and total protein in the buffy coat and plasma removed RBC concentrate before and after a sequential dilution-centrifugation washing procedure, 75.3% protein, and 99% IgA were eliminated by the washing process used. The recovery of red blood cells was 87.2%. Our results have led to the conclusion that two sequential washings seem to guarantee an IgA level of less than 0.2 mg/unit to meet the recommendations of the Council of Europe. Additional advantages of washing include low levels of extracellular hemoglobin, metabolic waste products and debris in the supernatant.
A Study on the Effect of Satisfaction with R&D Projects on R&D Performance Satisfaction -For SMEs in Jeollanamdo- (2021)

The purpose of this study is to check whether the satisfaction of the R&D (Research & Development) project directly affects the R&D performance, and to find out whether the satisfaction with regional connectivity and the satisfaction with the R&D operation management significantly mediate the relationship that the satisfaction with the R&D project has on the R&D performance. In order to verify the research hypothesis on this, a total of 51 companies located in Jeollanam-do that actually conducted R&D research projects were surveyed and analyzed. In order to conduct an empirical study based on the collected questionnaire, a survey questionnaire related to the variables of the study model was composed based on a sample of 51 questionnaires. We used the SPSS program to verify the hypotheses in this study, and the hypotheses were verified by analyzing the validity, reliability, correlation, and deflection. As a result, there was a positive (+) significant relationship between R&D project satisfaction and R&D performance. In addition, it was found that the relationship between R&D project satisfaction and R&D performance was significantly mediated by the satisfaction with R&D regional connectivity and satisfaction with R&D project operation management.
NetDEO: automating network design, evolution, and optimization (2012)

With the ever-increasing number and complexity of applications deployed in data centers, the underlying network infrastructure can no longer sustain such a trend and exhibits several problems, such as resource fragmentation and low bisection bandwidth. In pursuit of a real-world applicable data center network (DCN) optimization approach that continuously maintains balanced network performance with high cost effectiveness, we design a topology independent resource allocation and optimization approach, NetDEO. Based on a swarm intelligence optimization model, NetDEO improves the scalability of the DCN by relocating virtual machines (VMs) and matching resource demand and availability. NetDEO is capable of (1) incrementally optimizing an existing VM placement in a data center; (2) deriving optimal deployment plans for newly added VMs; and (3) providing hardware upgrade suggestions and allowing the DCN to evolve as the workload changes over time. We evaluate the performance of NetDEO using realistic workload traces and simulated large-scale DCN under various topologies.
Rational Design of Mini-Cas9 for Transcriptional Activation (2018)

Nuclease dead Cas9 (dCas9) has been widely used for modulating gene expression by fusing with different activation or repression domains. However, delivery of the CRISPR/Cas system fused with various effector domains in a single adeno-associated virus (AAV) remains challenging due to the payload limit. Here, we engineered a set of downsized variants of Cas9 including Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SaCas9) that retained DNA binding activity by deleting conserved functional domains. We demonstrated that fusing FokI nuclease domain to the N-terminal of the minimal SaCas9 (mini-SaCas9) or to the middle of the split mini-SaCas9 can trigger efficient DNA cleavage. In addition, we constructed a set of compact transactivation domains based on the tripartite VPR activation domain and self-assembled arrays of split SpyTag:SpyCatch peptides, which are suitable for fusing to the mini-SaCas9. Lastly, we produced a single AAV containing the mini-SaCas9 fused with a downsized transactivation domain along with an optimized gRNA expression cassette, which showed efficient transactivation activity. Our results highlighted a practical approach to generate down-sized CRISPR/Cas9 and gene activation systems for in vivo applications.
Low-Frequency Masking of Brainstem Potentials (1991)

The phase and intensity dependence of masking a click by a loud low-frequency tone was examined with brainstem potentials. Wave V latency is practically unaffected; its amplitude, however, is maximally suppressed at a phase of 270 degrees, i.e. rarefaction in the ear canal and basilar membrane displacement towards the scala tympani. Corresponding to subjective threshold, a minor suppression is also observed for the opposite deflection. In the phase of maximal suppression, wave V can be cancelled by a 30 Hz tone of 115 dB SPL up to click intensities of 40 dB HL. With cochlear damage, total suppression can be achieved at even higher click intensities as long as they are close to the subjective threshold. Low-frequency suppression is discussed as a tool applicable for early diagnosis of endolymphatic hydrops.
Multidisciplinary Optimal Design of Cyclocopter Blade System (2005)

A cyclocopter propelled by the cycloidal blade system, which can be described as a horizontal rotary wing, is a new concept of VTOL vehicle. In this paper, cyclocopter rotor system is optimized for design variables such as radius of rotor, rotating speed, maximum pitch angle, chord and span of blade, number of blades and airfoil. To apply response surface methodology, datum acquired by STAR-CD for aerodynamic design variables and MSC/NASTRAN for structural ones. Genetic algorithm is used to find the optimal values from the constructed response surface while objective functions are thrust, required power and stress of blade.