Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finger Force Coordination Underlying Object Manipulation in the Elderly – A Mini-Review

Background: A decline in manual dexterity is a common phenomenon in elderly individuals. Often, simple daily activities such as handling coins and preparing meals become challenging. A substantial decline in manual dexterity may impact one’s ability to live independently. Thus, understanding the underlying causes of these impairments is essential. Considerable attention has been given to the regulation of fingertip forces during object grasp, lift and transport in the elderly. Objective: Here we review studies on fingertip force coordination in the elderly, with an emphasis on the relationship between the degree of change in elderly grip force control and the nature of the tasks performed. Methods: A literature search was performed using Medline, Pubmed, and Web of Science electronic databases covering studies from 1985 to 2009, inputting combinations of the following key words: grip force, grasp force, fingertip forces, precision grip, aging, elderly, and hand motor control. Results: Studies show a consistent elevation in grip force magnitudes that may easily lead to fatigue. These force increases may represent a compensation for increased skin slipperiness or a reduction in tactile information. In contrast, anticipatory grip force control (planning) remains relatively intact. Age-related changes in anticipatory control seem to emerge only during more complex tasks. Conclusion: The relationship between task complexity and degree of age-related changes suggests that results from simple, laboratory-based tasks may only partially explain impairments observed during the performance of activities of daily living, since the latter ones are typically more complex. A better understanding of impaired manual dexterity experienced by elderly individuals could be achieved by expanding experimental paradigms so that they more closely resemble the complexities encountered in functional daily tasks. Subsequently, these findings could be used in clinical settings to develop treatment approaches that consider grasp control in the context of behaviorally meaningful tasks.
Hospital Variation in Early Tracheostomy in the United States: A Population-Based Study*

Objective:Controversy exists regarding perceived benefits of early tracheostomy to facilitate weaning among mechanically ventilated patients, potentially leading to significant practice-pattern variation with implications for outcomes and resource utilization. We sought to determine practice-pattern variation and outcomes associated with tracheostomy timing in the United States. Design:In a retrospective cohort study, we identified mechanically ventilated patients with the most common causes of respiratory failure leading to tracheostomy: pneumonia/sepsis and trauma. “Early tracheostomy” was performed within the first week of mechanical ventilation. We determined between-hospital variation in early tracheostomy utilization and the association of early tracheostomy with patient outcomes using hierarchical regression. Setting:2012 National Inpatient Sample. Patients:A total of 6,075 pneumonia/sepsis patients and 12,030 trauma patients with tracheostomy. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:Trauma patients were twice as likely as pneumonia/sepsis patients to receive early tracheostomy (44.5% vs 21.7%; p < 0.001). Admission to hospitals with higher early tracheostomy-to-total-tracheostomy ratios was associated with increased risk for tracheostomy among mechanically ventilated trauma patients (adjusted odds ratio = 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01–1.07) but not pneumonia/sepsis (adjusted odds ratio =1.00; 95% CI, 0.98–1.02). We observed greater between-hospital variation in early tracheostomy rates among trauma patients (21.9–81.9%) compared with pneumonia/sepsis (14.9–38.3%; p < 0.0001). We found no evidence of improved hospital mortality. Pneumonia/sepsis patients with early tracheostomy had fewer feeding tube procedures and higher odds of discharge home. Conclusion:Early tracheostomy is potentially overused among mechanically ventilated trauma patients, with nearly half of tracheostomies performed within the first week of mechanical ventilation and large unexplained hospital variation, without clear benefits. Future studies are needed to characterize potentially differential benefits for early tracheostomy between disease subgroups and to investigate factors driving hospital variation in tracheostomy timing.
Co-pyrolysis of corn cobs and polypropylene for production of biofuel similar to gasoline at low heating rate

Co-pyrolysis between corncobs and polypropylene has a synergetic effect that transforms part of polar fraction of bio-oil into non-polar fraction containing non-oxygenate compounds as precursor for synthesis of bio-fuel. In the present work, pyrolysis of the nonpolar fraction of bio-oil was led to produce bio-oil with viscosity similar to that of gasoline and contained non-oxygenated compounds. The pyrolysis was carried out in 2 stages, where the first-stage was co-pyrolysis to produce non-polar bio-oil and the second-stage was pyrolysis of non-polar fraction from the first stage to reduce its viscosity similar to that of gasoline. The first and second-stage pyrolysis was carried out in a stirred tank reactor at heating rate of 5˚C/min using nitrogen as carrier gas with the second-stage pyrolysis final temperature varied. The resulting bio-oil product was characterized by FT-IR, GC-MS, H-NMR, viscometer and LC-MS. The results show that bio-oil viscosity and yield of the second-stage pyrolysis heavily depended on its final temperature, in which the higher the temperature, the higher was the viscosity, yet the higher was the bio-oil yield. Final temperature of 300°C was the optimal one for obtaining bio-oil similar to gasoline regarding its close viscosity despite of low yield of bio-oil. Pyrolysis of bio-oil may be performed coinciding with attempting of reducing branching index to reduce its viscosity.
TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF ARCING CONTACT MATERIALS BASED ON COPPER INFILTRATED TUNGSTEN COMPOSITES

Tungsten copper composites with 70±3 wt. % W, maximum 1.5 wt. % Ni, and balance Cu were achieved as disks (diameter × height of 50×6 mm) by copper infiltration process of tungsten skeletons. Elemental analysis was assessed by WDXRF spectroscopy. Hydrostatic density was evaluated in ethanol. Vickers hardness and Young’s modulus were determined in ambient air by instrumented indentation technique and Oliver&Pharr computation method. Tribological behavior was investigated under 30 N up to 400 m sliding distance and naphthenic mineral oil lubricant with a standard tribometer of ball-on-disk type. The results yielded highly dense materials with relative density over 96%, Vickers hardness (HVIT) of 244…323, Young’s modulus (EIT) of 156…185 GPa, mean coefficient of friction of 0.11…0.22 and specific wear rate up to 8×10–6 mm3/(Nm). The developed composites with low coefficient of friction and high wear resistance for use as arcing contacts in oil circuit breakers will endow high performance in service. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15544/balttrib.2017. 07
Circumstances of Falls With Fractured Femur in Residents of Australian Nursing Homes: An Analysis of Falls Reports

Objective: This study aimed to explore the circumstances and characteristics of falls with fractured femur reported in nursing homes. Method: Mixed methods were used. There were reports on 401 eligible falls from 88 residential care facilities in the Hunter region of Australia. A falls report form was developed for the study and was completed by nursing staff. Information was collected about the circumstances of falls with fractured femur and resident data. Descriptive and qualitative analyses were used. Results: Falls with fractured neck of femur were associated with being ambulant, having dementia, increasing age, and a high falls risk assessment. Themes from the falls report data were resident-related factors, organizational or environmental issues, and activities at the time of the fall. Discussion: Falls in residential care settings are very complex and difficult to prevent. Attention should be given to the needs of recently admitted residents and management of the facility environment.
Anonymous Author Similarity Identification

An increased number of social media plays a great role in the community and it has a huge positive impact on our day to day activity. However, there are some peoples associated with online anonymity by using multiple accounts and names to express their opinions on different issues. In this paper, we introduce our approach for detecting such kinds of anonymous authors by analyzing the content, the writing style and usage of the words of a user in a given text. This could be possible by looking at the written work style against a corpus of writings of known authors. We practically deploy the viability of our strategies with short messages in Twitter.
Analysis of a Promoter Polymorphism in the SMDF Neuregulin 1 Isoform in Schizophrenia

Background/Aims: Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is a positional candidate gene in schizophrenia (SZ). Two major susceptibility loci in the NRG1 gene approximately one million nucleotides apart have been identified in genetic studies. Several candidate functional allelic variants have been described that might be involved in disease susceptibility. However, the findings are still preliminary. We recently mapped active promoters and other regulatory domains in several SZ and bipolar disorder (BD) candidate genes using ChIP-chip (chromatin immunoprecipitation hybridized to microarrays). One was the promoter for the NRG1 isoform, SMDF, which maps to the 3′ end of the gene complex. Analysis of the SNP database revealed several polymorphisms within the approximate borders of the region immunoprecipitated in our ChIP-chip experiments, one of which is rs7825588. Methods: This SNP was analyzed in patients with SZ and BD and its effect on promoter function was assessed by electromobility gel shift assays and luciferase reporter constructs. Results: A significant increase in homozygosity for the minor allele was found in patients with SZ (genotype distribution χ2 = 7.32, p = 0.03) but not in BD (genotype distribution χ2 = 0.52, p = 0.77). Molecular studies demonstrated modest, but statistically significant allele-specific differences in protein binding and promoter function. Conclusion: The findings suggest that homozygosity for rs725588 could be a risk genotype for SZ.
Prediction Potential of Serum miR-155 and miR-24 for Relapsing Early Breast Cancer

Oncogenic microRNAs (oncomiRs) accumulate in serum due to their increased stability and thus serve as biomarkers in breast cancer (BC) pathogenesis. Four oncogenic microRNAs (miR-155, miR-19a, miR-181b, and miR-24) and one tumor suppressor microRNA (let-7a) were shown to differentiate between high- and low-risk early breast cancer (EBC) and reflect the surgical tumor removal and adjuvant therapy. Here we applied the longitudinal multivariate data analyses to stochastically model the serum levels of each of the oncomiRs using the RT-PCR measurements in the EBC patients (N = 133) that were followed up 4 years after diagnosis. This study identifies that two of the studied oncomiRs, miR-155 and miR-24, are highly predictive of EBC relapse. Furthermore, combining the oncomiR level with Ki-67 expression further specifies the relapse probability. Our data move further the notion that oncomiRs in serum enable not only monitoring of EBC but also are a very useful tool for predicting relapse independently of any other currently analyzed characteristics in EBC patients. Our approach can be translated into medical practice to estimate individual relapse risk of EBC patients.
Salmonella spp. in meat-type quails (Coturnix coturnix coturnix) in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

In the present study Salmonella spp. was surveyed in four flocks of meat-type quails reared in a farm that also had processing plant on site, located in the region of Bastos, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Meconium samples of one-day-old quail chicks were collected from transport cardboard boxes. Cecal content was collected on days 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 of rearing. At 36 days of age, birds were slaughtered in the farm's processing plant, where two samples of water from the scalding and the chilling tanks and four carcasses per flock were collected. All samples were examined for Salmonella spp. using traditional bacteriological methods. Salmonella spp. was present in meconium samples of three flocks and in cecal feces of the four flocks. This bacterium was also isolated in the chiller water and in the carcasses of three of the evaluated flocks and in the scalding water of one flock. In this study, S. enterica subspecies enterica 4, 5, 12; S. Corvalis; S. Give; S. Lexington; S. Minnesota; S. Schwarzengrund; S. Rissen and S. Typhimurium were the eight serovars identified.
Physiology in conservation translocations

Translocations (reintroductions) are prominent in conservation, but successful outcomes remain few, despite advances in the field. Physiology is a hitherto underutilised, but could markedly improve successes. More importantly, increased application of physiological tools actively promotes at least two of the three Rs of animal welfare – Refinement of methods and Reduction of animals used.
The safety of pembrolizumab in metastatic melanoma and rheumatoid arthritis

Immunotherapy has been in use for the treatment of melanoma since a very long time, but only recently have the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) antibody ipilimumab and programmed cell death-1 inhibitors such as nivolimumab and pembrolizumab been shown to induce marked improvements in survival in patients with metastatic melanoma. An important concern arises in terms of the safety of the use of these agents in patients with autoimmune diseases, solid organ transplant recipients on immunosuppression, patients with a history of previous hepatitis B or C, and patients with HIV infections as these patients were excluded from pivotal immunotherapy studies. Here, we report on the safety and efficacy of pembrolizumab in a melanoma patient with multiple medical problems including poorly controlled rheumatoid arthritis and we review the available literature on the use of immunotherapy and autoimmune diseases. The weight of evidence suggests that these patients should be offered the opportunity to benefit from immune check point inhibitors, with drugs targeting programmed cell death-1 being preferred. More research is required to study the long-term effects of immunotherapy on patients with autoimmune diseases.
Derived from OMEGA / Mars Express Data Global Mineralogical and Aqueous Mars History

clicking here colleagues, clients, or customers by , you can order high-quality copies for your If you wish to distribute this article to others . here following the guidelines can be obtained by Permission to republish or repurpose articles or portions of articles (this information is current as of August 21, 2010 ): The following resources related to this article are available online at www.sciencemag. org http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/full/312/5772/400 version of this article at: including high-resolution figures, can be found in the online Updated information and services, http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/full/312/5772/400#otherarticles , 10 of which can be accessed for free: cites 31 articles This article 230 article(s) on the ISI Web of Science. cited by This article has been http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/full/312/5772/400#otherarticles 23 articles hosted by HighWire Press; see: cited by This article has been http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/collection/planet_sci Planetary Science : subject collections This article appears in the following
Treating statin-intolerant patients

Statins are effective in reducing cardiovascular events and are safe for almost all patients. Nevertheless, intolerance to statins is frequently faced in clinical practice. This is mostly due to muscular symptoms (myalgia with or without increase of plasma creatinine kinase) and/or elevation of hepatic aminotransferases, which overall constitutes approximately two-thirds of reported adverse events during statin therapy. These side effects raise concerns in patients as well as in doctors and are likely to reduce patients’ adherence and, as a consequence, the cardiovascular benefit. Therefore, it is mandatory that clinicians improve their knowledge on the clinical aspects of muscular and hepatic side effects of statin therapy as well as their ability to manage patients with statin intolerance. Besides briefly examining the clinical aspects and the mechanisms that are proposed to be responsible for the most common statin-associated side effects, the main purpose of this article is to review the available approaches to manage statin-intolerant patients. The first step is to determine whether the adverse events are indeed related to statin therapy. If so, lowering the dosage or changing statin, alternate dosing options, or the use of nonstatin compounds may be practical strategies. The cholesterol-lowering potency as well as the usefulness of these different approaches in treating statin-intolerant patients will be examined based on currently available data. However, the cardiovascular benefit of these strategies has not been well established, so their use has to be guided by a careful clinical assessment of each patient.
Tuberculous Drug-induced Liver Injury and Treatment Re-challenge in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Co-infection

Background: Tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury (TB-DILI) is the most common adverse event necessitating therapy interruption. The optimal re-challenge strategy for antituberculous therapy (ATT) remains unclear, especially in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infected individuals in high-prevalence settings such as South Africa. Objective: To determine the incidence of and risk factors for the recurrence of TB-DILI with different ATT re-challenge strategies. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients managed for TB-DILI from 2005 to 2013 at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, South Africa. Relevant clinical and laboratory data at the presentation of TB-DILI, time to recovery of liver function, method of ATT re-challenge and outcome of re-challenge were documented. Results: 1016 charts were reviewed, and 53 individuals with TB-DILI (48 HIV-co-infected) were identified. Following discontinuation of ATT, the median time to alanine aminotransferase normalization was 28 days (interquartile range 13-43). Forty-two subjects were re-challenged (30 regimen re-challenges and 12 step-wise re-challenges). 5 (12%) cases of recurrent TB-DILI were noted. Recurrences were not associated with the method of re-challenge. Conclusion: Based on the data available, it appears that full ATT can be safely restarted in the majority of subjects with a recurrence of DILI occurring in about 12% of subjects. The method of re-challenge did not appear to impact on the risk of recurrence. Ideally, a prospective randomized trial is needed to determine the best method of re-challenge.
Thermoplastic elastomers based on waste rubber and expanded polystyrene: Role of devulcanization and ionizing radiation

ABSTRACT Waste rubber (WR) powder as a vulcanized one was introduced into a two-roll mill in the presence of various ratios of curatives to develop sheets of devulcanized waste rubber (DWR). Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) were prepared by blending either WR or the obtained DWR with the waste of expanded polystyrene (EPS) at a fixed ratio of 70 rubber/30 EPS in the absence or presence of gamma irradiation at 100 kGy. Maleic anhydride (MA) 1 wt% with respect to rubber was used as coupling agent. The mechanical parameters of the blends: tensile properties, rheology, hardness (Shore D), and abrasion resistance were studied.
Research Commentary - Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research Agenda

Since the inauguration of information systems research (ISR) two decades ago, the information systems (IS) field's attention has moved beyond administrative systems and individual tools. Millions of users log onto Facebook, download iPhone applications, and use mobile services to create decentralized work organizations. Understanding these new dynamics will necessitate the field paying attention to digital infrastructures as a category of IT artifacts. A state-of-the-art review of the literature reveals a growing interest in digital infrastructures but also confirms that the field has yet to put infrastructure at the centre of its research endeavor. To assist this shift we propose three new directions for IS research: (1) theories of the nature of digital infrastructure as a separate type of IT artifact, sui generis; (2) digital infrastructures as relational constructs shaping all traditional IS research areas; (3) paradoxes of change and control as salient IS phenomena. We conclude with suggestions for how to study longitudinal, large-scale sociotechnical phenomena while striving to remain attentive to the limitations of the traditional categories that have guided IS research.
Modified Generalized Lorenz System and Folded Chaotic attractors

A modified generalized Lorenz system in a canonical form extended from the generalized Lorenz system is proposed in this paper. This novel system has a folded factor and can display complex 2-scroll folded attractors and 1-scroll folded attractors at different parameter values. Three typical normal forms, called Lorenz-like, Chen-like and Lu-like chaotic system respectively, of three-dimensional quadratic autonomous chaotic systems are derived, and their dynamical behaviors are further investigated by employing Lyapunov exponent spectrum, bifurcation diagram, Poincare mapping and phase portrait, etc. Of particular interest is the fact that the folded factor makes Chen-like and Lu-like chaotic systems exhibit complicated nonlinear dynamical phenomena.
Surface relaxation and stress for 5d transition metals

Using the density functional theory, we present a systematic theoretical study of the layer relaxation and surface stress of 5d transition metals. Our calculations predict layer contractions for all surfaces, except for the (111) surface of face centered cubic Pt and Au, where slight expansions are obtained similarly to the case of the 4d series. We also find that the relaxations of the close packed surfaces decrease with increasing occupation number through the 5d series. The surface stress for the relaxed, most closely packed surfaces shows similar atomic number dependence as the surface energy. Using Cammarata’s model and our calculated surface stress and surface energy values, we examine the possibility of surface reconstructions, which is in reasonable agreement with the experimental observations.
Fungal biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles: mechanism and scale up

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are a widespread research tool because of their oxidation resistance, biocompatibility and stability. Chemical methods for AuNP synthesis often produce toxic residues that raise environmental concern. On the other hand, the biological synthesis of AuNPs in viable microorganisms and their cell‐free extracts is an environmentally friendly and low‐cost process. In general, fungi tolerate higher metal concentrations than bacteria and secrete abundant extracellular redox proteins to reduce soluble metal ions to their insoluble form and eventually to nanocrystals. Fungi harbour untapped biological diversity and may provide novel metal reductases for metal detoxification and bioreduction. A thorough understanding of the biosynthetic mechanism of AuNPs in fungi is needed to reduce the time of biosynthesis and to scale up the AuNP production process. In this review, we describe the known mechanisms for AuNP biosynthesis in viable fungi and fungal protein extracts and discuss the most suitable bioreactors for industrial AuNP biosynthesis.