Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived Control Moderates the Effects of Functional Limitation on Older Adults’ Social Activity: Findings From the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Objectives Research has shown that functional limitation is related to reduced social activity in older adults; however, individuals with high perceived control have greater confidence in their ability to achieve outcomes and are more likely to show persistence and employ strategies to overcome challenges. The aim of this study was to examine whether perceived control protects against the negative effects of functional limitation on older adults' social activity. Method Participants were 835 older adults aged 69 to 103 years at baseline from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Multilevel modeling was used to examine baseline and within-person change in functional limitation and perceived control as predictors of 18-year trajectories of social activity. Results An interaction between baseline functional limitation and perceived control indicated that having greater functional limitation was associated with less social activity and greater decline over time for those with lower perceived control, but not for those with higher control. Within-person change in functional limitation was not reliably associated with social activity. Discussion This study highlights the importance of perceived control as a protective psychological resource and may have implications for developing interventions aimed at enabling older adults to maintain their social activity as they experience functional decline.
Limb Shortening Increases Risk for Dislocation in Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty

Background: Despite a significant number of publications exploring hip shortening during Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) and its effect on dislocation, the long term outcomes have been poorly characterized. Our purpose is to discuss the factors affecting hip stability and the outcomes of primary THA in a group of patients whose limbs were shortened. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all primary THAs from our institution’s joint database between 1998 and 2004. Patients with a minimum of 48 months follow up were included in our analyses. Patient demographics, radiographic measurements, and Harris hip scores were compared with outcomes. We developed a method using landmarks on pre and postoperative radiographs to measure overall shortening and shortening through the femoral component specifically. Results: Mean follow up time was 84 months. 16 hips (16.8%) had dislocations. Student t-test comparing dislocated to non-dislocated hips showed overall shortening and shortening through the femoral component were both significantly associated with dislocation (p=0.0093, p=0.0066 respectively). Bivariate analysis showed that risk of dislocation increases with extent of shortening through the femoral component (p=0.012). Conclusion: Hips that were shortened at their femoral components were more likely to dislocate. Furthermore, the degree of shortening corresponded with the degree of dislocation risk. Hip shortening is an important risk factor for postoperative dislocation, a major complication following THA.
Phase behaviour, microstructure, and percolation of poly(ethylene glycol) filled by multiwalled carbon nanotubes and organophilic montmorillonite

This work studies phase behavior, microstructure and percolation of the poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), filled by multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), organo-modified montmorillonite (OMMT), and their mixtures, using differential scanning calorimentry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrical conductivity, and analysis of microscopic images. The DSC and XRD data showed a noticeable decrease of PEG crystallinity with increase of nanofiller content. Filling of PEG by MWCNTs was accompanied by a percolation threshold at ≈0.1 wt%, and the estimated electrical conductivity exponent (t = 1.77 ± 0.07) was typical for the random percolation networks. The similar threshold behavior, but with higher percolation threshold ≈0.5–1.0 wt%, was observed for PEG filled by OMMT. The observed effect of OMMT-enhanced dispersion of MWCNTS in PEG at a high level of loading by nanoparticles offers good prospects for simultaneous improvement of the electrical and mechanical properties of PEG-based composites.
High acute phase protein levels correlate with pulmonary and skin involvement in patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis

Objective This study was performed to evaluate the serum amyloid A (SAA) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis (dSSc) in relation to a control group, disease duration, and skin and pulmonary involvement. Methods This case-control study included 18 patients with early dSSc, 15 patients with late dSSc, and 15 healthy controls. The SAA and CRP levels, modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS), and diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO) were determined in all patients. Results The SAA and CRP levels were significantly higher in patients with early and late dSSc than in healthy controls. The frequency of detection of elevated SAA and CRP levels was approximately 66% and 85%, respectively. A significant correlation was found between the SAA and CRP levels in patients with dSSc. The SAA and CRP levels were inversely correlated with DLCO. The CRP level was positively correlated with the mRSS. Conclusions High SAA and CRP levels could serve as biomarkers for pulmonary involvement. The serum CRP level accurately reflects the extension of skin thickening in patients with dSSc.
Test-Retest Reliabilty of Exercise-Induced Hypoalgesia After Aerobic Exercise

Objective Exercise increases pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) in exercising and nonexercising muscles, known as exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH). No studies have investigated the test-retest reliability of change in PPTs after aerobic exercise. Primary objectives were to compare the effect on PPTs after an incremental bicycling exercise compared with quiet rest and to investigate the relative and absolute test-retest reliability of the test stimulus (PPT) and the absolute and relative EIH response in exercising and nonexercising muscles. Setting Laboratory. Methods In two sessions, PPTs in the quadriceps and trapezius muscles were assessed before and after 15 minutes of quiet rest and 15 minutes of bicycling in 34 healthy subjects. Habitual physical activity was assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Results Bicycling increased PPTs in exercising and nonexercising muscles in both sessions (P < 0.05). The magnitude of the EIH response in the exercising muscle was, however, larger in the second compared with the first session (P < 0.015). PPTs showed excellent (intraclass correlation [ICC] ≥ 0.84) within-session and between-session test-retest reliability. The EIH response in exercising and nonexercising muscles demonstrated fair (ICC = 0.45) between-session relative test-retest reliability, but agreement in EIH responders between sessions was not significant (quadriceps: κ = 0.24, P = 0.15; trapezius: κ = 0.01, P = 0.97). Positive correlations between the IPAQ score and PPTs were found (quadriceps: r = 0.44, P = 0.009; trapezius: r = 0.31, P = 0.07) before exercise. No significant association was found between IPAQ and EIH. Conclusions Incremental bicycling exercise increased PPTs with fair relative and absolute reliability of the EIH response. These data might have an impact on future studies investigating EIH and for clinicians designing exercise programs for pain relief.
Cross-cultural validation of Lupus Impact Tracker in five European clinical practice settings

Objectives The aim was to evaluate the cross-cultural validity of the Lupus Impact Tracker (LIT) in five European countries and to assess its acceptability and feasibility from the patient and physician perspectives. Methods A prospective, observational, cross-sectional and multicentre validation study was conducted in clinical settings. Before the visit, patients completed LIT, Short Form 36 (SF-36) and care satisfaction questionnaires. During the visit, physicians assessed disease activity [Safety of Estrogens in Lupus Erythematosus National Assessment (SELENA)-SLEDAI], organ damage [SLICC/ACR damage index (SDI)] and flare occurrence. Cross-cultural validity was assessed using the Differential Item Functioning method. Results Five hundred and sixty-nine SLE patients were included by 25 specialists; 91.7% were outpatients and 89.9% female, with mean age 43.5 (13.0) years. Disease profile was as follows: 18.3% experienced flares; mean SELENA-SLEDAI score 3.4 (4.5); mean SDI score 0.8 (1.4); and SF-36 mean physical and mental component summary scores: physical component summary 42.8 (10.8) and mental component summary 43.0 (12.3). Mean LIT score was 34.2 (22.3) (median: 32.5), indicating that lupus moderately impacted patients' daily life. A cultural Differential Item Functioning of negligible magnitude was detected across countries (pseudo- R 2 difference of 0.01-0.04). Differences were observed between LIT scores and Physician Global Assessment, SELENA-SLEDAI, SDI scores = 0 (P < 0.035) and absence of flares (P = 0.004). The LIT showed a strong association with SF-36 physical and social role functioning, vitality, bodily pain and mental health (P < 0.001). The LIT was well accepted by patients and physicians. It was reliable, with Cronbach α coefficients ranging from 0.89 to 0.92 among countries. Conclusion The LIT is validated in the five participating European countries. The results show its reliability and cultural invariability across countries. They suggest that LIT can be used in routine clinical practice to evaluate and follow patient-reported outcomes in order to improve patient-physician interaction.
Espresso: Efficient Forward Propagation for BCNNs

There are many applications scenarios for which the computational performance and memory footprint of the prediction phase of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) needs to be optimized. Binary Neural Networks (BDNNs) have been shown to be an effective way of achieving this objective. In this paper, we show how Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) can be implemented using binary representations. Espresso is a compact, yet powerful library written in C/CUDA that features all the functionalities required for the forward propagation of CNNs, in a binary file less than 400KB, without any external dependencies. Although it is mainly designed to take advantage of massive GPU parallelism, Espresso also provides an equivalent CPU implementation for CNNs. Espresso provides special convolutional and dense layers for BCNNs, leveraging bit-packing and bit-wise computations for efficient execution. These techniques provide a speed-up of matrix-multiplication routines, and at the same time, reduce memory usage when storing parameters and activations. We experimentally show that Espresso is significantly faster than existing implementations of optimized binary neural networks ($\approx$ 2 orders of magnitude). Espresso is released under the Apache 2.0 license and is available at this http URL.
The effect of Brownian motion on the rheological properties of a suspension of non-spherical particles

The effect of rotary Brownian motion on the rheology of a dilute suspension of rigid spheroids in shear flow is considered for various limiting cases of the particle aspect ratio r and dimensionless shear rate γ/D. As a preliminary the probability distribution function is calculated for the orientation of a single, axisymmetric particle in steady shear flow, assuming small particle Reynolds number. The result for the case of weak-shear flows, γ/D [Lt ] 1, has been known for many years. After briefly reviewing this limiting case, we present expressions for the case of strong shear where (r3 + r−3) [Lt ] γ/D, and for an intermediate regime relevant for extreme aspect ratios where 1 [Lt ] γ/D [Lt ] (r3 + r−3). The bulk stress is then calculated for these cases, as well as the case of nearly spherical particles r ∼ 1, which has not hitherto been discussed in detail. Various non-Newtonian features of the suspension rheology are discussed in terms of prior continuum mechanical and experimental results.
Regulation of type II collagen, matrix metalloproteinase-13 and cell proliferation by interleukin-1β is mediated by curcumin via inhibition of NF-κB signaling in rat chondrocytes

Curcumin possesses strong anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatoid and anti-oxidative activities, and has the potential to inhibit nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling. Cartilage damage in osteoarthritis (OA) is largely mediated by interleukin-1β (IL-1β) via activation of various transcription factors, including NF-κB and activator protein-1. The aim of the present study was to determine whether IL-1β induces matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) expression and inhibits type II collagen expression, as well as to examine whether cell proliferation may be inhibited by curcumin through the inhibition of NF-κB signaling. The effects of curcumin were investigated in rat articular chondrocyte cell cultures treated with IL-1β in the presence or absence of curcumin or the NF-κB inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate. Western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction were conducted to evaluate protein and mRNA expression levels of type II collagen, MMP-13, NF-κB inhibitor α (IκBα), phosphorylated-IκBα and NF-κB subunit p65/RelA. Western blotting and immunofluorescence were performed to examine the effects of curcumin on the expression, phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of NF-κB-associated proteins. The effects of curcumin on cell proliferation were evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). Curcumin was demonstrated to inhibit the IL-1β-induced activation of NF-κB by suppressing IκBα phosphorylation and p65/RelA nuclear translocation. These events were associated with the downregulation of MMP-13 expression and the upregulation of type II collagen expression, both of which are considered to be NF-κB targets. CCK-8 assays revealed that co-treatment with curcumin resulted in increased proliferation in IL-1β-treated chondrocytes. These findings implicated curcumin as a naturally occurring anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of OA via inhibition of NF-κB signaling.
A Survey Of Blockchain Security Issues And Challenges

Proceedings of Sixth International Congress on Information and Communication TechnologyBlockchain for BusinessArtificial IntelligenceBlockchain TechnologyHandbook of Research on Blockchain TechnologyResearch Anthology on Blockchain Technology in Business, Healthcare, Education, and GovernmentBlockchain for Cybersecurity and PrivacyBlockchain Cybersecurity, Trust and PrivacyTransforming Businesses With Bitcoin Mining and Blockchain ApplicationsPrinciples of Security and TrustProceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Soft Computing and Pattern Recognition (SoCPaR 2018)Blockchain Technology and the Internet of ThingsEnabling Blockchain Technology for Secure Networking and CommunicationsCommunications and NetworkingBlockchain for Smart CitiesProceedings of International Conference on Computational Intelligence, Data Science and Cloud ComputingCross-Industry Use of Blockchain Technology and Opportunities for the FutureLarge-Scale Data Streaming, Processing, and Blockchain SecurityBlockchain for Distributed Systems SecurityAdvances in Data Science, Cyber Security and IT ApplicationsRole of Blockchain Technology in IoT ApplicationsConvergence of Internet of Things and Blockchain TechnologiesComputational Intelligence in Pattern RecognitionBlockchains for Network SecurityBlockchain and AI Technology in the Industrial Internet of ThingsHandbook of Research on Cyber Crime and Information PrivacyCross-Industry Use of Blockchain Technology and Opportunities for the FutureBitcoin and Blockchain Security6G Mobile Wireless NetworksWeb, Artificial Intelligence and Network ApplicationsCommercializing BlockchainBlockchain Security in Cloud ComputingPractical CryptographyBlockchain and Trustworthy SystemsHands-On Cybersecurity with Blockchain2019 International Conference on System Science and Engineering (ICSSE)Smart BlockchainBlockchain Applications in IoT SecurityBlockchain in the Industrial Internet of ThingsBlockchain Technology for Data Privacy Management
A bag-to-class divergence approach to multiple-instance learning

In multi-instance (MI) learning, each object (bag) consists of multiple feature vectors (instances), and is most commonly regarded as a set of points in a multidimensional space. A different viewpoint is that the instances are realisations of random vectors with corresponding probability distribution, and that a bag is the distribution, not the realisations. In MI classification, each bag in the training set has a class label, but the instances are unlabelled. By introducing the probability distribution space to bag-level classification problems, dissimilarities between probability distributions (divergences) can be applied. The bag-to-bag Kullback-Leibler information is asymptotically the best classifier, but the typical sparseness of MI training sets is an obstacle. We introduce bag-to-class divergence to MI learning, emphasising the hierarchical nature of the random vectors that makes bags from the same class different. We propose two properties for bag-to-class divergences, and an additional property for sparse training sets.
Skeletal muscle microvascular and interstitial PO2 from rest to contractions

Oxygen pressure gradients across the microvascular walls are essential for oxygen diffusion from blood to tissue cells. At any given flux, the magnitude of these transmural gradients is proportional to the local resistance. The greatest resistance to oxygen transport into skeletal muscle is considered to reside in the short distance between red blood cells and myocytes. Although crucial to oxygen transport, little is known about transmural pressure gradients within skeletal muscle during contractions. We evaluated oxygen pressures within both the skeletal muscle microvascular and interstitial spaces to determine transmural gradients during the rest–contraction transient in anaesthetized rats. The significant transmural gradient observed at rest was sustained during submaximal muscle contractions. Our findings support that the blood–myocyte interface provides substantial resistance to oxygen diffusion at rest and during contractions and suggest that modulations in microvascular haemodynamics and red blood cell distribution constitute primary mechanisms driving increased transmural oxygen flux with contractions.
The Type IX Secretion System (T9SS): Highlights and Recent Insights into Its Structure and Function

Protein secretion systems are vital for prokaryotic life, as they enable bacteria to acquire nutrients, communicate with other species, defend against biological and chemical agents, and facilitate disease through the delivery of virulence factors. In this review, we will focus on the recently discovered type IX secretion system (T9SS), a complex translocon found only in some species of the Bacteroidetes phylum. T9SS plays two roles, depending on the lifestyle of the bacteria. It provides either a means of movement (called gliding motility) for peace-loving environmental bacteria or a weapon for pathogens. The best-studied members of these two groups are Flavobacterium johnsoniae, a commensal microorganism often found in water and soil, and Porphyromonas gingivalis, a human oral pathogen that is a major causative agent of periodontitis. In P. gingivalis and some other periodontopathogens, T9SS translocates proteins, especially virulence factors, across the outer membrane (OM). Proteins destined for secretion bear a conserved C-terminal domain (CTD) that directs the cargo to the OM translocon. At least 18 proteins are involved in this still enigmatic process, with some engaged in the post-translational modification of T9SS cargo proteins. Upon translocation across the OM, the CTD is removed by a protease with sortase-like activity and an anionic LPS is attached to the newly formed C-terminus. As a result, a cargo protein could be secreted into the extracellular milieu or covalently attached to the bacterial surface. T9SS is regulated by a two-component system; however, the precise environmental signal that triggers it has not been identified. Exploring unknown systems contributing to bacterial virulence is exciting, as it may eventually lead to new therapeutic strategies. During the past decade, the major components of T9SS were identified, as well as hints suggesting the possible mechanism of action. In addition, the list of characterized cargo proteins is constantly growing. The actual structure of the translocon, situated in the OM of bacteria, remains the least explored area; however, new technical approaches and increasing scientific attention have resulted in a growing body of data. Therefore, we present a compact up-to-date review of this topic.
Empirical evaluation of a nesting testability transformation for evolutionary testing

Evolutionary testing is an approach to automating test data generation that uses an evolutionary algorithm to search a test object's input domain for test data. Nested predicates can cause problems for evolutionary testing, because information needed for guiding the search only becomes available as each nested conditional is satisfied. This means that the search process can overfit to early information, making it harder, and sometimes near impossible, to satisfy constraints that only become apparent later in the search. The article presents a testability transformation that allows the evaluation of all nested conditionals at once. Two empirical studies are presented. The first study shows that the form of nesting handled is prevalent in practice. The second study shows how the approach improves evolutionary test data generation.
Explosive mutation accumulation triggered by heterozygous human Pol ε proofreading-deficiency is driven by suppression of mismatch repair

Tumors defective for DNA polymerase (Pol) ε proofreading have the highest tumor mutation burden identified. A major unanswered question is whether loss of Pol ε proofreading by itself is sufficient to drive this mutagenesis, or whether additional factors are necessary. To address this, we used a combination of next generation sequencing and in vitro biochemistry on human cell lines engineered to have defects in Pol ε proofreading and mismatch repair. Absent mismatch repair, monoallelic Pol ε proofreading deficiency caused a rapid increase in a unique mutation signature, similar to that observed in tumors from patients with biallelic mismatch repair deficiency and heterozygous Pol ε mutations. Restoring mismatch repair was sufficient to suppress the explosive mutation accumulation. These results strongly suggest that concomitant suppression of mismatch repair, a hallmark of colorectal and other aggressive cancers, is a critical force for driving the explosive mutagenesis seen in tumors expressing exonuclease-deficient Pol ε.