Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture and Osteoarthritis Progression

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) rupture is a common sporting injury that frequently affects young, athletic patients. Apart from the functional problems of instability, patients with ACL deficient knees also develop osteoarthritis. Although this is frequently cited as an indication for ACL reconstruction, the relationship between ACL rupture, reconstruction and the instigation and progression of articular cartilage degenerative change is controversial. The purpose of this paper is to review the published literature with regards ACL rupture and the multifactorial causes for osteoarthritis progression, and whether or not this is slowed or stopped by ACL reconstruction. There is no evidence in the published literature to support the view that ACL reconstruction prevents osteoarthritis, although it may prevent further meniscal damage. It must be recognised that this conclusion is based on the current literature which has substantial methodological limitations.
The presence of prostate-specific antigen-related genes in primates and the expression of recombinant human prostate-specific antigen in a transfected murine cell line.

Human prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has been shown as an aid in the early detection of prostate cancer (W. J. Catalona et al., J. Am. Med. Assoc., 270: 948-954, 1993) and was approved in 1994 by the Food and Drug Administration for early detection of prostate cancer. Immunotherapies directed against PSA have been suggested in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. One of the essential questions is to define which nonhuman species express PSA for experimental studies. Using Southern blot analyses, genes related to human PSA have been detected in several nonhuman primate species, including chimpanzee, orangutan, gorilla, macaque, and rhesus monkey, but not in other mammalian species, including rabbit, cow, pig, dog, rat, or mouse. Immunohistochemical staining with anti-human PSA antisera detected strong staining in both human and monkey prostatic epithelial cells with no reactivity to rat prostate cells. Because the PSA gene is not present in the murine genome, a matched set of murine cell lines has been developed that may be useful to study the biochemical functions of PSA and as an experimental target for PSA-directed immunotherapy. To establish such cell lines, a C57BL/6 murine colon adenocarcinoma cell line, MC-38, was transfected with a retroviral vector containing cDNA encoding the human PSA gene. Genetic analysis of a PSA-secreting clone, PSA/MC-38, demonstrated that the PSA gene had been stably integrated into the MC-38 genome. The PSA/MC-38 cell line was found to secrete PSA into tissue culture medium, producing a protein of approximately M(r) 30,000. In vivo, PSA/MC-38 grew as a s.c. tumor in male and female mice. PSA/MC-38 tumors grew more rapidly in athymic mice than in syngeneic C57BL/6 mice, and in both mouse strains, the PSA/MC-38 tumors grew more slowly than control vector-transduced tumors. PSA was detected in the serum and tumors of PSA/MC-38 tumor-bearing mice. It is proposed that PSA/MC-38 cells may be used as a murine tumor model to test potential therapeutic vaccines and other experimental therapies directed against PSA.
Observational properties of a kink unstable coronal loop

Aims. Previous work on the dynamics of the kink instability has concentrated on the evolution of the magnetic field and associated current sheets. Here we aim to determine the observational consequences of the kink instability in short coronal loops, particularly what images TRACE would record of such an instability. This paper concentrates on the internal m = 1 mode where the kink structure of the instability may not be apparent from the global field shape. This is most relevant to the observation of active region brightenings and coronal bright points. Methods. An existing fluid code was modified to include the TRACE temperature response function in order to calculate temporally and spatially averaged, line of sight images in the 171, 195 and 284 A band passes for straight, kink unstable flux tubes. Results. Two new fluid effects of the kink instability are discovered: the circular enhancement of the density at the foot points and the appearance of a low density band running across the flux tube. The second of these effects is shown to be imagable by TRACE and hence would be a good candidate observational signature for an internal m = 1 kink unstable loop.
Achievable performance of turbo codes over the correlated Rician channel

The performance of turbo codes is evaluated through analysis and simulation over the Rice multiplicative fading channel. The analysis is conducted extending the results presented by A.M. Viterbi and A.J. Viterbi (see Proc. ISIT'98, p.29, 1998) to the Rice multiplicative fading channel case. Simulation results are obtained using an extended version of the improved Jakes' channel simulator, first presented by M.F. Pop and N.C. Beaulieu (see IEEE Trans. Commun., vol.49, p.699-708, 2001).
Computational Prediction of acyl-coA Binding Proteins Structure in Brassica napus

Acyl-coA binding proteins could transport acyl-coA esters from plastid to endoplasmic reticulum, prior to fatty acid biosynthesis, leading to the formation of triacylglycerol. The structure and the subcellular localization of acyl-coA binding proteins (ACBP) in Brassica napus were computationally predicted in this study. Earlier, the structure analysis of ACBPs was limited to the small ACBPs, the current study focused on all four classes of ACBPs. Physicochemical parameters including the size and the length, the intron-exon structure, the isoelectric point, the hydrophobicity, and the amino acid composition were studied. Furthermore, identification of conserved residues and conserved domains were carried out. Secondary structure and tertiary structure of ACBPs were also studied. Finally, subcellular localization of ACBPs was predicted. The findings indicated that the physicochemical parameters and subcellular localizations of ACBPs in Brassica napus were identical to Arabidopsis thaliana. Conserved domain analysis indicated that ACBPs contain two or three kelch domains that belong to different families. Identical residues in acyl-coA binding domains corresponded to eight amino acid residues in all ACBPs of B. napus. However, conserved residues of common ACBPs in all species of animal, plant, bacteria and fungi were only inclusive in small ACBPs. Alpha-helixes were displayed and conserved in all the acyl-coA binding domains, representing almost the half of the protein structure. The findings confirm high similarities in ACBPs between A. thaliana and B. napus, they might share the same functions but loss or gain might be possible.
Follicular trachoma and trichiasis prevalence in an urban community in The Gambia, West Africa: is there a need to include urban areas in national trachoma surveillance?

Urban areas are traditionally excluded from trachoma surveillance activities, but due to rapid expansion and population growth, the urban area of Brikama in The Gambia may be developing social problems that are known risk factors for trachoma. It is also a destination for many migrants who may be introducing active trachoma into the area. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for follicular trachoma and trichiasis in Brikama.
Mindsets and Self-Evaluation: How beliefs about Intelligence can create a Preference for Growth over Defensiveness

Th e purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how implicit theories of intelligence ( Dweck, 1999 ; Dweck & Leggett, 1988) invoke distinct self-evaluative motives that refl ect or create a preference for growth or defensiveness—and, ultimately, whether people fully develop their competencies. An incremental theory refers to the belief that intelligence is malleable and improvable, leading to the adoption of achievement goals focused on learning and competency development (learning goal) . Consequently, incremental theorists engage in self-referential self-assessment and self-improvement self-evaluations and exhibit remedial responses in the service of improving their competencies. An entity theory , in contrast, refers to the belief that intelligence is limited and fi xed, leading to the adoption of goals focused on validating or demonstrating competencies relative to others (performance goal). Consequently, entity theorists engage in normative selfassessment and self-enhancement self-evaluations that serve to protect or maintain their selfimage as competent individuals. Taken together, implicit theories of intelligence create meaning systems that determine growth-oriented or defensive responses in achievement contexts, thereby contributing to or impairing the development of competencies.
Error Rates in Users of Automatic Face Recognition Software

In recent years, wide deployment of automatic face recognition systems has been accompanied by substantial gains in algorithm performance. However, benchmarking tests designed to evaluate these systems do not account for the errors of human operators, who are often an integral part of face recognition solutions in forensic and security settings. This causes a mismatch between evaluation tests and operational accuracy. We address this by measuring user performance in a face recognition system used to screen passport applications for identity fraud. Experiment 1 measured target detection accuracy in algorithm-generated ‘candidate lists’ selected from a large database of passport images. Accuracy was notably poorer than in previous studies of unfamiliar face matching: participants made over 50% errors for adult target faces, and over 60% when matching images of children. Experiment 2 then compared performance of student participants to trained passport officers–who use the system in their daily work–and found equivalent performance in these groups. Encouragingly, a group of highly trained and experienced “facial examiners” outperformed these groups by 20 percentage points. We conclude that human performance curtails accuracy of face recognition systems–potentially reducing benchmark estimates by 50% in operational settings. Mere practise does not attenuate these limits, but superior performance of trained examiners suggests that recruitment and selection of human operators, in combination with effective training and mentorship, can improve the operational accuracy of face recognition systems.
Mechanosensitive channel candidate MCA2 is involved in touch-induced root responses in Arabidopsis

The Ca2+-permeable mechanosensitive (MS) channel is a mechanical stress sensor. We previously reported that Arabidopsis MCA1 and its paralog MCA2 functioned individually as Ca2+-permeable MS channels. In the present study, we showed that the primary roots of the mca2-null mutant behaved abnormally on the surface of hard medium. First, primary roots are known to exhibit a skewing growth pattern on the surface of vertically placed agar medium. On such surface, the primary roots of mca2-null skewed more than those of the wild type. Second, when seedlings were grown on a tilted agar surface, the primary root of mca2-null showed abnormal waving patterns. Third, wild-type seedlings eventually died when grown on horizontally placed 3.2% gelrite medium, which was too hard to allow the primary roots of the wild type to penetrate, because their primary roots sprang from the surface of the medium and may have been unable to absorb water and nutrients. In contrast, the primary roots of mca2-null, but not those of mca1-null, were able to creep over the surface of the medium and grow. Fourth, when grown on the surface of 3.2% agar medium supplemented with 30 mM CaCl2, only mca2-null grew with a root that coiled in a clockwise direction. Lastly, on the surface of vertically placed rectangular plates that allowed primary roots to grow vertically down to the frame of the plate, wild-type primary roots grew horizontally after touching the frame at an angle of 90∘. During the horizontal growth, only the extreme root tips maintained contact with the frame. In contrast, the primary roots of mca2-null allowed not only the extreme root tips, but also the meristem and elongation zones to maintain contact with the frame during horizontal growth. These results suggest that MCA2 is involved in touch-related root responses.
Cognitive Factors Modulate Activity within the Human Subthalamic Nucleus during Voluntary Movement in Parkinson's Disease

Movement is accompanied by changes in the degree to which neurons in corticobasal ganglia loops synchronize their activity within discrete frequency ranges. Although two principal frequency bands—beta (15–30 Hz) and gamma (60–90 Hz)—have been implicated in motor control, the precise functional correlates of their activities remain unclear. Local field potential (LFP) recordings in humans with Parkinson's disease undergoing surgery for deep brain stimulation to the subthalamic nucleus (STN) indicate that spectral changes both anticipate movement and occur perimovement. The extent to which such changes are modulated by cognitive factors involved in making a correct response seems critical in characterizing the functional associations of these oscillations. Accordingly, by recording LFP activity from the STN in parkinsonian patients, we demonstrate that perimovement beta and gamma reactivity is modulated by task complexity in a dopamine-dependent manner, despite the dynamics of the movement remaining unchanged. In contrast, spectral changes occurring in anticipation of future movement were limited to the beta band and, although modulated by dopaminergic therapy, were not modulated by task complexity. Our findings suggest two dopamine-dependent processes indexed by spectral changes in the STN: (1) an anticipatory activity reflected in the beta band that signals the likelihood of future action but does not proactively change with the cognitive demands of the potential response, and (2) perimovement activity that involves reciprocal beta and gamma band changes and is not exclusively related to explicit motor processing. Rather perimovement activity can also vary with, and may reflect, the cognitive complexity of the task.
Characterization of structural and immunological properties of a fusion protein between flagellin from Salmonella and lumazine synthase from Brucella

Aiming to combine the flexibility of Brucella lumazine synthase (BLS) to adapt different protein domains in a decameric structure and the capacity of BLS and flagellin to enhance the immunogenicity of peptides that are linked to their structure, we generated a chimeric protein (BLS‐FliC131) by fusing flagellin from Salmonella in the N‐termini of BLS. The obtained protein was recognized by anti‐flagellin and anti‐BLS antibodies, keeping the oligomerization capacity of BLS, without affecting the folding of the monomeric protein components determined by circular dichroism. Furthermore, the thermal stability of each fusion partner is conserved, indicating that the interactions that participate in its folding are not affected by the genetic fusion. Besides, either in vitro or in vivo using TLR5‐deficient animals we could determine that BLS‐FliC131 retains the capacity of triggering TLR5. The humoral response against BLS elicited by BLS‐FliC131 was stronger than the one elicited by equimolar amounts of BLS + FliC. Since BLS scaffold allows the generation of hetero‐decameric structures, we expect that flagellin oligomerization on this protein scaffold will generate a new vaccine platform with enhanced capacity to activate immune responses.
Development and physicochemical characterization of sirolimus solid dispersions prepared by solvent evaporation method.

PURPOSE The aim of the present investigation was preparation and characterization of sirolimus solid dispersions by solvent evaporation technique to improve its dissolution properties. METHODS Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Poloxamer 188 and Cremophore RH40 were used to prepare the solid dispersions of sirolimus. In vitro dissolution study using USP type I apparatus, were performed in distilled water (containing SLS 0.4%) for pure sirolimus, physical mixtures, Rapamune and prepared solid dispersions. The characterization of solid dispersions was performed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). RESULTS More than 75% of sirolimus was released within 30 minutes from all prepared solid dispersions. The dissolution rate of all prepared solid dispersion powders were more than physical mixtures. The absence of sirolimus peak in the DSC spectrum of solid dispersions indicated the conversion of crystalline form of sirolimus into amorphous form. The results from FT-IR spectroscopy showed that there was no significant change in the FT-IR spectrum of solid dispersions indicating absence of well-defined interaction between drug and carriers. CONCLUSION It was concluded that solid dispersion method, using PVP, Poloxamer 188 and Cremophore RH40 can improve dissolution rate of sirolimus.
Towards a Role of Visualization in Social Modeling

The traditional role of visualization in large scale social modeling projects has mostly been relegated to presentation and reporting. While these projects see the potential of communicating information visually, the visualization component has too often been considered as the final stage of a long process, sometimes as a lastminute add-on. The result is that these visualization components are limited in capabilities, and often appear disjointed and forced from the rest of the project. In this paper, we propose that for visualization to be more commonly accepted, it needs to fit the role as an analytical tool on top of being a presentation component. We use our probe-based visualization as an example of how such cross-over can occur, and present some challenges in social modeling that can be addressed using visualization techniques. Visualization is becoming prevalent in our everyday lives. Popular websites such as Google Maps, the Visual Thesaurus, and Baby Name Voyager have increased the public’s awareness of how information can be efficiently communicated visually. In the past few years alone, visualization components are appearing with more frequency in the final products of large scale social modeling projects. However, a gap still remains between how the visualization community identifies itself and the perception of the role of visualization by the other disciplines. For too often visualization is considered to be the last step of a project, where visualization experts are asked to “make pretty pictures out of the final data” without having participated in the design or implementation of the overall system. We propose that for visualization to take a more integral part in these systems, it needs to fulfill both the roles of a presentation tool as well as an analytical tool. Not only does visualization need to deliver the “pretty pictures,” it also needs to provide the analytical capability that is difficult for non-visual components to deliver. As an example, we describe our probe-based visualization that supports interactive analysis and presentation of an agent-based simulation. We then propose additional challenges in social modeling that can be addressed by integrating a visualization component.
Gender-bias and its influence on the accuracy of eyewitness identification of perpetrators

Previous research has looked at how eyewitnesses can identify characteristically with victims of crimes, but few have looked at how eyewitnesses identify with the perpetrators in any capacity (Block, Greenberg, & Goodman, 2009). More specifically, few have looked at how gender-bias influences eyewitness identification of the perpetrator and characteristics (Butts, Mixon, Mulekar, & Bringmann, 1995; Wright & Sladden, 2003). The purpose of the current research was to look directly at how gender influenced the accuracy of eyewitness identification of a perpetrator. It was hypothesized that women would remember more details about a female perpetrator than a male perpetrator, and conversely, males would remember more details about a male perpetrator than a female perpetrator. It was also hypothesized that females would be overall more accurate than male participants. Participants were 165 college students volunteering in exchange for research credit. Participants observed a staged crime via recording while engaging in a monitoring task and completed measures of intelligence, demographic information, and trauma history as well as identifying information for perpetrators. Results were nonsignificant as to whether or not females are more accurate or have better recall of details but the results do have impact for future research; particularly in how vigilance can impact the accuracy of detailed recall.
Superiority Effects

1. The Problem Wh questions with multiple wh elements pose a special problem within the overall analysis of wh-type constructions. In a language like English, which only allows one wh element to be in the fronted discourse-prominent position, any additional wh element occupies an “in situ” position; i.e. the position of the clause-internal grammatical function. As noted at least since Kuno and Robinson (1972), the choice of which wh element is fronted is not free. They cite examples such as the following:
Lymphatic Filariasis Control in Tanzania: Effect of Repeated Mass Drug Administration with Ivermectin and Albendazole on Infection and Transmission

Background In most countries of sub-Saharan Africa the control of lymphatic filariasis (LF) is based on annual mass drug administration (MDA) with a combination of ivermectin and albendazole, in order to interrupt transmission. Here we present the first detailed study on the effect of 3 repeated MDAs with this drug combination, as implemented by the Tanzanian National Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Programme (NLFEP). Methodology/Principal Findings Infection and transmission was monitored during a five-year period (one pre-intervention and four post-intervention years) in a highly endemic community (Kirare village) in north-eastern Tanzania. The vectors were Anopheles gambiae, An. funestus and Cx. quinquefasciatus. After start of intervention, human microfilaraemia initially decreased rapidly and statistically significant (prevalence by 21.2% and 40.4%, and mean intensity by 48.4% and 73.7%, compared to pre-treatment values after the first and second MDA, respectively), but thereafter the effect levelled off. The initial decrease in microfilaraemia led to significant decreases in vector infection and vector infectivity rates and thus to a considerable reduction in transmission (by 74.3% and 91.3% compared to pre-treatment level after first and second MDA, respectively). However, the decrease in infection and infectivity rates subsequently also levelled off, and low-level transmission was still noted after the third MDA. The MDAs had limited effect on circulating filarial antigens and antibody response to Bm14. Conclusion/Significance Critical issues that may potentially explain the observed waning effect of the MDAs in the later study period include the long intervals between MDAs and a lower than optimal treatment coverage. The findings highlight the importance of ongoing surveillance for monitoring the progress of LF control programmes, and it calls for more research into the long-term effect of repeated ivermectin/albendazole MDAs (including the significance of treatment intervals and compliance), in order to optimize efforts to control LF in sub-Saharan Africa.