Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Long-term analysis of minimally invasive surgery in knee arthroplasty].

BACKGROUND Knee arthroplasty is the treatment of choice for gonarthrosis. The development of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) requires assessing results based on the classical approaches and this is the purpose of our study. METHODS Randomized, prospective study comparing two groups; one underwent MIS (45 patients) and the second one a classical approach (51 patients); both groups were comparable. The following variables were assessed in the immediate postoperative period and at 4 and 8 years: blood loss, pain according to the VAS, flexion and extension and quality of life measured with the SF-36. RESULTS In the immediate postoperative period we observed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in favor of the MIS approach in pain, hospital stay and blood loss. However, this was not observed at 4 and 8 years concerning pain, quality of life and range of motion. We observed an improvement in the functional scale and quality of life compared with the preoperative status, without any differences when both groups were compared. CONCLUSIONS The MIS technique results in a better immediate postoperative period, but no differences were seen in the choice of the approach 4 and 8 years after surgery.
Labelling the Victims of Sex Trafficking: Exploring the Borderland between Rhetoric and Reality

In this article we discuss findings from a small scoping study into the experiences of victims of trafficking and those who work with them. We use testimonies from our interviews to examine issues of choice, slavery and escape. We challenge some of the current language and terminology in the literature on trafficking and call for a more nuanced appreciation of the relationship between agency and victimization.
Tariffs, Trains, and Trade: The Role of Institutions versus Technology in the Expansion of Markets

We study the relative importance of technology and institutions as factors determining the size of markets. The setting of 19th century Europe presents a unique opportunity to address this issue, since it witnessed fundamental change in both dimensions. First, Germany went from around 1,800 customs borders to none through the Zollverein customs treaties. Second, it moved from a situation of monetary disorder to currency unification. And third, the 19th century saw the introduction of steam trains, the key technology that revolutionized transportation between markets. Changes in market integration are studied in terms of the spatial dispersion of grain prices in 68 markets with more than 10,000 observations, located in five different countries and fifteen different German states. We find that the emergence of integrated commodity markets in 19th century Europe is in major part due to the transportation revolution in form of the railways. There is evidence that also customs liberalizations and, more so, currency agreements improved trade possibilities. However, the impact of trains was larger than the effect of these institutions: about three times larger over the long horizon, and around 50% larger for the relatively short time horizon of twenty-five years. These results suggest that as significant as institutional factors were for the expansion of markets, technology factors may have been even more important.
Proteins unique to intraphagosomally grown Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Pathogenic mycobacteria persist and replicate within phagosomes of host phagocytes by inhibiting phagosome maturation at an early endosome stage. The molecular basis for this behavior is not understood. To identify proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis unique to the intraphagosomal phase, mycobacteria were purified from phagosomes of infected murine bone marrow‐derived macrophages and analyzed by high‐resolution 2‐DE and MS. Protein patterns of intraphagosomally grown M. tuberculosis were compared with those of broth‐cultured mycobacteria. The analysis revealed 11 mycobacterial proteins exclusively detected in intraphagosomal mycobacteria. Some of these proteins are involved in metabolism and cell envelope synthesis, such as the lipid carrier protein Rv1627c, and the conserved hypothetical protein Rv1130 that shows homology to a virulence‐associated protein of Legionella pneumophila. The relevance of these proteins as factors enabling intracellular survival of M. tuberculosis is being discussed.
Effect of obesity and exercise on the expression of the novel myokines, Myonectin and Fibronectin type III domain containing 5

Metabolic dysfunction in skeletal muscle is a major contributor to the development of type 2 diabetes. Endurance exercise training has long been established as an effective means to directly restore skeletal muscle glucose and lipid uptake and metabolism. However, in addition to the direct effects of skeletal muscle on glucose and lipids, there is renewed interest in the ability of skeletal muscle to coordinate metabolic activity of other tissues, such as adipose tissue and liver. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of endurance exercise on the expression level of two novel muscle-derived secreted factors, or myokines, Myonectin and Fibronectin type III domain containing 5 (FNDC5), the precursor for Irisin. Methods. We performed immunoblot analysis and quantitative real-time PCR analysis of Myonectin and FNDC5 in the diaphragm muscles of obese Zucker rat (OZR) and lean Zucker rat (LZR) with 9 weeks of aerobic training on a motorized treadmill. Results. We show that myonectin gene expression is increased in the OZR model of obesity and decreases with exercise in both lean and obese Zucker rats. Conversely, myonectin protein concentration was elevated with exercise. Similarly, FNDC5 mRNA levels are significantly higher in the OZR, however exercise training had no effect on the expression level of FNDC5 in either the LZR or OZR. We did not observe any difference in muscle protein content of Irisin with obesity or exercise. Conclusion. Our data shows that exercise training does not increase either FNDC5 or myonectin gene expression, indicating that increased transcriptional regulation of these myokines is not induced by exercise. However, our data also indicates a yet to be explored disconnect between myonectin gene expression and protein content. Further, this report highlights the importance of verifying reference genes when completing gene expression analysis. We found that many commonly used reference genes varied significantly by obesity and/or exercise and would have skewed the results of this study if used to normalize gene expression data. The unstable reference genes include: beta-Actin, beta-2-microglobulin, Non-POU domain containing, octamer-binding, Peptidylprolyl isomerase H, 18S ribosomal RNA, TATA box binding protein and Transferrin receptor.
Revising an Impression of Morality

Two studies investigated the negativity effect in impression formation. Subjects formed an impression of a stimulus person's morality, based on an initial sample of behavior. After indicating an initial impression, subjects received a final behavioral item. This final item described either a very moral or a very immoral act that was always inconsistent with the initial impression. Subjects then gave a revised impression. In line with past research, impressions tended to undergo greater change following the addition of an (inconsistent) immoral rather than moral behavior. Of greater interest was the fact that the addition of an inconsistent immoral behavior also resulted in relatively long response time. These patterns characterized revised impressions based on both moderate and polarized initial impressions. Schematic and piecemeal models of processing are discussed as possible theoretical explanations of the findings.
Testing the Educational and Psychological Development of Students from Other Cultures and Subcultures

During the period under review, there has been an unparalleled amount of activity in testing the educational and psychological development of students from other cultures and subcultures. This history, however, has been written largely in the proceedings of international conferences, obscure reports of projects supported by private foundations, foreign journals, theses, and dissertations. Many reports have appeared in professional journals, but these do not put us on the real forefront of current activity in the testing of the educational and psychological development of students from other cultures and subcultures. Although there have been a few innovations and many modifications of instruments (Coffman, 1965), improvements in tests might be described as "marginal" rather than as "genuine breakthroughs. " The prevailing attitude of the period has been that almost any "good" educational or psychological test will elicit differences from culture to culture and subculture to subculture and that these differences are explainable in terms of differences in values, child-rearing procedures, educational procedures, and the like. Attempts generally have been made to select instruments that would elicit these differences fairly or accurately and with complex instruments to discover the factorial structure of abilities from culture to culture.
The role of synchronization in digital communications using chaos. I . Fundamentals of digital communications

In a digital communications system, data is transmitted from one location to another by mapping bit sequences to symbols, and symbols to sample functions of analog waveforms. The analog waveform passes through a bandlimited (possibly time-varying) analog channel, where the signal is distorted and noise is added. In a conventional system the analog sample functions sent through the channel are weighted sums of one or more sinusoids; in a chaotic communications system, the sample functions are segments of chaotic waveforms. At the receiver, the symbol may be recovered by means of coherent detection, where all possible sample functions are known, or by noncoherent detection, where one or more characteristics of the sample functions are estimated. In a coherent receiver, synchronization is the most commonly used technique for recovering the sample functions from the received waveform. These sample functions are then used as reference signals for a correlator. Synchronization-based receivers have advantages over noncoherent ones in terms of noise performance and bandwidth efficiency. These advantages are lost if synchronization cannot be maintained, for example, under poor propagation conditions. In these circumstances, communication without synchronization may be preferable. The main aim of this paper is to provide a unified approach for the analysis and comparison of conventional and chaotic communications systems. In Part I, the operation of sinusoidal communications techniques is surveyed in order to clarify the role of synchronization and to classify possible demodulation methods for chaotic communications.
Integrated miRNA–risk gene–pathway pair network analysis provides prognostic biomarkers for gastric cancer

Purpose This study aimed to identify molecular prognostic biomarkers for gastric cancer. Methods mRNA and miRNA expression profiles of eligible gastric cancer and control samples were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs), using MetaDE and limma packages, respectively. Target genes of the DEmiRs were also collected from both predictive and experimentally validated target databases of miRNAs. The overlapping genes between selected targets and DEGs were identified as risk genes, followed by functional enrichment analysis. Human pathways and their corresponding genes were downloaded from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database for the expression analysis of each pathway in gastric cancer samples. Next, co-pathway pairs were selected according to the Pearson correlation coefficients. Finally, the co-pathway pairs, miRNA–target pairs, and risk gene–pathway pairs were merged into a complex interaction network, the most important nodes (miRNAs/target genes/co-pathway pairs) of which were selected by calculating their degrees. Results Totally, 1,260 DEGs and 144 DEmiRs were identified. There were 336 risk genes found in the 9,572 miRNA–target pairs. Judging from the pathway expression files, 45 co-pathway pairs were screened out. There were 1,389 interactive pairs and 480 nodes in the integrated network. Among all nodes in the network, focal adhesion/extracellular matrix–receptor interaction pathways, CALM2, miR-19b, and miR-181b were the hub nodes with higher degrees. Conclusion CALM2, hsa-miR-19b, and hsa-miR-181b might be used as potential prognostic targets for gastric cancer.
Metallicity effects on the chromospheric activity–age relation for late‐type dwarfs

We show that there is a relationship between the age excess, defined as the difference between the stellar isochrone and chromospheric ages, and the metallicity as measured by the index [Fe/H] for late-type dwarfs. The chromospheric age tends to be lower than the isochrone age for metal-poor stars, and the opposite occurs for metal-rich objects. We suggest that this could be an effect of neglecting the metallicity dependence of the calibrated chromospheric emission–age relation. We propose a correction to account for this dependence. We also investigate the metallicity distributions of these stars, and show that there are distinct trends according to the chromospheric activity level. Inactive stars have a metallicity distribution which resembles the metallicity distribution of solar neighbourhood stars, while active stars appear to be concentrated in an activity strip on the log R′HK × [Fe/H] diagram. We provide some explanations for these trends, and show that the chromospheric emission–age relation probably has different slopes on the two sides of the Vaughan–Preston gap.
A Bayesian Framework for Simultaneous Matting and 3D Reconstruction

Conventional approaches to 3D scene reconstruction often treat matting and reconstruction as two separate problems, with matting a prerequisite to reconstruction. The problem with such an approach is that it requires taking irreversible decisions at the first stage, which may translate into reconstruction errors at the second stage. In this paper, we propose an approach which attempts to solve both problems jointly, thereby avoiding this limitation. A general Bayesian formulation for estimating opacity and depth with respect to a reference camera is developed. In addition, it is demonstrated that in the special case of binary opacity values (background/foreground) and discrete depth values, a global solution can be obtained via a single graph-cut computation. We demonstrate the application of the method to novel view synthesis in the case of a large-scale outdoor scene. An experimental comparison with a two-stage approach based on chroma-keying and shape-from-silhouette illustrates the advantages of the new method.
CALL FOR PAPERS Cardiac Regeneration and Repair: Mechanisms and Therapy VEGF165A microsphere therapy for myocardial infarction suppresses acute cytokine release and increases microvascular density but does not improve cardiac function

André Uitterdijk,* Tirza Springeling,* Matthijs van Kranenburg, Richard W. B. van Duin, Ilona Krabbendam-Peters, Charlotte Gorsse-Bakker, Stefan Sneep, Rorry van Haeren, Ruud Verrijk, Robert-Jan M. van Geuns, Willem J. van der Giessen, Tommi Markkula, Dirk J. Duncker, and Heleen M. M. van Beusekom Experimental Cardiology, Department of Cardiology, Thoraxcenter, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Cardiology and Radiology, Thoraxcenter, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; OctoPlus, Leiden, The Netherlands
Monitoring Herbivorous Fishes as Indicators of Coral Reef Resilience in American Samoa

Resilience-based management aims to promote or protect processes and species that underpin an ecosystem's capacity to withstand and recover from disturbance. The management of ecological processes is a developing field that requires reliable indicators that can be monitored over time. Herbivory is a key ecological process on coral reefs, and pooling herbivorous fishes into functional groups based on their feeding mode is increasingly used as it may quantify herbivory in ways that indicate resilience. Here we evaluate whether the biomass estimates of these herbivore functional groups are good predictors of reef benthic assemblages, using data from 240 sites from five island groups in American Samoa. Using an information theoretic approach, we assembled a candidate set of linear and nonlinear models to identify the relations between benthic cover and total herbivore and non-herbivore biomass and the biomass of the aforementioned functional groups. For each benthic substrate type considered (encrusting algae, fleshy macroalgae, hard coral and turf algae), the biomass of herbivorous fishes were important explanatory variables in predicting benthic cover, whereas biomass of all fishes combined generally was not. Also, in all four cases, variation in cover was best explained by the biomass of specific functional groups rather than by all herbivores combined. Specifically: 1) macroalgal and turf algal cover decreased with increasing biomass of ‘grazers/detritivores’; and 2) cover of encrusting algae increased with increasing biomass of ‘grazers/detritivores’ and browsers. Furthermore, hard coral cover increased with the biomass of large excavators/bio-eroders (made up of large-bodied parrotfishes). Collectively, these findings emphasize the link between herbivorous fishes and the benthic community and demonstrate support for the use of functional groups of herbivores as indicators for resilience-based monitoring.
Dependency by definition in imagine-d logo : applications and implications

Dependency is a concept whose importance for learning is strongly suggested by – amongst other things – the wide range of applications that spreadsheets have found in education. Given the prominent role that Logo has played in research into computer support for constructionist learning, there is a natural motivation for studying the relationship between spreadsheets and Logo programming. The technical issues surrounding the implementation of dependency in Imagine Logo (Kalas & Blaho, 2000) have been addressed in previous work of Peter Tomcsanyi (2003). Tomcsanyi's research gives useful insight to the Imagine Logo programmer, but does not indicate how dependency might be exploited by end-users in the way that it has been in spreadsheets. This paper introduces a prototype extension of Imagine Logo, informally called Imagine-d Logo, that allows dependencies to be specified using spreadsheet-style definitions. The current scope and potential for Imagine-d Logo are discussed and illustrated with reference to practical issues encountered in using Imagine Logo to program a microworld, to implement spreadsheets and to give computer support for presentations. The broader implications of blending spreadsheet ideas into a Logo environment in this manner are briefly discussed from the perspectives of education and computing.
NOVA: a microhypervisor-based secure virtualization architecture

The availability of virtualization features in modern CPUs has reinforced the trend of consolidating multiple guest operating systems on top of a hypervisor in order to improve platform-resource utilization and reduce the total cost of ownership. However, today's virtualization stacks are unduly large and therefore prone to attacks. If an adversary manages to compromise the hypervisor, subverting the security of all hosted operating systems is easy. We show how a thin and simple virtualization layer reduces the attack surface significantly and thereby increases the overall security of the system. We have designed and implemented a virtualization architecture that can host multiple unmodified guest operating systems. Its trusted computing base is at least an order of magnitude smaller than that of existing systems. Furthermore, on recent hardware, our implementation outperforms contemporary full virtualization environments.
Auditory Processing in Noise: A Preschool Biomarker for Literacy

Learning to read is a fundamental developmental milestone, and achieving reading competency has lifelong consequences. Although literacy development proceeds smoothly for many children, a subset struggle with this learning process, creating a need to identify reliable biomarkers of a child’s future literacy that could facilitate early diagnosis and access to crucial early interventions. Neural markers of reading skills have been identified in school-aged children and adults; many pertain to the precision of information processing in noise, but it is unknown whether these markers are present in pre-reading children. Here, in a series of experiments in 112 children (ages 3–14 y), we show brain–behavior relationships between the integrity of the neural coding of speech in noise and phonology. We harness these findings into a predictive model of preliteracy, revealing that a 30-min neurophysiological assessment predicts performance on multiple pre-reading tests and, one year later, predicts preschoolers’ performance across multiple domains of emergent literacy. This same neural coding model predicts literacy and diagnosis of a learning disability in school-aged children. These findings offer new insight into the biological constraints on preliteracy during early childhood, suggesting that neural processing of consonants in noise is fundamental for language and reading development. Pragmatically, these findings open doors to early identification of children at risk for language learning problems; this early identification may in turn facilitate access to early interventions that could prevent a life spent struggling to read.
Sweet orosensation induces Arc expression in dorsal hippocampal CA1 neurons in an Experience‐dependent manner

There is limited knowledge regarding how the brain controls the timing of meals. Similarly, there is a large gap in our understanding of how top‐down cognitive processes, such as memory influence energy intake. We hypothesize that dorsal hippocampal (dHC) neurons, which are critical for episodic memory, form a memory of a meal and inhibit meal onset during the postprandial period. In support, we showed previously that reversible inactivation of these neurons during the period following a sucrose meal accelerates the onset of the next meal. If dHC neurons form a memory of a meal, then consumption should induce synaptic plasticity in dHC neurons. To test this, we determined (1) whether a sucrose meal increases the expression of the synaptic plasticity marker activity‐regulated cytoskeleton‐associated protein (Arc) in dHC CA1 neurons, (2) whether previous experience with sucrose influences sucrose‐induced Arc expression, and (3) whether the orosensory stimulation produced by the noncaloric sweetener saccharin is sufficient to induce Arc expression. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were trained to consume a sweetened solution at a scheduled time daily. On the experimental day, they were given a solution for 7 min, euthanized, and then fluorescence in situ hybridization procedures were used to measure meal‐induced Arc mRNA. Compared to caged control rats, Arc expression was significantly higher in rats that consumed sucrose or saccharin. Interestingly, rats given additional experience with sucrose had less Arc expression than rats with less sucrose experience, even though both groups consumed similar amounts on the experimental day. Thus, this study is the first to suggest that orosensory stimulation produced by consuming a sweetened solution and possibly the hedonic value of that sweet stimulation induces synaptic plasticity in dHC CA1 neurons in an experience‐dependent manner. Collectively, these findings are consistent with our hypothesis that dHC neurons form a memory of a meal. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.