Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
‘…I've Found Once the Weight Had Gone Off, I've Had a Few Twinges, But Nothing Like Before’. Exploring Weight and Self-Management of Knee Pain

Objectives Being overweight or obese is a key risk factor for the onset and exacerbation of knee pain. Policy and clinical guidelines encourage lifestyle changes as part of prevention or supported self-management. The present study explores how people who have not consulted for knee pain understand weight in relation to joint pain, if and how they self-manage and potential barriers to doing so. Methods A qualitative investigation was undertaken using repeat in-depth semi-structured interviews and diary study. Thirteen participants who self-reported moderate to severe pain and had not recently consulted their general practitioner for knee pain were recruited to the study. Thematic analysis of data was conducted. Results Participants did not recognize the association between being overweight and the onset of joint pain. The findings illuminate understandings of the effect of weight on joint pain, rationales and strategies for losing weight, and how participants’ position responsibility for weight gain and loss. Discussion The present study suggests that clinicians need to account for existing understandings and actions of individuals in relation to weight and joint pain. Supported self-management and public health interventions need to be individually tailored accordingly. © 2013 The Authors. Musculoskeletal Care published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Ankylosing spondylitis functional and activity indices in clinical practice

Background: Clinicians have at hand several indices to evaluate disease activity and functionality in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), in order to evaluate the prognostic and the treatment of AS patients. Objectives: to examine the relationship between functional and activity scores in AS; to note whether disease activity is associated with any clinical or laboratory variables. Methods: the study included AS patients, classified according to the revised New York criteria; data recorded: demographics, disease duration, type of articular involvement, HLA B27 presence, history of uveitis, calculation of BASFI, BASDAI and ASDASCRP, quantification of inflammation markers. Results: 50 AS patients; ASDASCRP correlated significantly (p < 0.001) with BASFI (r = 811), BASDAI (r = 0.810) and with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR; r = 0.505); HLA B27 positive patients had a median BASDAI 5 times higher than HLA B27 negative patients (p = 0.033); compared with patients with strictly axial disease form, patients with axial and peripheral disease had a median ESR 3 times higher (p = 0.042) and a median BASDAI 2 times higher (p = 0.050). Conclusions: functional and activity AS indices are strongly correlated in assessing disease severity; inflammation and HLA B27 can predict the high value of these indices; axial and peripheral disease pattern is associated with higher disease activity.
Methods to monitor response to chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer with 18F-FDG PET.

UNLABELLED PET using 18F-FDG is a promising technique to monitor response in oncology. Unfortunately, a multitude of analytic methods is in use. To date, it is not clear whether simplified methods could replace complex quantitative methods in routine clinical practice. The aim of this study was to select those methods that would qualify for further assessment in a future prospective response-monitoring study by comparing results with patient outcome. METHODS Dynamic 18F-FDG PET scans were obtained on 2 groups of patients. First, 10 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were scanned on consecutive days before treatment to assess test-retest variability. Second, 30 scans were obtained on 19 patients with locally advanced NSCLC as part of an ongoing response-monitoring study. These scans were analyzed by 2 observers to assess observer variability. In addition, these studies were used to compare various methods with the gold standard, full kinetic analysis (nonlinear regression [NLR]). RESULTS Using an image-derived input function, NLR showed excellent test-retest and observer agreement confirming that it could be used as a gold standard method. From a total of 34 analytic methods, 10 showed good correlation with NLR. Taking into account the degree of complexity of the methods, 4 remain for further evaluation. CONCLUSION The optimal method for analysis of 18F-FDG PET data was determined for several levels of complexity. Four methods need to be evaluated further to determine the optimal trade-off between simplicity and accuracy for routine clinical practice.
Incidence of ovarian failure in systemic lupus erythematosus after treatment with pulse cyclophosphamide.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence of ovarian failure after pulse cyclophosphamide treatment in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to compare this with two control groups: SLE patients treated with azathioprine, and a healthy age matched population. METHODS: All women patients with SLE treated with pulse cyclophosphamide in our department were identified and questioned concerning menstrual history. All the hospital notes were reviewed and details recorded on dose of cyclophosphamide, duration of treatment, side effects and lowest pretreatment neutrophil and leucocyte counts during the course of treatment. Disease controls were recruited from our department and healthy controls from the local family health services authority (FHSA) register. RESULTS: Incidence of ovarian failure in the premenopausal cyclophosphamide treated group was 54% and the incidence of premature menopause (occurring before age 40 years) was 41%. Increasing age at start of treatment showed a linear trend with incidence of ovarian failure (p = 0.01). Using logistic regression, increasing duration of treatment was related to incidence of ovarian failure (p = 0.047 in those treated age 35 years or younger). An association between the lowest neutrophil count throughout the treatment period, when taken immediately before each planned cyclophosphamide pulse, and the incidence of ovarian failure was also demonstrated (p = 0.04 in those treated before age 40 years). CONCLUSION: Ovarian failure--in particular, premature failure after treatment with pulse cyclophosphamide--is common. Factors associated with increased risk include greater age at start of treatment, longer period of treatment, and greater degree of marrow suppression as assessed by the neutrophil count immediately before each planned cyclophosphamide pulse.
Topological expansion of the 2-matrix model correlation functions: diagrammatic rules for a residue formula

We solve the loop equations of the hermitian 2-matrix model to all orders in the topological 1/N2 expansion, i.e. we obtain all non-mixed correlation functions, in terms of residues on an algebraic curve. We give two representations of those residues as Feynman-like graphs, one of them involving only cubic vertices.
Analytic $JV$ -Characteristics of Ideal Intermediate Band Solar Cells and Solar Cells With Up and Downconverters

The ideal diode equation is regularly used to describe the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\textit {JV}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-characteristic of single junction solar cells. The connection between the diode equation and fundamental physics is the application of the Boltzmann approximation to describe the fluxes of photons emitted by the cell. In this paper, this approximation is used to derive analytic <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\textit {JV}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-characteristics for three photovoltaic high-efficiency concepts, intermediate band solar cells, and solar cells optically coupled to up and downconverters. These three concepts share the common feature that they allow excitation of electrons between at least three energy levels, which assures a better utilization of the solar spectrum and leads to limiting efficiencies surpassing the Shockley–Queisser limit. Although being considerablysimpler to implementand use, the resulting <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\textit {JV}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-characteristics reproduce the limiting efficiencies obtained from full detailed balancemodels. The simplicity facilitates the intuitive understanding of such devices. The presented models also have the potential to serve as a useful framework for further modeling, through savings in computation time and complexity.
In-hospital and 1-year mortality in patients undergoing early surgery for prosthetic valve endocarditis.

IMPORTANCE There are limited prospective, controlled data evaluating survival in patients receiving early surgery vs medical therapy for prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). OBJECTIVE To determine the in-hospital and 1-year mortality in patients with PVE who undergo valve replacement during index hospitalization compared with patients who receive medical therapy alone, after controlling for survival and treatment selection bias. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Participants were enrolled between June 2000 and December 2006 in the International Collaboration on Endocarditis-Prospective Cohort Study (ICE-PCS), a prospective, multinational, observational cohort of patients with infective endocarditis. Patients hospitalized with definite right- or left-sided PVE were included in the analysis. We evaluated the effect of treatment assignment on mortality, after adjusting for biases using a Cox proportional hazards model that included inverse probability of treatment weighting and surgery as a time-dependent covariate. The cohort was stratified by probability (propensity) for surgery, and outcomes were compared between the treatment groups within each stratum. INTERVENTIONS Valve replacement during index hospitalization (early surgery) vs medical therapy. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES In-hospital and 1-year mortality. RESULTS Of the 1025 patients with PVE, 490 patients (47.8%) underwent early surgery and 535 individuals (52.2%) received medical therapy alone. Compared with medical therapy, early surgery was associated with lower in-hospital mortality in the unadjusted analysis and after controlling for treatment selection bias (in-hospital mortality: hazard ratio [HR], 0.44 [95% CI, 0.38-0.52] and lower 1-year mortality: HR, 0.57 [95% CI, 0.49-0.67]). The lower mortality associated with surgery did not persist after adjustment for survivor bias (in-hospital mortality: HR, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.76-1.07] and 1-year mortality: HR, 1.04 [95% CI, 0.89-1.23]). Subgroup analysis indicated a lower in-hospital mortality with early surgery in the highest surgical propensity quintile (21.2% vs 37.5%; P = .03). At 1-year follow-up, the reduced mortality with surgery was observed in the fourth (24.8% vs 42.9%; P = .007) and fifth (27.9% vs 50.0%; P = .007) quintiles of surgical propensity. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Prosthetic valve endocarditis remains associated with a high 1-year mortality rate. After adjustment for differences in clinical characteristics and survival bias, early valve replacement was not associated with lower mortality compared with medical therapy in the overall cohort. Further studies are needed to define the effect and timing of surgery in patients with PVE who have indications for surgery.
Abnormality on Liver Function Test

Children with abnormal liver function can often be seen in outpatient clinics or inpatients wards. Most of them have respiratory disease, or gastroenteritis by virus infection, accompanying fever. Occasionally, hepatitis by the viruses causing systemic infection may occur, and screening tests are required. In patients with jaundice, the tests for differential diagnosis and appropriate treatment are important. In the case of a child with hepatitis B virus infection vertically from a hepatitis B surface antigen positive mother, the importance of the recognition of immune clearance can't be overstressed, for the decision of time to begin treatment. Early diagnosis changes the fate of a child with Wilson disease. So, screening test for the disease should not be omitted. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is mainly discovered in obese children, is a new strong candidate triggering abnormal liver function. Muscular dystrophy is a representative disease mimicking liver dysfunction. Although muscular dystrophy is a progressive disorder, and early diagnosis can't change the fate of patients, it will be better to avoid parent's blame for delayed diagnosis.
Some facets of complexity theory and cryptography: A five-lecture tutorial

In this tutorial, selected topics of cryptology and of computational complexity theory are presented. We give a brief overview of the history and the foundations of classical cryptography, and then move on to modern public-key cryptography. Particular attention is paid to cryptographic protocols and the problem of constructing key components of protocols such as one-way functions. A function is one-way if it is easy to compute, but hard to invert. We discuss the notion of one-way functions both in a cryptographic and in a complexity-theoretic setting. We also consider interactive proof systems and present some interesting zero-knowledge protocols. In a zero-knowledge protocol, one party can convince the other party of knowing some secret information without disclosing any bit of this information. Motivated by these protocols, we survey some complexity-theoretic results on interactive proof systems and related complexity classes.
Analysis of loss of heterozygosity in 399 premalignant breast lesions at 15 genetic loci.

BACKGROUND Usual ductal hyperplasia (UDH), atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are risk factors for invasive breast cancer (IBC), suggesting that these lesions may be direct precursors of IBC. To identify genetic changes that may be important in the early development of precursor lesions and their progression to malignant or invasive disease, we examined 399 putative precursors (211 UDH, 51 ADH, 81 non-comedo DCIS, and 56 comedo DCIS) for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 15 polymorphic genetic loci known to exhibit high rates of loss in IBC. We also assessed the sharing of LOH by putative precursors and synchronous cancers. METHODS The polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze DNA from microdissected archival specimens. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS In hyperplasias from noncancerous breasts (i.e., without DCIS and/or IBC in analyses of hyperplasias), LOH at any given locus was rare (range, 0%-15%), although 37% of UDH and 42% of ADH lesions showed loss for at least one locus, suggesting that the development of hyperplasias can involve many different tumor suppressor genes. In DCIS from noncancerous breasts (i.e., without IBC in analyses of DCIS), LOH was common, with 70% of noncomedo lesions and 79% of comedo lesions showing at least one loss. In DCIS, substantial rates of loss (up to 37%) were observed at loci on chromosomes 16q, 17p, and 17q, suggesting that inactivated tumor suppressor genes in these regions may be important in the development of noninvasive breast cancer. When DCIS lesions from cancerous and noncancerous breasts were compared, substantially more LOH was observed in the cancerous breasts at a few loci (on chromosomes 2p, 11p, and 17q), suggesting that genetic alterations in these regions may be important in the progression to invasive disease. Among specimens harvested from cancerous breasts, 37% of UDH, 45% of ADH, 77% of noncomedo DCIS, and 80% of comedo DCIS lesions shared LOH with synchronous cancers at one locus or more, supporting the idea that the putative precursors and the cancers are genetically related.
Effective Head Gestures for Museum Guide Robots in Interaction with Humans

We are currently working on a museum guide robot with an emphasis on "friendly" human-robot interaction as displayed through nonverbal behaviors. In this paper, we focus on head gestures during explanations of exhibits. The outline of our research is as follows. We first examined human head gestures through an experimental, sociological approach, and have discovered the ways human guides coordinate their head movement along with their talk when explaining exhibits. Second, we developed a robot system based on these findings. Third, we evaluated human-robot interaction, again using an experimental, sociological approach, and then modified the robot based on the results. Our experimental results suggest that robot head turning may lead to heightened engagement of museum visitors.
A Biplanar Reconstruction Method Based on 2D and 3D Contours: Application to the Distal Femur

A three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction algorithm based on contours identification from biplanar radiographs is presented. It requires, as technical prerequisites, a method to calibrate the biplanar radiographic environment and a surface generic object (anatomic atlas model) representing the structure to be reconstructed. The reconstruction steps consist of: the definition of anatomical regions, the identification of 2D contours associated to these regions, the calculation of 3D contours and projection onto the radiographs, the associations between points of the X-rays contours and points of the projected 3D contours, the optimization of the initial solution and the optimized object deformation to minimize the distance between X-rays contours and projected 3D contours. The evaluation was performed on 8 distal femurs comparing the 3D models obtained to CT-scan reconstructions. Mean error for each distal femur was 1 mm.
Complex Systems + Systems Engineering = Complex Systems Engineeri

One may define a complex system as a system in which phenomena emerge as a consequence of multiscale interaction among the system's components and their environments. The field of Complex Systems is the study of such systems--usually naturally occurring, either bio-logical or social. Systems Engineering may be understood to include the conceptualising and building of systems that consist of a large number of concurrently operating and interacting components--usually including both human and non-human elements. It has become increasingly apparent that the kinds of systems that systems engineers build have many of the same multiscale characteristics as those of naturally occurring complex systems. In other words, systems engineering is the engineering of complex systems. This paper and the associated panel will explore some of the connections between the fields of complex systems and systems engineering.
The reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Children's ChronoType Questionnaire (CCTQ) in preschool children

We aimed to examine the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Children's ChronoType Questionnaire (CCTQ) in preschool children. The CCTQ consists of 16 items on sleep–wake parameters for scheduled and free days, a 10-item of the Morningness/Eveningness Scale (CCTQ-M/E), and a single item on chronotype. Out of 502 children aged 3–6 years living in Okayama Prefecture, we evaluated 346 (188 boys and 158 girls) between May and June 2012. Their parents filled out the questionnaires two times at an interval of two weeks. Cronbach's α of the CCTQ-M/E was 0.77. For test–retest reliability, Pearson's correlation coefficient of the CCTQ-M/E between the two observations was 0.898 (p < 0.001). Kruskal–Wallis test with post-hoc tests was used to compare sleep–wake parameters measured with the CCTQ among the three groups of children, morning (M)-type, neither (N)-type and evening (E)-type, who were classified according to the CCTQ-M/E score. Sleep–wake parameters in timing were significantly different among the children with M-type, N-type and E-type (p < 0.001). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons revealed that sleep–wake parameters in timing were significantly delayed from the M-type to the N-type children (p < 0.001), from the M-type to the E-type children (p < 0.001), and from the N-type to the E-type children (p < 0.001), except that wake-up time and get-up time were not significantly different between the children with N-type and E-type on scheduled days when their start time was regularly fixed. Out of these 346 children, we evaluated 72 (35 boys and 37 girls) to see the correlations between subjectively and objectively measured sleep–wake parameters from June to October 2012. Spearman's correlation coefficients between sleep–wake parameters measured with the CCTQ and an actigraph were 0.512–0.836 on scheduled days (p < 0.001) and 0.380–0.786 on free days (p < 0.001). Based on these findings we conclude that the Japanese version of the CCTQ is a reliable and valid measure for assessing chronotypes in preschool children.
Factors associated with partner violence among female alcoholic patients and their male partners.

OBJECTIVE This study described the extent of partner violence victimization and perpetration among married or cohabiting female alcoholic patients and the factors associated with it. METHOD Male-to-female and female-to-male physical partner violence were examined for 103 female alcoholic patients seeking couples-based outpatient alcoholism treatment. Partner violent (PV) and nonpartner violent (NPV) groups were compared on hypothesized risk factors. RESULTS In the year before treatment, about two thirds of the women were victimized by their male partners, and a similar proportion engaged in violence toward their male partners. Severe violence also was high, with 22% victimization and 50% perpetration prevalence. Women committed more violent acts overall and were more likely to commit severely violent acts than the men in these couples. Risk factors for PV in both the victimization and perpetration models were as predicted: less education, lower income, greater relationship problems, stronger beliefs in the link between relationship problems and the female patient's drinking, greater cocaine use by the perpetrator of violence and greater emotional distress of the men. Greater alcohol and drug use and more severe alcohol problems also distinguished male perpetrators from their nonviolent counterparts in the female victimization model. Predictions that female patients in the PV group would report greater substance use and problems, childhood violence exposure and emotional distress than their female counterparts in the NPV group were not supported for either victimization or perpetration models. CONCLUSIONS Partner violence is a serious problem for women in alcoholism treatment. More research is needed to increase understanding of risk factors and explanatory models for such violence.
ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF PP–ELASTOMERIC POLYOLEFIN BLENDS

The present investigation is concerned with evaluation of the impact fracture toughness of novel blends based on commercial polypropylene homopolymer (PPH) and elastomeric polyolefin (POEs). At room temperature and high load rate, PPH behaves in a brittle manner while the blends exhibited semi-brittle behavior as judged from the nonlinearity in load deflection curves and fracture surface appearance. The challenge of determining reliable toughness values was faced by applying different approaches available in the literature based on fracture mechanics concepts, including corrected linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), equivalent energy concept, and non-LEFM. The fracture toughness data of the blends appeared to be widely scattered in accord with the samples being in the ductile–brittle transition region. In order to provide a consistent description of the entire range of sample behavior, the statistical weakest link model was also applied to the data.