Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cross‐cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Nepali Translation of the Patient‐Specific Functional Scale

BACKGROUND: The Patient‐Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) is among the most commonly used measures to assess physical function. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to translate and cross‐culturally validate the PSFS to Nepali and further assess its psychometric properties. METHODS: This longitudinal, single‐arm cohort study translated and cross‐culturally adapted the PSFS to Nepali (PSFS‐NP) following recommended guidelines. A sample of 104 Nepalese with musculoskeletal pain was recruited to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PSFS‐NP. We assessed the internal consistency (Cronbach alpha), 2‐week test‐retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC3,2]), the smallest detectable change at the 90% confidence interval (CI), and construct validity. Concurrent validity was assessed against the Nepali versions of the Oswestry Disability Index, global rating of change, and numeric pain‐rating scale. Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted to measure responsiveness and area under the curve, and the minimum important change (MIC) was estimated. RESULTS: The PSFS‐NP showed good reliability, with a Cronbach alpha of . 75, an ICC of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.78, 0.94), and a smallest detectable change at the 90% CI of 1.46. It demonstrated significant correlations with the Nepali versions of the Oswestry Disability Index (r = ‐0.47, P = .001), global rating of change (r = 0.71, P<.001), and numeric pain‐rating scale (r = ‐0.32 and ‐0.55, P<.001). Areas under the curve ranged from 0.72 to 0.99. The MIC was 2.00 in the main analysis. Secondary analyses revealed MICs of 0.50, 0.66, and 2.00 for small, medium, and large improvement, respectively. CONCLUSION: The PSFS‐NP is a reliable, valid, and responsive measure. It can be used in clinical practice and research in Nepalese with musculoskeletal pain.
Tripterygium glycoside protects against puromycin amino nucleoside-induced podocyte injury by upregulating autophagy

Tripterygium glycoside (TG), an active ingredient of the widely used Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, has immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effects. Previous studies have indicated that TG is a potentially effective therapeutic option to treat nephrotic syndrome. The mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of TG, including its effect on autophagy and apoptosis in podocyte injury, remains to be fully elucidated. The present study aimed to assess the protective effect of TG on podocytes via its potential role in the activation of autophagic and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathways. Using flow cytometry, western blot analysis, cell counting kit-8 assays and transmission electron microscopy analysis, the effects of TG on puromycin amino-nucleoside (PAN)-induced podocyte injury were investigated. Chloroquine (CQ), an inhibitor of autophagy, was used to assess the importance of autophagy in the protective effect of TG. In addition, LY294002, an inhibitor of class III PI3K, was used to identify which signaling pathways TG is involved in. PAN caused marked apoptosis of podocytes, which was significantly antagonized by TG. The expression of microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 and the appearance of autophagosomes increased significantly following TG treatment, whereas the expression levels of p62 and cleaved caspase-3 were markedly decreased. Podocyte apoptosis decreased significantly when the podocytes were treated with TG compared with the levels of apoptosis in the PAN- and PAN+CQ-treated groups. The expression of phosphorylated AKT was increased significantly in the TG-treated groups, and the effects of TG on the podocytes were significantly inhibited by LY294002. In conclusion, TG protected podocytes from PAN-induced injury, and the effects were attributable to the activation of autophagy, mainly via a PI3K-dependent pathway.
The impact of pharmacists-led medicines reconciliation on healthcare outcomes in secondary care: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background Adverse drug events (ADEs) impose a major clinical and cost burden on acute hospital services. It has been reported that medicines reconciliation provided by pharmacists is effective in minimizing the chances of hospital admissions related to adverse drug events. Objective To update the previous assessment of pharmacist-led medication reconciliation by restricting the review to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) only. Methods Six major online databases were sifted up to 30 December 2016, without inception date (Embase, Medline Ovid, PubMed, BioMed Central, Web of Science and Scopus) to assess the effect of pharmacist-led interventions on medication discrepancies, preventable adverse drug events, potential adverse drug events and healthcare utilization. The Cochrane tool was applied to evaluate the chances of bias. Meta-analysis was carried out using a random effects model. Results From 720 articles identified on initial searching, 18 RCTs (6,038 patients) were included. The quality of the included studies was variable. Pharmacists-led interventions led to an important decrease in favour of the intervention group, with a pooled risk ratio of 42% RR 0.58 (95% CI 0.49 to 0.67) P<0.00001 in medication discrepancy. Reductions in healthcare utilization by 22% RR 0.78 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.00) P = 0.05, potential ADEs by10% RR 0.90 (95% CI 0.78 to 1.03) P = 0.65 and preventable ADEs by 27% RR 0.73 (0.22 to 2.40) P = 0.60 were not considerable. Conclusion Pharmacists-led interventions were effective in reducing medication discrepancies. However, these interventions did not lead to a significant reduction in potential and preventable ADEs and healthcare utilization.
Mackey-complete spaces and power series – a topological model of differential linear logic

In this paper, we describe a denotational model of Intuitionist Linear Logic which is also a differential category. Formulas are interpreted as Mackey-complete topological vector space and linear proofs are interpreted as bounded linear functions. So as to interpret non-linear proofs of Linear Logic, we use a notion of power series between Mackey-complete spaces, generalizing entire functions in $\mathbb{C}$ . Finally, we get a quantitative model of Intuitionist Differential Linear Logic, with usual syntactic differentiation and where interpretations of proofs decompose as a Taylor expansion.
Trade-offs and spatial variation of functional traits of tree species in a subtropical forest in southern Brazil

Abstract: Plant functional traits have been recognized as important factors related to the ecological strategies of species in forest ecosystems. We examined the relationships between functional traits and both tree species performance and environmental conditions in a subtropical forest in Brazil. Over four years (2008-2012), we investigated how demographic rates were related to functional traits (wood density, leaf area and tree height) of 20 species sampled within 50 plots of 10 × 20 m, which had previously evaluated as to environmental conditions. Non-metric multidimensional scaling was used to order the species by their functional traits. The demographic rates were fit a posteriori to the ordination, with significant rates (p < 0.05) plotted as vectors. The relationships between environmental conditions and the community-weighted means (CWMs) of trait values were verified using redundancy analysis. CWM wood density was positively correlated with soil pH. CWM leaf area and CWM maximum tree height were both negatively correlated with altitude and positively correlated with soil magnesium (Mg) content. The taller species with lower wood density, which occupied the forest canopy, had a greater diameter increment and lower recruitment than did the shortest species with higher wood density. The shorter species with higher wood density, which occupied the understory, had greater recruitment and a greater increase in abundance than did the taller/lower-wood-density species. Our study (i) revealed changes in the forest related to the light environment, with an increase in the relative participation of shade-tolerant species with higher wood densities, and (ii) detected small-scale spatial variation in community traits as a response to variations in soil chemical properties and topography.
Recent Advances on p-Type III-Nitride Nanowires by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

p-Type doping represents a key step towards III-nitride (InN, GaN, AlN) optoelectronic devices. In the past, tremendous efforts have been devoted to obtaining high quality p-type III-nitrides, and extraordinary progress has been made in both materials and device aspects. In this article, we intend to discuss a small portion of these processes, focusing on the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown p-type InN and AlN—two bottleneck material systems that limit the development of III-nitride near-infrared and deep ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronic devices. We will show that by using MBE-grown nanowire structures, the long-lasting p-type doping challenges of InN and AlN can be largely addressed. New aspects of MBE growth of III-nitride nanostructures are also discussed.
Dimeric Galectin-1 Binds with High Affinity to α2,3-Sialylated and Non-sialylated Terminal N-Acetyllactosamine Units on Surface-bound Extended Glycans*

Galectin-1 is a member of the galectin family of glycan-binding proteins and occurs as an ∼29.5-kDa noncovalent homodimer (dGal-1) that is widely expressed in many tissues. Here, we report that human recombinant dGal-1 bound preferentially and with high affinity (apparent Kd ∼ 2–4 μm) to immobilized extended glycans containing terminal N-acetyllactosamine (LN; Galβ1–4GlcNAc) sequences on poly-N-acetyllactosamine (PL; (–3Galβ1–4GlcNAcβ1–)n) sequences, complex-type biantennary N-glycans, or novel chitin-derived glycans modified to contain terminal LN. Although terminal Gal residues are important for dGal-1 recognition, dGal-1 bound similarly to α3-sialylated and α2-fucosylated terminal LN, but not to α6-sialylated and α3-fucosylated terminal LN. The binding specificity of human recombinant dGal-1 was similar to that observed with purified bovine heart-derived dGal-1. Unexpectedly, dGal-1 bound free ligands in solution with relatively low affinity and displayed no preference for extended glycans, indicating that dGal-1 preferentially recognizes extended glycans only when they are surface-bound, such as found on cell surfaces. Human dGal-1 also bound to both native and desialylated human promyelocytic HL-60 cells with similar affinity as observed for immobilized long chain PL. Binding to these cells was reduced upon treatment with endo-β-galactosidase, which cleaves PL sequences, indicating that cell-surface PLs are ligands. To test the role of dimerization in dGal-1 binding, we examined the binding of a mutated form of dGal-1 that weakly dimerizes (monomeric Gal-1 (mGal-1)) and a covalently dimerized (chemically cross-linked) form of mGal-1 (cd-mGal-1). dGal-1 and cd-mGal-1 had similar affinities that were both ∼3.5-fold higher for immobilized PL than observed for mGal-1, suggesting that dGal-1 acts as a dimer to cross-link terminal LN units on immobilized PL. These results indicate that dGal-1 functions as a dimer to recognize LN units on extended PLs on cell surfaces.
A Core Calculus for Provenance

Provenance is an increasing concern due to the ongoing revolution in sharing and processing scientific data on the Web and in other computer systems. It is proposed that many computer systems will need to become provenance-aware in order to provide satisfactory accountability, reproducibility, and trust for scientific or other high-value data. To date, there is not a consensus concerning appropriate formal models or security properties for provenance. In previous work, we introduced a formal framework for provenance security and proposed formal definitions of properties called disclosure and obfuscation.In this article, we study refined notions of positive and negative disclosure and obfuscation in a concrete setting, that of a general-purpose programing language. Previous models of provenance have focused on special-purpose languages such as workflows and database queries. We consider a higher-order, functional language with sums, products, and recursive types and functions, and equip it with a tracing semantics in which traces themselves can be replayed as computations. We present an annotation-propagation framework that supports many provenance views over traces, including standard forms of provenance studied previously. We investigate some relationships among provenance views and develop some partial solutions to the disclosure and obfuscation problems, including correct algorithms for disclosure and positive obfuscation based on trace slicing.
Growth and grazing rates of the prostomatid ciliate Tiarina fusus on red-tide and toxic algae

We investigated growth and grazing rates of the prostomatid ciliate Tiarina fusus when feeding on several species of red-tide and/or toxic algae (RTA). T. fusus ingested the dinoflagellates Lingulodinium polyedrum, Scrippsiella trochoidea, Heterocapsa triquetra, Prorocentrum minimum, Amphidinium carterae, and the raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo, but rarely consumed the dinoflagellate Ceratium fusus, and did not feed on the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum micans. T. fusus exhibited positive growth on L. polyedrum, S. trochoidea, and H. akashiwo. Specific growth rates of T. fusus increased rapidly with increasing density of L. polyedrum, S. trochoidea, and H. akashiwo before saturating between 500 and 1000 ng C ml -1 . Maximum specific growth rate of T. fusus feeding on L. polyedrum (0.47 d -1 ) was much higher than when feeding on S. trochoidea (0.13 d -1 ) or H. akashiwo (0.10 d -1 ). Threshold prey concentrations (where net growth = 0) for L. polyedrum, S. tro- choidea, and H. akashiwo were 34 to 160 ng C ml -1 . Maximum ingestion rates of T. fusus on L. poly- edrum, S. trochoidea, and H. akashiwo were 23.4, 10.2, and 6.5 ng C predator -1 d -1 , respectively, while maximum clearance rates were 4.5, 0.2, and 0.6 µl predator -1 h -1 , respectively. T. fusus exhib- ited comparable or higher maximum growth, ingestion, and clearance rates than previously reported for the mixotrophic dinoflagellate Fragilidium cf. mexicanum or the heterotrophic dinoflagellates Protoperidinium cf. divergens and P. crassipes, when grown on the same prey species. Grazing coefficients calculated by combining field data on abundances of T. fusus and co-occurring RTA with laboratory data on ingestion rates obtained in the present study suggest that T. fusus sometimes has a considerable grazing impact on the populations of H. akashiwo.
Exhumation history of eastern Ladakh revealed by 40Ar/39Ar and fission-track ages: the Indus River–Tso Morari transect, NW Himalaya

Fission-track and 40Ar/39Ar ages place time constraints on the exhumation of the North Himalayan nappe stack, the Indus Suture Zone and Molasse, and the Transhimalayan Batholith in eastern Ladakh (NW India). Results from this and previous studies on a north–south transect passing near Tso Morari Lake suggest that the SW-directed North Himalayan nappe stack (comprising the Mata, Tetraogal and Tso Morari nappes) was emplaced and metamorphosed by c. 50–45 Ma, and exhumed to moderately shallow depths (c. 10 km) by c. 45–40 Ma. From the mid-Eocene to the present, exhumation continued at a steady and slow rate except for the root zone of the Tso Morari nappe, which cooled faster than the rest of the nappe stack. Rapid cooling occurred at c. 20 Ma and is linked to brittle deformation along the normal Ribil–Zildat Fault concomitant with extrusion of the Crystalline nappe in the south. Data from the Indus Molasse suggest that sediments were still being deposited during the Miocene.
Trends in the incidence of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: a 25-year population-based study.

BACKGROUND The incidence of venous thromboembolism has not been well described, and there are no studies of long-term trends in the incidence of venous thromboembolism. OBJECTIVES To estimate the incidence of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism and to describe trends in incidence. METHODS We performed a retrospective review of the complete medical records from a population-based inception cohort of 2218 patients who resided within Olmsted County, Minnesota, and had an incident deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism during the 25-year period from 1966 through 1990. RESULTS The overall average age- and sex-adjusted annual incidence of venous thromboembolism was 117 per 100000 (deep vein thrombosis, 48 per 100000; pulmonary embolism, 69 per 100000), with higher age-adjusted rates among males than females (130 vs 110 per 100000, respectively). The incidence of venous thromboembolism rose markedly with increasing age for both sexes, with pulmonary embolism accounting for most of the increase. The incidence of pulmonary embolism was approximately 45% lower during the last 15 years of the study for both sexes and all age strata, while the incidence of deep vein thrombosis remained constant for males across all age strata, decreased for females younger than 55 years, and increased for women older than 60 years. CONCLUSIONS Venous thromboembolism is a major national health problem, especially among the elderly. While the incidence of pulmonary embolism has decreased over time, the incidence of deep vein thrombosis remains unchanged for men and is increasing for older women. These findings emphasize the need for more accurate identification of patients at risk for venous thromboembolism, as well as a safe and effective prophylaxis.
Association between baseline serum glucose, triglycerides and total cholesterol, and prostate cancer risk categories

Lifestyle‐related risk factors such as hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia have been associated with several cancers. However, studies exploring their link with prostate cancer (PCa) clinicopathological characteristics are sparse and inconclusive. Here, we investigated the associations between serum metabolic markers and PCa clinicopathological characteristics. The study comprised 14,294 men from the Swedish Apolipoprotein MOrtality RISk (AMORIS) cohort who were diagnosed with PCa between 1996 and 2011. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression were used to investigate the relation between glucose, triglycerides and total cholesterol and PCa risk categories, PSA, Gleason score, and T‐stage. Mean age at time of PCa diagnosis was 69 years. Men with glucose levels >6.9 mmol/L tend to have PSA<4 μg/L, while those with glucose levels of 5.6–6.9 mmol/L had a greater odds of PSA>20 μg/L compared to PSA 4.0–9.9 μg/L. Hypertriglyceridemia was also positively associated with PSA>20 μg/L. Hyperglycemic men had a greater odds of intermediate‐ and high‐grade PCa and advanced stage or metastatic PCa. Similarly, hypertriglyceridemia was positively associated with high‐grade PCa. There was also a trend toward an increased odds of intermediate risk localized PCa and advanced stage PCa among men with hypertriglyceridemia. Total cholesterol did not have any statistically significant association with any of the outcomes studied. Our findings suggest that high serum levels of glucose and triglycerides may influence PCa aggressiveness and severity. Further investigation on the role of markers of glucose and lipid metabolism in influencing PCa aggressiveness and severity is needed as this may help define important targets for intervention.
Performance evaluation and tuning of Virtual Infrastructure Managers for (Micro) Virtual Network Functions

Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) are emerging as the keystone of 5G network architectures: flexibility, agility, fast instantiation times, consolidation, Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware support and significant cost savings are fundamental for meeting the requirements of the new generation of mobile networks. In this paper we deal with the management of the virtual computing resources for the execution of Micro VNFs. This functionality is performed by the Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM) in the NFV MANagement and Orchestration (MANO) reference architecture.We discuss the VIM instantiation process and propose a generic reference model, starting from the analysis of two Open Source VIMs, namely OpenStack Nova and Nomad. We implemented a tuned version of the VIMs with the specific goal of reducing the duration of the instantiation process. We realized a performance comparison of the two VIMs, both considering the plain and the tuned versions. The tuned VIMs and the performance evaluation tools that we have employed are provided openly and can be downloaded from our repository.
That's My Hand! Activity in Premotor Cortex Reflects Feeling of Ownership of a Limb

When we look at our hands, we immediately know that they are part of our own body. This feeling of ownership of our limbs is a fundamental aspect of self-consciousness. We have studied the neuronal counterparts of this experience. A perceptual illusion was used to manipulate feelings of ownership of a rubber hand presented in front of healthy subjects while brain activity was measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. The neural activity in the premotor cortex reflected the feeling of ownership of the hand. This suggests that multisensory integration in the premotor cortex provides a mechanism for bodily self-attribution.
Wideband Wide-Scanning Phased Array With Connected Backed Cavities and Parasitic Striplines

A novel wideband wide-scanning phased array is presented in this paper, in which a new cavity-backed array element is employed. The proposed element consists of a probe-fed open-ended microstrip line backed by an open cavity and four parasitic metal striplines printed on the upper superstrate. It presents the advantages of compact size, simple feed structure, and low profile. The dual-resonance behavior of the proposed element results in a simulated bandwidth of 53.5% (7.8–13.5 GHz) for VSWR <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\le} 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. To compose the array, the open-backed cavities of adjacent antenna elements are connected rather than isolated to each other. The infinite array unit cell achieves about 43.4% bandwidth (7.4–11.5 GHz) with active VSWR <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\le} 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> when scanning up to ±60°, and nearly 44% bandwidth (7.45–11.65 GHz) with VSWR <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\le} 2.5$ </tex-math></inline-formula> when scanning up to ±70° in all azimuth planes. For verification purpose, a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2\times18$ </tex-math></inline-formula> array prototype is fabricated and it experimentally achieves nearly 51% bandwidth (7.2–12.1 GHz) with VSWR <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\le} 2.3$ </tex-math></inline-formula> as scanning to 60 °, and more than 54% bandwidth (7.2–12.5 GHz) with VSWR <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\le} 3.2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> up to 70° in the H-plane, showing close agreements with simulations.