Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electroacupuncture as a complement to usual care for patients with non-acute pain after back surgery: a study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial

Introduction Recurrent or persistent low back pain is common after back surgery but is typically not well controlled. Previous randomised controlled trials on non-acute pain after back surgery were flawed. In this article, the design and protocol of a randomised controlled trial to treat pain and improve function after back surgery are described. Methods and analysis This study is a pilot randomised, active-controlled, assessor-blinded trial. Patients with recurring or persistent low back pain after back surgery, defined as a visual analogue scale value of ≥50 mm, with or without leg pain, will be randomly assigned to an electroacupuncture-plus-usual-care group or to a usual-care-only group. Patients assigned to both groups will have usual care management, including physical therapy and patient education, twice a week during a 4-week treatment period that would begin at randomisation. Patients assigned to the electroacupuncture-plus-usual-care group will also have electroacupuncture twice a week during the 4-week treatment period. The primary outcome will be measured with the 100 mm pain visual analogue scale of low back pain by a blinded evaluator. Secondary outcomes will be measured with the EuroQol 5-Dimension and the Oswestry Disability Index. The primary and secondary outcomes will be measured at 4 and 8 weeks after treatment. Ethics and dissemination Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Pusan National University Korean Hospital in September 2013 (IRB approval number 2013012). The study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. Trial registration number This trial was registered with the US National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials Registry: NCT01966250.
Circles of Support and Accountability: How and Why They Work for Sex Offenders

Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) provide re-integrating sex offenders with a group of trained volunteers who support this rehabilitation process. Effect studies show promising results in reduction of recidivism. This study provides a theoretical underpinning and empirical validation of the COSA intervention model, based on a grounded theory analysis of 38 circle narratives, reflecting the experiences of 21 circles. Four circle functions appear to be essential, with inclusion being most important. Inclusion is serving basic human needs and is motivating the sex offender to allow monitoring and being held accountable. Program integrity and a positive group development are essential preconditions for circle effectiveness.
Three-dimensional ultrasound observation of carotid artery plaque ulceration.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Carotid artery plaque ulceration is associated with an increased risk of cerebral embolism. However, because of the rather poor diagnostic quality of conventional 2-D ultrasound and angiography compared with the evaluation of pathological specimens, little information exists on the natural course of carotid plaque ulceration. Recently, the introduction of 3-D ultrasound has made reproducible investigation of plaque morphology possible, providing a reliable plaque surface analysis. METHODS We performed 3-D ultrasound examinations of 17 carotid artery plaques with an ulcerated surface in a prospective study of 16 patients (10 men, 6 women; mean+/-SD age 68.9+/-7.1 years) over a mean observation period of 17.6+/-6.3 months. Exactly parallel B-mode ultrasound scans (slice distance 0.1 mm) were acquired with a 5-MHz linear array probe clamped in a carriage device and driven by a mechanical step motor. The recorded images were reconstructed into a volumetric data set in a Cartesian coordinate system. RESULTS At the end of the observation period, surface configuration had changed in 4 cases (23.5%). Plaque ulceration regressed in 3 cases, whereas ulcer progression occurred in 1 case. The remaining 13 plaques (76. 5%) showed an unchanged surface configuration. CONCLUSIONS Through the use of 3-D ultrasound, it is possible to noninvasively examine the regression and progression of carotid artery plaque ulceration.
Hepatocytes Treated with HBV X Protein as Cytotoxic Effectors Kill Primary Hepatocytes by TNF-Alpha-Related Apoptosis-Induced Ligand-Mediated Mechanism

Objective: To investigate the effect of HBV X protein (HBX) on TNF-α-related apoptosis-induced ligand (TRAIL) expression in HepG2 cells, and observe death of primary hepatocytes induced by HBX-transfected HepG2 cells. Methods: Western blot was used to detect the TRAIL expression in HepG2 cells transfected with mammalian expression plasmid pSG5UTPL-HBX. The reverse transcription-PCR was used to observe TRAIL mRNA transcription stimulated by HBX protein, and chromium release assay was used to detect death of primary hepatocyte induced by HBX-transfected HepG2 cells. Results: HBX could increase TRAIL expression and mRNA transcription in HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The C-terminal truncated version of HBX (HBXD1) is responsible for inducing TRAIL expression in HepG2 cells. Chromium release assay results showed that HBX-transfected HepG2 cells kill primary human hepatocytes by a TRAIL-mediated mechanism. Neutralizing anti-TRAIL inhibits the HepG2 killing. Conclusion: HBX protein increases TRAIL expression in HepG2 cells which induced death of primary hepatocytes. HBX protein may play an important role in mechanisms of hepatic cell death and hepatic inflammation caused by HBV infection.
Integration and Extension of Leader-Member Exchange and Organizational Justice and Individual- and Group-Levels of Analysis

Both leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational justice have commanded a great deal of attention in organizational research. Despite this attention, these two research areas are seldom integrated for examination. This dissertation aimed at helping to integrate these two areas and extend them to a higher level of analysis. Two models were developed at the individualand group-levels of analysis. In the individual-level model, LMX quality was hypothesized to interact with role breadth self-efficacy (RBSE) and two group characteristics – LMX differentiation and intra-group communication – to impact justice perceptions. It was further hypothesized that justice perceptions would mediate the association between LMX quality and various individual outcomes. In the group-level model, it was hypothesized that LMX differentiation would impact justice climate strength in groups which in turn would affect group-level outcomes. Moreover, justice climate strength was hypothesized to impact these group-level outcomes through two group processes – relationship conflict and team-member exchange (TMX). Data collected from 413 members constituting 87 groups in a corps of cadets revealed that LMX quality interacted with RBSE, LMX differentiation, and intra-group communication to affect procedural and interactional justice perceptions. In addition, distributive, procedural, and interactional justice perceptions partially mediated the impact of LMX quality on group members’ commitment to the leader, satisfaction with the leader, job performance, and
Relating web pages to enable information-gathering tasks

We argue that relationships between Web pages are functions of the user's intent. We identify a class of Web tasks - information-gathering - that can be facilitated by providing links to pages related to the page the user is currently viewing. We define three kinds of intentional relationships that correspond to whether the user is a) seeking sources of information, b) reading pages which provide information, or c) surfing through pages as part of an extended information-gathering process. We show that these three relationships can be mined using a combination of textual and link information and provide three scoring mechanisms that correspond to them: SeekRel, FactRel and SurfRel. These scoring mechanisms incorporate both textual and link information. We build a set of capacitated subnetworks, each corresponding to a particular keyword. Scores are computed by computing flows on these subnetworks. The capacities of the links are derived from the hub and authority values of the nodes they connect, following the work of Kleinberg (1998) on assigning authority to pages in hyperlinked environments. We evaluated our scoring mechanism by running experiments on four data sets taken from the Web. We present user evaluations of the relevance of the top results returned by our scoring mechanisms and compare those to the top results returned by Google's Similar Pages feature, and the Companion algorithm (Dean and Henzinger, 1999).
FAO, fome e mulheres rurais

This study aims to conduct a critical analysis of the report The State of Food and Agriculture: Women in Agriculture, Closing the Gender Gap in Development, pointing to solutions to "close the gender gap" in rural development projects. The two main critiques center on the lack of analysis on the value of domestic work and the productivist nature of the proposals. The analysis draws on calculations performed by feminist economists concerning the importance of domestic work for the National Accounts, in addition to books, articles, and documents on the situation of women farmers in the world, besides material on rural women"s movements in Brazil, obtained through direct participation in meetings and public demonstrations, besides newspapers, manuals, correspondence, and ethnographic fieldwork.
Nonlinear visual mapping model for 3-D visual tracking with uncalibrated eye-in-hand robotic system

A new control scheme for the uncalibrated robotic visual tracking problem is proposed that compromises the computational expenses of overall system with offline modeling and online control. A nonlinear visual mapping model for the uncalibrated hand-eye coordination is first proposed with an artificial neural network implementation. An online visual tracking controller is then developed together with a real-time motion planner. To improve the system performance, the control scheme is also integrated with a feedforward controller to compensate unknown object motions. Extensive simulations and experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
Having sex, yes, but with whom? Inferences from fungi on the evolution of anisogamy and mating types

The advantage of sex has been among the most debated issues in biology. Surprisingly, the question of why sexual reproduction generally requires the combination of distinct gamete classes, such as small and large gametes, or gametes with different mating types, has been much less investigated. Why do systems with alternative gamete classes (i.e. systems with either anisogamy or mating types or both) appear even though they restrict the probability of finding a compatible mating partner? Why does the number of gamete classes vary from zero to thousands, with most often only two classes? We review here the hypotheses proposed to explain the origin, maintenance, number, and loss of gamete classes. We argue that fungi represent highly suitable models to help resolve issues related to the evolution of distinct gamete classes, because the number of mating types vary from zero to thousands across taxa, anisogamy is present or not, and because there are frequent transitions between these conditions. We review the nature and number of gamete classes in fungi, and we attempt to draw inferences from these data on the evolutionary forces responsible for their appearance, loss or maintenance, and number.
Sorting out successful failures : Exploratory analyses of factors associated with academic and behavioral outcomes of retained students

This prospective longitudinal study followed a sample of 106 kindergarten students through 11th grade examining the effects of family characteristics, school readiness, socialization, and student demographics on academic achievement and behavioral adjustment outcomes. These educational outcomes were contrasted among four groups consisting of: 1) early grade retainees; 2) transitionally placed retained students; 3) students recommended for transitional placement, but promoted; and 4) regularly promoted students. While previous studies examining the efficacy of early grade retention focus exclusively on between-group comparisons, this study examines the family and individual characteristics of successful and unsuccessful retained students by including both between-group and within-group effects on academic and behavioral outcomes. The results of this study demonstrate that retained students' initial school readiness, socioeconomic status, mother's level of education, parental value of education, kindergarten personal-social functioning, and chronological age are distinctly associated with subsequent academic or behavioral outcomes. Variables associated with relative educational success following early failure are delineated and research implications are discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A Sociological Analysis of Student-Lecturer Interaction in the Wake of Contemporary University Dynamism

The fact that effective student-lecturer interaction can impact positively on quality university education has encouraged many universities to embark upon rigorous programs geared towards enhancing such interaction. Many have done so with only the potential benefits in mind, without paying much attention to the contemporary snags surrounding the student-lecturer interaction. This situation is complicated by the recent revelations in the literature indicating a decrease in lecturers time to interact with students outside the classrooms. This paper aimed to provide the foundation towards the institutionalization of systematic plan directed at enhancing the student-lecturer interaction. The qualitative research design was adopted for this study. Fifteen lecturers and twenty former students from government assisted universities in Ghana conveniently participated in the study. Both the former students and the lecturers did agree to the significance of student-lecturer interaction in university education. They however held differing stance when it came down to how such interaction should proceed. They both called for the institutionalization of professional counselling units to help students out with the academic matters outside the classroom teaching. The former students made it clear though that such a move should not be a replacement to student-lecturer interaction, but a supplement to it.
Three‐dimensional reconstruction of a recombinant influenza virus ribonucleoprotein particle

A three‐dimensional structural model of an influenza virus ribonucleoprotein particle reconstituted in vivo from recombinant proteins and a model genomic vRNA has been generated by electron microscopy. It shows a circular shape and contains nine nucleoprotein monomers, two of which are connected with the polymerase complex. The nucleoprotein monomers show a curvature that may be responsible for the formation of helical structures in the full‐size viral ribonucleoproteins. The monomers show distinct contact boundaries at the two sides of the particle, suggesting that the genomic RNA may be located in association with the nucleoprotein at the base of the ribonucleoprotein complex. Sections of the three‐dimensional model show a trilobular morphology in the polymerase complex that is consistent with the presence of its three subunits.
Regenerative hyperpolarization in rods.

1. The electrical properties of the rods in Necturus maculosus were studied at the cell body and the outer segments in dark and light under current and voltage clamp with a pair of intracellular electrodes separated by about 1 mum. 2. The membrane resistance in the dark was voltage‐ and time‐dependent both for the cell body and the outer segment. Slight depolarizations in the cell body reduced the slope resistance from 60 to 10 M omega with a time constant of about 1 sec. Polarization in either direction, at the outer segment, when greater than about 20 mV, reduced the slope resistance from 60 to 30 M omega. The dark potential in the cell body was typically −30 to −35 m V; at the outer segment it was typically only −10 to −15 mV. 3. The light‐elicited voltage response in both the cell body and the outer segment was largest with the membrane near the dark potential level. In both regions, the response was reduced when the membrane was polarized in either direction. 4. Under voltage‐clamp conditions, a reversal potential for the light response near + 10 mV was measured at the outer segment. At the cell body no reversal potential for the light response was measured; there the clamping current required during the light response was almost of the same magnitude at all potential levels. 5. When the membrane at the cell body was hyperpolarized in the dark under voltage clamp, a transient outward current, typically about one‐half the magnitude of the initial inward clamping current was required to maintain the membrane at the clamped potential level. This outward current transient was associated with a decrease in membrane resistance with similar time course. The transient outward current reversed and became inward when the membrane was clamped to potentials more negative than −80 mV. Thus, the transient outward current appears to involve a transient activation initiated by hyperpolarization. I is regenerative in that it is initiated by hyperpolarization and tends to further hyperpolarize the membrane. 6. The reversal potential for the light response was measured at the outer segment but not at the cell body. The regenerative hyperpolarization was measured at the cell body but not at the outer segment. Thus, the outer segment and cell body appear to have different electrical properties: a light‐elicited resistance increase at the outer segment causes a potential‐dependent transient decrease at the inner rod. 7. An electrical model of the rod, based upon estimates of the membrane resistances and membrane e.m. f.s. in the dark, was derived from the data. This model predicts the appropriate response potentials at outer segment and cell body when perturbed by the measured light‐elicited resistance increase at the outer segment. An estimate of membrane current in dark, of 0–2 mA, is also derived from the model.
Yoga training and motor speed based on a finger tapping task.

A finger tapping task was used to assess motor speed (MS) of both hands in 53 adults and 152 children before and after yoga training and in 38 adults of a non-yoga (control) group. All subjects were right hand dominant. The 30-second tapping speed (TS) test was considered as three time intervals, i.e. 0-10 second (TS1), 10-20 seconds (TS2) and 20-30 seconds (TS3). There was a significant (Student's t-test) increase in all three TS values following 10 days of yoga in children and 30 days of yoga in adults. However for both groups at baseline and final assessments, TS2 and TS3 were significantly lower than TS1. Hence the TS was increased after yoga training during the first 10-seconds of the test but not during the next 20 seconds. These results suggest an increase in motor speed for repetitive finger movements following yoga training, but not in strength or endurance, as the increase was not sustained over 30 sec.
My Heart Says One Thing but My Head Says Another? Men, Women, and the Psychology of Partisanship in Britain

The point of departure for this study is the recent work of Burden (2008) on the “gender gap” in partisanship in the United States. He shows that the preponderance of Democratic identification among women is partly a function of the measurement of party identification. When respondents were asked “Do you feel that you are” rather than, more traditionally, “Do you think of yourself as” a Democrat or Republican, the sex gap narrowed to statistical nonsignificance. Burden's explanation for this result lies in the psychology of partisanship. The traditional “think of yourself as” (or cognitive) question primes women to consider their partisanship as a social identity, which in turn activates the stereotypical association between women and the Democratic Party. The “feel that you are” (or affective) question encourages a deeper, more personalized response, rendering social identity less relevant and thereby nullifying the effect of that stereotype.
A caffeine‐ and ryanodine‐sensitive Ca2+ store in bullfrog sympathetic neurones modulates effects of Ca2+ entry on [Ca2+]i.

1. We studied how in changes in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) produced by voltage‐dependent Ca2+ entry are influenced by a caffeine‐sensitive Ca2+ store in bullfrog sympathetic neurones. Ca2+ influx was elicited by K+ depolarization and the store was manipulated with either caffeine or ryanodine. 2. For a time after discharging the store with caffeine and switching to a caffeine‐free medium: (a) [Ca2+]i was depressed by up to 40‐50 nM below the resting level, (b) caffeine responsiveness was diminished, and (c) brief K+ applications elicited [Ca2+]i responses with slower onset and faster recovery than controls. These effects were more pronounced as the conditioning caffeine concentration was increased over the range 1‐30 mM. 3. [Ca2+]i, caffeine and K+ responsiveness recovered in parallel with a half‐time of approximately 2 min. Recovery required external Ca2+ and was speeded by increasing the availability of cytosolic Ca2+, suggesting that it reflected replenishment of the store at the expense of cytosolic Ca2+. 4. During recovery, Ca2+ entry stimulated by depolarization had the least effect on [Ca2+]i when the store was filling most rapidly. This suggests that the effect of Ca2+ entry on [Ca2+]i is modified, at least in part, because some of the Ca2+ which enters the cytosol during stimulation is taken up by the store as it refills. 5. Further experiments were carried out to investigate whether the store can also release Ca2+ in response to stimulated Ca2+ entry. In the continued presence of caffeine at a low concentration (1 mM), high K+ elicited a faster and larger [Ca2+]i response compared to controls; at higher concentrations of caffeine (10 and 30 mM) responses were depressed. 6. Ryanodine (1 microM) reduced the rate at which [Ca2+]i increased with Ca2+ entry, but not to the degree observed after discharging the store. At this concentration, ryanodine completely blocked responses to caffeine but had no detectable effect on Ca2+ channel current or the steady [Ca2+]i level achieved during depolarization. 7. We propose that, depending on its Ca2+ content, the caffeine‐sensitive store can either attenuate or potentiate responses to depolarization. When depleted and in the process of refilling, the store reduces the impact of Ca2+ entry as some of the Ca2+ entering the cytosol during stimulation is captured by the store. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Hybrid SVD-DWT watermarking technique using AES algorithm for medical image safe transfer

This manuscript presents a watermarking method based on Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm encryption applied on medical image. The proposed schema will be developed to increase the protection and robustness along with security. In our algorithm, after decomposing the original image into four sub-bands in the second level of the DWT, we apply the SVD transform to the high band, and embed the binary watermark (patient's data) by changing the singular values. For enhance robustness, AES encryption algorithm are used. After application various type of attacks (JPEG compression, median filter, Salt and pepper, and cropping), we used the serial turbo code in order to control identification and, if possible, correct the watermark, Experiments and analysis results demonstrated that low distortion and increased robustness have been made in the process of watermarking, simultaneously, elevated security has been proved in the encryption phase. The evaluation studies are applied on MRI medical image.