Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frequency and predictors for the risk of stroke recurrence up to 10 years after stroke: the South London Stroke Register

Background: Data estimating the risk of, and predictors for, long-term stroke recurrence are lacking. Methods: Data were collected from the population-based South London Stroke Register. Patients were followed up for a maximum of 10 years. Kaplan–Meier estimates and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the cumulative risk of and predictors for first stroke recurrence. Variables analysed included sociodemographic factors, stroke subtype (defined as cerebral infarction, intracerebral haemorrhage and subarachnoid haemorrhage), stroke severity markers and prior-to-stroke risk factors. Results: Between 1995 and 2004, 2874 patients with first-ever stroke were included. The mean follow-up period was 2.9 years. During 8311 person-years of follow-up, 303 recurrent events occurred. The cumulative risk of stroke recurrence at 1 year, 5 years and 10 years was 7.1%, 16.2% and 24.5% respectively. No differences in stroke recurrence were noted between the stroke subtypes. Factors increasing the risk of recurrence at 1 year were previous myocardial infarction (HR 1.73; 95% CI 1.08 to 2.78) and atrial fibrillation (HR 1.61; 95% CI 1.04 to 4.27); at 5 years, hypertension (HR 1.47; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.99) and atrial fibrillation (HR 1.79; 95% CI 1.29 to 2.49); and at 10 years, older age (p = 0.04), and hypertension (HR 1.38, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.82), myocardial infarction (HR 1.50, 95% CI 1.06 to 2.11) and atrial fibrillation (HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.09). Conclusions: Very-long-term risk of stroke recurrence is substantial. Different predictors for stroke recurrence were identified throughout the follow-up period. Risk factors prior to initial stroke have a significant role in predicting stroke recurrence up to 10 years.
Comparative analysis of silicon nanostructures by x-ray diffraction technique

Silicon nanoparticles and nanowires prepared by using different methods were investigated by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Broadening of the XRD lines of crystalline Si lattice allows us to estimate the mean size of nanoparticles. Silicon nanoparticles stored in aqueous suspensions for several days were found to decrease their sizes due to dissolution process. The kinetics of dissolution for different kinds of nanoparticles were found to be different. It was also shown that the most unstable nanoparticles (microporous silicon ones) could be protected from dissolution via interaction with the polysaccharide molecules (dextrane) into the solution.
Clinical features and therapeutic outcomes of patients with acromegaly: Single-center experience

The aim of this study was to review the outcome of acromegaly treatment, as well as co-morbidity and mortality in a series of patients with acromegaly attending a single center in the last 10 yr. In that period, 53 patients were treated for acromegaly. Transsphenoidal operation was applied as the first-line therapy in 94.3% of patients and it led to disease remission in 59.2% of them. The remission criteria included a nadir GH<1 µg/l after glucose load, and normal age-related IGF-I levels. The remission rate after transsphenoidal surgery was significantly higher in the group of patients with microadenoma (76.9%), than in the group of patients with macroadenoma (52.8%). Patients with invasive tumors had remission rate of 16.7% after transsphenoidal surgery. There were no perioperative deaths. As the second-line treatment somatostatin analogues, radiotherapy, and dopaminergic agonists were used. Hypertension and diabetes were the most frequent co-morbidities in the group of patients. After successful treatment, 30% of patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance had significant improvement of glycemic control. Transsphenoidal surgery is the appropriate first-line therapy in patients with somatotropinoma. Medical and radio-therapy should be reserved as the second-line therapy after surgery failure.
Training linear SVMs in linear time

Linear Support Vector Machines (SVMs) have become one of the most prominent machine learning techniques for high-dimensional sparse data commonly encountered in applications like text classification, word-sense disambiguation, and drug design. These applications involve a large number of examples n as well as a large number of features N, while each example has only s << N non-zero features. This paper presents a Cutting Plane Algorithm for training linear SVMs that provably has training time 0(s,n) for classification problems and o(sn log (n))for ordinal regression problems. The algorithm is based on an alternative, but equivalent formulation of the SVM optimization problem. Empirically, the Cutting-Plane Algorithm is several orders of magnitude faster than decomposition methods like svm light for large datasets.
Effectiveness of hydrothermal-calcium chloride treatment and chitosan on quality retention and microbial growth during storage of fresh-cut papaya.

Rapid degradation of fresh-cut papaya limits its marketability. Hydrothermal treatments in combination with a calcium dip, applied to whole fruit before slicing, and also the application of chitosan as a coating film, have been found to have very good results in maintaining the quality of fresh-cut fruits. Based on these considerations, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of hydrothermal treatment (HT; 49 °C, 25 min) containing calcium chloride (Ca; 1%, w/v) followed by dipping in chitosan (Chit; 1%, w/v, 3 min) on the physical, chemical, and microbial qualities of papaya slices stored at 5 °C for 10 d. Pulp color, firmness, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, β-carotene, and lycopene were evaluated every 2 d while the microbial quality (mesophilics, psychrophilics, molds, and yeasts) was evaluated every 5 d. Fruit treated with HT-Ca and HT-Ca + Chit showed better color and firmness retention than Control and Chit. Papaya slices treated with HT-Ca + Chit had higher nutritional content and lower microbial growth at the end of storage. The application of the HT-Ca + Chit could be used to reduce deterioration processes, maintaining physical, chemical, and microbial qualities and increasing the shelf life of fresh-cut papaya stored at 5 °C.
The Automatic Speech recogition In Reverberant Environments (ASpIRE) challenge

In this paper, we describe the ASpIRE (Automatic Speech recognition In Reverberant Environments) challenge, which asked participants to construct automatic speech recognition systems that were robust to a variety of acoustic environments and recording scenarios without having access to matched training and development data. We discuss the performance of the systems evaluated in the challenge, summarize how those systems were constructed, and draw conclusions about what contributed to the performance levels of the systems on the highly variable, noisy, reverberant evaluation data set constructed for this challenge.
Collective Plasmonic States Emerged in Metallic Nanorod Array and Their Application

Plasmons are well known as collective excitations of free electrons in solids. Simple unit structures are nanoparticles such as spheres, triangles, and rods. Optical properties of metallic nanoparticles were reported at the beginning of the 20th century (Maxwell-Garnett, 1904, 1906). Now it is well known that the resonances in metallic nanoparticles are described by Mie theory (Born & Wolf, 1999). It is interesting to note that the studies on nanoparticles were concentrated at the beginning of the century, at which quantum mechanics did not exist. Shapes and dimensions of metallic nanoparticles such as triangles and rods were clearly classified by their dark-field images after a century from the initial studies on nanoparticles (Kuwata et al., 2003; Murray & Barnes, 2007). Nanoparticles were revived around 2000 in the era of nanotechnology.
Retinoic acid receptor regulation of epimorphic and homeostatic regeneration in the axolotl

Salamanders are capable of regenerating amputated limbs by generating a mass of lineage-restricted cells called a blastema. Blastemas only generate structures distal to their origin unless treated with retinoic acid (RA), which results in proximodistal (PD) limb duplications. Little is known about the transcriptional network that regulates PD duplication. In this study, we target specific retinoic acid receptors (RARs) to either PD duplicate (RA treatment or RARγ agonist) or truncate (RARβ antagonist) regenerating limbs. RARE-EGFP reporter axolotls showed divergent reporter activity in limbs undergoing PD duplication versus truncation, suggesting differences in patterning and skeletal regeneration. Transcriptomics identified expression patterns that explain PD duplication, including upregulation of proximal homeobox gene expression and silencing of distal-associated genes, whereas limb truncation was associated with disrupted skeletal differentiation. RARβ antagonism in uninjured limbs induced a loss of skeletal integrity leading to long bone regression and loss of skeletal turnover. Overall, mechanisms were identified that regulate the multifaceted roles of RARs in the salamander limb including regulation of skeletal patterning during epimorphic regeneration, skeletal tissue differentiation during regeneration, and homeostatic regeneration of intact limbs. Summary: A unique transcriptional program that regulates the coordination of positional information and tissue differentiation in regenerating salamander limbs and tails .
The Effects Of Ingesting a Carbohydrate-Electrolyte Beverage 15 Minutes Prior to High-Intensity Exercise Performance

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of ingesting a commercially available carbohydrate-electrolyte (CHO-E) solution on strenuous exercise performance. Ten apparently healthy male volunteers (Mean ± SD; age 20 ± 2 yrs; height 178 ± 7 cm; body mass 77 ± 10 kg; estimated VO2max 56 ± 3 ml−kg−1−min−1) completed three experimental trials in random order separated by a minimum of 7 days. For each trial, subjects consumed (8 ml.kg−1 body mass) either a CHO-E solution (6% carbohydrate, 50 mg Na/500 ml), a non-CHO-E placebo, or no fluid, 15 minutes prior to exercise. The exercise involved intermittent shuttle (20 m apart) running for 1 hr followed by an incremental shuttle running test to exhaustion. Subjects displayed longer exercise times when the CHO-E solution was ingested compared with placebo or no fluid groups (exercise time to exhaustion – CHO-E 649 ± 95 s, vs. placebo 601 ± 83 s, vs. no fluid 593 ± 107 s, P < 0.05). There was a main effect for time for specific gravity of urine (P < 0.05 vs. postexercise, pooled data) and body mass (P < 0.05 vs. postexercise, pooled data). The main finding from this investigation indicates that drinking a CHO-E solution 15 minutes prior to exercise improves performance. This study has practical implications for those sports where drinking during activity is restricted.
Study of Skin-Stringer Separation in Postbuckled Composite Aeronautical Panels

Aeronautical composite stiffened structures have the capability to carry loads deep into postbuckling, yet they are typically designed to operate below the buckling load to avoid potential issues with durability and structural integrity. Large out-of-plane postbuckling deformation of the skin can result in the opening of the skin-stringer interfaces, especially in the presence of defects, such as impact damage. To ensure that skin-stringer separation does not propagate in an unstable mode that can cause a complete collapse of the structure, a deeper understanding of the interaction between the postbuckling deformation and the development of damage is required. The present study represents a first step towards a methodology to assess and improve the capabilities of stiffened composite structures subjected to postbuckling deformations. Two regions are identified in a four-stringer panel in which skin-stringer separation can occur, namely the region of maximum deformation and the region of maximum twisting. Both regions are studied using a finite element model of a representative single-stringer specimen. For the region of maximum deformation, a seven-point bending configuration is used, in which five supports and two loading points induce buckling waves to the specimen. The region of maximum twisting is approximated using an edge crack torsion configuration, with two supports and two loading points. These two configurations are studied by changing the positions of the supports and the loading points. An optimization procedure is carried out to minimize the error between the out-of-plane deformation of the representative single-stringer specimen and the corresponding region of the four-stringer panel. The optimal configurations are applied to a finite element model of a single-stringer specimen including cohesive elements to simulate damage initiation. The types of damage initiation that occur in these configurations are compared to the global/local analysis of the two identified regions of the four-stringer panel. Furthermore, the effect of the position of the supports and loading points on damage initiation is investigated. The edge crack torsion configuration that is found to be the best at approximating the twisting deformation of the panel also shows the most similarity in damage characteristics with respect to the four-stringer panel.
A Security-Enhanced Alignment-Free Fuzzy Vault-Based Fingerprint Cryptosystem Using Pair-Polar Minutiae Structures

Alignment-free fingerprint cryptosystems perform matching using relative information between minutiae, e.g., local minutiae structures, is promising, because it can avoid the recognition errors and information leakage caused by template alignment/registration. However, as most local minutiae structures only contain relative information of a few minutiae in a local region, they are less discriminative than the global minutiae pattern. Besides, the similarity measures for trivially/coarsely quantized features in the existing work cannot provide a robust way to deal with nonlinear distortions, a common form of intra-class variation. As a result, the recognition accuracy of current alignment-free fingerprint cryptosystems is unsatisfying. In this paper, we propose an alignment-free fuzzy vault-based fingerprint cryptosystem using highly discriminative pair-polar (P-P) minutiae structures. The fine quantization used in our system can largely retain information about a fingerprint template and enables the direct use of a traditional, well-established minutiae matcher. In terms of template/key protection, the proposed system fuses cancelable biometrics and biocryptography. Transforming the P-P minutiae structures before encoding destroys the correlations between them, and can provide privacy-enhancing features, such as revocability and protection against cross-matching by setting distinct transformation seeds for different applications. The comparison with other minutiae-based fingerprint cryptosystems shows that the proposed system performs favorably on selected publicly available databases and has strong security.
Role of conventional lumbar myelography in the management of sciatica: An experience from Pakistan

Objectives: A prospective study of 80 patients suffering from sciatica was conducted at Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The aim of this study was to select patients for lumbar myelography on clinical grounds in the absence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/computerized tomography (CT) facilities and to know the causes of sciatica. Materials and Methods: All patients underwent conventional lumbar myelography due to lack of MRI facility at a local hospital as well as financial constraints. Myelography was done with radio-opaque dye, Iopamidol, on outpatient basis Results: Lumbar myelograms were positive in 77.5% and negative in 22.5% cases. Minor complications in the form of headache developed in 32.5% patients but no major complication like meningitis and archnoiditis developed. Lumbar disc prolapse and stenosis were found to be common causes of sciatica. Non-filling of nerve roots was seen in 33.87%, blocks (complete/partial) in 54.83%, and stenosis in 11.29% patients. Conclusions: Conventional myelography was found to be safe and an informative diagnostic technique in areas where facility of high-tech investigations like CT/MRI was not available. Conventional lumbar myelography could be recommended and performed with confidence on outdoor basis, in cases of sciatica with positive straight leg raising test, reflex loss, sensory, or motor deficit.
THE INFLUENCE OF CITIZEN INTERACTION WITH THE POLICE ON CRIME-REPORTING BEHAVIOR: ITS MANIFESTATIONS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Citizen's crime-reporting is generally low, with a number of factors affecting its prevalence and incidence. Research suggests that there is an interrelationship between the type of contacts citizens have with the police (e.g., citizen-initiated or police-initiated), attitudes toward the police, police behavior, and crime-reporting behavior. To determine whether citizen interactions with the police influence crime-reporting behavior and attitudes toward the police, this study tested four research hypotheses. The findings of this study suggest that predictors such as citizen-initiated contacts, police-initiated contacts, frequency of those contacts, and exposure to media about police misconduct cannot be used as a group but rather individually to predict all three different levels of crime-reporting behavior (i.e., reporting of less serious crimes, reporting of medium-level crimes, and reporting ofserious crimes).
A randomized controlled pilot trial of valacyclovir for attenuating inflammation and immune activation in HIV/herpes simplex virus 2-coinfected adults on suppressive antiretroviral therapy.

BACKGROUND Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with increased systemic inflammation and immune activation that persist despite suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART). Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is a common coinfection that may contribute to this inflammation. METHODS Sixty HIV type 1 (HIV-1)/HSV-2-coinfected adults on suppressive ART were randomized 1:1:1 to 12 weeks of placebo, low-dose valacyclovir (500 mg twice daily), or high-dose valacyclovir (1 g twice daily) in this 18-week trial. Co-primary outcome measures were the percentage of activated (CD38(+)HLA-DR(+)) CD8 T cells in blood, and highly sensitive C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 in plasma. Secondary outcomes included additional immune, inflammatory cytokine, and endothelial activation markers. The impact of valacyclovir (both groups combined) on each outcome was estimated using treatment × time interaction terms in generalized estimating equation regression models. RESULTS Participants were mostly white (75%) men who have sex with men (80%). Median age was 51 (interquartile range [IQR], 47-56) years, median duration of HIV infection was 15 (IQR, 8-21) years, median CD4 count at enrollment was 520 (IQR, 392-719) cells/µL, and median nadir CD4 count was 142 (IQR, 42-240) cells/µL. Valacyclovir was not associated with significant changes in any primary or secondary immunological outcomes in bivariate or multivariable models. Medication adherence was 97% by self-report, 96% by pill count, and 84% by urine monitoring. Eight patients had adverse events deemed possibly related to the study drug (5 placebo, 1 low-dose, 2 high-dose), and 6 patients reported at least 1 HSV outbreak (3 placebo, 3 low-dose, 0 high-dose). CONCLUSIONS Valacyclovir did not decrease systemic immune activation or inflammatory biomarkers in HIV-1/HSV-2-coinfected adults on suppressive ART. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NCT01176409.
Analysis and design of oscillatory control systems

This paper presents analysis and design results for control systems subject to oscillatory inputs, i.e., inputs of large amplitude and high frequency. The key analysis results are a series expansion characterizing the averaged system and various Lie-algebraic conditions that guarantee the series can be summed. Various example systems provide insight into the results. With regards to design, we recover and extend a variety of point stabilization and trajectory tracking results using oscillatory controls. We present novel developments on stabilization of systems with positive trace and on tracking for second order underactuated systems.
The Angiosomes of the Thigh and Buttock

Background: The angiosomes of the body were defined in 1987. The recent popularity of skin perforator and muscle flaps designed in the thigh, together with significant major vessel anomaly and disease, has necessitated a more detailed reevaluation of the blood supply to this region. Methods: Eighteen new studies, combined with a review of 36 of the authors’ archival studies of the buttock and the thigh, have been conducted in fresh human cadavers using arterial perfusion with a radiographic lead oxide mixture. Results: The angiosome territories of the lumbar, deep circumflex iliac, sacral, gluteal, common femoral, superficial femoral, lateral femoral circumflex, medial femoral circumflex, profunda, descending genicular, and popliteal source vessels that contribute to the thigh and buttock were defined between the skin and the bone. The dominant cutaneous supply of perforators of 0.5 mm or greater emerged from the deep fascia predominantly in longitudinal rows from the intermuscular septa or from intramuscular septa, especially from the buttock muscles. Each muscle was supplied from two or more angiosomes, thereby constituting important bypass shunts for potential major vessel injury or disease, by means of their intramuscular anastomoses. Conclusions: These results may help the surgeon in the design of skin perforator and refined muscle, musculocutaneous, and composite flaps in the thigh and the buttock. The study also provides for a better understanding of vessel anastomoses in the region.
Enhanced expression of the antimicrobial peptide LL‐37 in lesional skin of adults with atopic eczema

Background Atopic eczema (AE) is a common multifactorial chronic skin disease associated with a defective skin barrier and increased susceptibility to skin infections. The human cathelicidin LL‐37 plays a role in the host defence of skin. Studies have demonstrated deficient expression of LL‐37 in skin of AE patients.
An Analysis of Statistical and Syntactic Phrases

As the amount of textual information available through the World Wide Web grows, there is a growing need for high-precision IR systems that enable a user to find useful information from the masses of available textual data. Phrases have traditionally been regarded as precision-enhancing devices and have proved useful as content-identifiers in representing documents. In this study, we compare the usefulness of phrases recognized using linguistic methods and those recognized by statistical techniques. We focus in particular on high-precision retrieval. We discover that once a good basic ranking scheme is being used, the use of phrases does not have a major effect on precision at high ranks. Phrases are more useful at lower ranks where the connection between documents and relevance is more tenuous. Also, we find that the syntactic and statistical methods for recognizing phrases yield comparable performance.