Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical and Radiological Predictive Factors to be Related with the Degree of Lumbar Back Muscle Degeneration: Difference by Gender

Background The prediction of lumbar back muscle degeneration is important because chronic low back pain and spino-pelvic imbalance have been known to be related to it. However, gender difference should be considered because there are different quality and volume of muscles between genders. The purpose of this study was to search for clinical and radiological factors to predict the degree of lumbar back muscle degeneration according to gender difference. Methods We reviewed 112 patients (44 men and 68 women) with spinal stenosis who underwent a decompressive surgery between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011. Degrees of lumbar back muscle degeneration were classified into three categories by the fatty infiltration at each L3-4 disc level on the axial view of T1 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Age, sex, bone marrow density score, and body mass index (BMI) were obtained from chart reviews. Lumbar lordosis, sacral slope, pelvic tilt (PT), and pelvic incidence were calculated with lumbar spine standing lateral radiographs. The degrees of spinal stenosis and facet arthropathy were checked with MRI. Student t-test, chi-square test, or Fisher exact test were used to compare clinical and radiological parameters between genders. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear regression analysis were used to search for a relationship between lumbar back muscle degeneration and possible predictive factors in each gender group. Results Many clinical and radiological parameters were different according to gender. The age, BMI, and PT in the female group (p = 0.013, 0.001, and 0.019, respectively) and the PT in the men group (p = 0.018) were predictive factors to be correlated with lumbar back muscle degeneration. Conclusions The PT was the important predictive factor for lumbar back muscle degeneration in both, the male and the female group. However, age and BMI were predictive factors in the female group only.
Anti-Asialo GM1 NK Cell Depleting Antibody Does Not Alter the Development of Bleomycin Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis

Despite circumstantial evidence postulating a protective role for NK cells in many fibrotic conditions, their contribution to the development of pulmonary fibrosis has yet to be tested. Lung-migrating NK cells are thought to attenuate the development of bleomycin induced pulmonary fibrosis (BIPF) by providing anti-fibrotic mediators and cytokines, such as IFN-γ. If true, we reasoned that depletion of NK cells during experimentally-induced fibrotic disease would lead to exacerbated fibrosis. To test this, we treated mice with NK cell-depleting antisera (anti-asialo GM1) and evaluated lung inflammation and fibrosis in the BIPF model. While NK cell infiltration into the airways was maximal at day 10 after bleomycin injection, NK cells represented a minor portion (1–3%) of the total leukocytes in BAL fluid. Anti-asialo GM1 significantly abrogated NK cell numbers over the course of the disease. Depletion of NK cells with anti-asialo GM1 before and throughout the BIPF model, or during just the fibrotic phase did not alter fibrosis development or affect the levels of any of the pro-inflammatory/pro-fibrotic cytokines measured (IL-1β, IL-17, IFN-γ, TGF-β and TNF-α). In addition, adoptively transferred NK cells, which were detectable systemically and in the airways throughout BIPF, failed to impact lung fibrosis. These findings indicate that NK cells likely do not play an essential protective role in controlling pulmonary fibrosis development.
Determinants of plasma methylmalonic acid in a large population: implications for assessment of vitamin B12 status.

BACKGROUND Methylmalonic acid (MMA) in plasma or serum is widely used for assessment of vitamin B(12) status. However, data are sparse regarding factors, besides renal function, that may influence MMA concentrations. We searched for important determinants of plasma MMA in the general population. METHODS In 6946 middle-aged (47-49 years) and elderly (71-74 years) individuals from the Hordaland Homocysteine Study in Norway, we collected anthropometric measurements, lifestyle data, and plasma MMA, vitamin B(12), and creatinine measurements. For 5820 individuals, we also collected dietary data. RESULTS Age and plasma creatinine were positively associated with plasma MMA, whereas plasma vitamin B(12) was negatively associated. These variables together with sex were the strongest determinants of plasma MMA, accounting for 16% of the variation (R(2) = 0.16). Addition of anthropometric measures and lifestyle and dietary factors only gave slight improvement (total R(2) = 0.167). Increased plasma MMA was seen when plasma vitamin B(12) was <400 pmol/L. In individuals with vitamin B(12) >or =400 micromol/L (vitamin B(12)-replete), the 2.5th-97.5th percentile reference limits for MMA were 0.10-0.28 micromol/L (middle-aged) and 0.10-0.36 micromol/L (elderly). When plotted against creatinine (nomograms), the 97.5th percentile of MMA was similar in men and women but approximately 0.15 micromol/L higher in elderly than middle-aged individuals. Vitamin B(12)-replete participants had MMA upper limits approximately 0.1 micromol/L (elderly) and 0.04 micromol/L (middle-aged) below those of the unselected population at all creatinine concentrations. CONCLUSIONS Identified determinants accounted for <17% of the overall variation in plasma MMA. The difference in MMA between middle-aged and elderly individuals is only partly explained by creatinine and vitamin B(12) concentrations.
Evaluating an online role playing game for promoting the elementary school students' English speaking abilities

Learning how to speak in foreign language has been identified as a big challenge. Constructing an interesting environment can reduce the learners' speaking anxiety and enhance their motivation. Digital game can be used for building such an attractive learning environment, and it can make the player to be actively involved in their learning. Nevertheless, little research focuses on enhancing the EFL learners' speaking ability by means of digital game. This study adopted an online role playing game-Talking Island as a platform in online speaking activities, conducted a learning experiment in an elementary school, and evaluated its suitability by experienced teachers and the students.
Why Do Capital Intensive Companies Pay Higher Wages?

An obvious answer to this question is the capital-skill complementarity hypothesis originally proposed by Zwi Griliches (1969). But the relatively poor performance of this hypothesis suggests that other explanations are needed. Here we consider the labour union behaviour in the wage bargaining process as such an alternative. The explanation is based on the observation that capital intensive companies are more vulnerable to strike threats and may thus more easily give in for union wage demand. Thus, the bargaining power of unions is related to the capital-labour ratio. This paper provides some tests for these hypotheses with panel data for Finnish companies. The results give support to the wage bargaining hypothesis.
Children, childhood, and English society, 1880-1990

Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. New ideas of childhood c. 1880-1920s 3. Parent-child relations 4. Children and social policies 5. Children, schooling and the classroom 6. Children's leisure 7. Conclusion: disappearing childhood and children's rights 8. Select bibliography.
Why Do People Still Live in East Germany?

In 1997 GDP per capita in East Germany was 57% of that of West Germany, wage rates were 75% of western levels, and the unemployment rate was at least double the western rate of 7.8%. One would expect that if capital flows and trade in goods failed to bring convergence, labor flows would respond, enhancing overall efficiency. Yet net emigration from East Germany has fallen from high levels in 1989-1990 to close to zero. Using state-level data for all of Germany, available from 1991-1996, I am able to explain the downward trend in east to west migration using wage and unemployment information. Convergence in hourly wages is the most important factor. Analysis of the eastern sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel for 1990-1997 suggests that commuting is unlikely to substitute substantially for emigration. The individual-level data further indicate that emigrants are disproportionately young and skilled, and that individuals suffering a layoff or non-employment spell are also much more likely to emigrate.
Individual heterogeneity in life histories and eco-evolutionary dynamics

Individual heterogeneity in life history shapes eco-evolutionary processes, and unobserved heterogeneity can affect demographic outputs characterising life history and population dynamical properties. Demographic frameworks like matrix models or integral projection models represent powerful approaches to disentangle mechanisms linking individual life histories and population-level processes. Recent developments have provided important steps towards their application to study eco-evolutionary dynamics, but so far individual heterogeneity has largely been ignored. Here, we present a general demographic framework that incorporates individual heterogeneity in a flexible way, by separating static and dynamic traits (discrete or continuous). First, we apply the framework to derive the consequences of ignoring heterogeneity for a range of widely used demographic outputs. A general conclusion is that besides the long-term growth rate lambda, all parameters can be affected. Second, we discuss how the framework can help advance current demographic models of eco-evolutionary dynamics, by incorporating individual heterogeneity. For both applications numerical examples are provided, including an empirical example for pike. For instance, we demonstrate that predicted demographic responses to climate warming can be reversed by increased heritability. We discuss how applications of this demographic framework incorporating individual heterogeneity can help answer key biological questions that require a detailed understanding of eco-evolutionary dynamics.
Learning Policy Constraints Through Dialogue

An understanding of the policy and resource availability constraints under which others operate is important for effectively developing and resourcing plans in a multi-agent context. Such constraints (or norms) are not necessarily public knowledge, even within a team of collaborating agents. What is required are mechanisms to enable agents to keep track of who might have and be willing to provide the resources required for enacting a plan by modeling the policies of others regarding resource use, information provision, etc. We propose a technique that combines machine learning and argumentation for identifying and modeling the policies of others. Furthermore, we demonstrate the utility of this novel combination of techniques through empirical evaluation.
Query Intent Detection using Convolutional Neural Networks

Understanding query intent helps modern search engines to improve search results as well as to display instant answers to the user. In this work, we introduce an accurate query classiﬁcation method to detect the intent of a user search query. We propose us-ing convolutional neural networks (CNN) to extract query vector representations as the features for the query classiﬁcation. In this model, queries are represented as vectors so that semantically similar queries can be captured by embedding them into a vector space. Experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively detect intents of queries with higher precision and recall compared to current methods.
Spatially resolved medium resolution spectroscopy of an interacting E+A (post-starburst) system with the Subaru Telescope

We have performed spatially resolved medium resolution long-slit spectroscopy of a nearby E+A (post-starburst) galaxy system, SDSS J161330.18+510335.5, with the FOCAS spectrograph mounted on the Subaru Telescope. This E+A galaxy has an obvious companion galaxy 14 kpc in front with the velocity difference of 61.8 km s−1. Both galaxies have obviously disturbed morphology. Thus, this E+A system provides us with a perfect opportunity to investigate the relation between the post-starburst phenomena and galaxy–galaxy interaction. We have found that the Hδ equivalent width (EW) of the E+A galaxy is greater than 7 A galaxy wide (8.5 kpc) with no significant spatial variation. The E+A galaxy has a weak [O iii] emission (EW ∼ 1 A) offset by ∼2.6 kpc from the peak of the Balmer absorption lines. We detected a rotational velocity in the companion galaxy of >175 km s−1. The progenitor of the companion may have been a rotationally supported, but yet passive S0 galaxy. We did not detect significant rotation on the E+A galaxy. A metallicity estimate based on the r−H colour suggests Z= 0.008 and 0.02, for the E+A and the companion galaxies, respectively. Assuming these metallicity estimates, the age of the E+A galaxy after quenching the star formation is estimated to be 100–500 Myr, with its centre having a slightly younger stellar population. The companion galaxy is estimated to have an older stellar population of >2 Gyr of age with no significant spatial variation. These findings are inconsistent with a simple picture where the dynamical interaction creates infall of the gas reservoir that causes the central starburst/post-starburst. Instead, our results present an important example where the galaxy–galaxy interaction can trigger a galaxy-wide post-starburst phenomenon.
Identification of Speakers in Novels

Speaker identification is the task of attributing utterances to characters in a literary narrative. It is challenging to automate because the speakers of the majority of utterances are not explicitly identified in novels. In this paper, we present a supervised machine learning approach for the task that incorporates several novel features. The experimental results show that our method is more accurate and general than previous approaches to the problem.
Public Health Expenditure Implications of the Southern African Customs Union Revenue Volatility in BLNS Countries.

This study sets out to investigate how the volatility of income from the common revenue pool (CRP) of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a¤ecting health expenditures, particularly in the HIV/AIDS sector, in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS). Following an outline of SACUs rich historical background as well as its political economy and state of HIV/AIDS, the study provides evidence of declining revenues from the CRP accruing to the BLNS countries. Our investigation further reveals that this decline in receipts from SACU is likely to continue. Some of the factors responsible for the revenue decline include global business cycles, poor performance of the South African economy, and declining global trade tari¤s following developments in regional integration involving SACU and other countries/trading blocs. There are several policy options for the BLNS countries to counter the declining SACU revenue. We suggest that in the short run, the BLNS countries should lobby for an increase in donor support to cover a funding gap that is predicted to emerge. Donor funding may have to be complemented with scal restraint, cutting down expenditures in nonpriority areas. Realising that the expenditure cuts need not be done in a way that constricts the economies, relatively larger scal de cits may be inevitable. In the long run, the BLNS countries should consider adopting an expenditure plan anchored on domestic revenue. Their scal framework may have to be restructured, moving away from reliance on SACU revenue, especially for recurrent expenditures. They will also need to aim at e¢ cient and e¤ective use of public resources. School of Economics and Finance, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban. Emails: ngalawa@ukzn.ac. za/ hngalawa@yahoo.co.uk. yHealth Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban. Email: Ahmedk@ukzn.ac. za. zHealth Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban. Email: whitesid@ukzn.ac. za.
Relativizing Relative Income

Using over one million observations, from 6 Transition countries and 14 "old" European countries, we show that, in stable EU economies, other people's income affects my utility directly, through comparison effects, whereas in more volatile Transition economies it affects me indirectly, in a cognitive manner. Empirically, using mostly panel data, we show that the average income in one's professional group affects individual subjective well-being negatively in EU countries, whereas the correlation is positive in Transition economies. In Poland, for which we have particularly long panel data, the relative importance of these effects is reversed with the beginning of transition: comparison effects dominate until 1989 whereas information effects are predominant from 1990 onwards. This divergent attitude towards other people's income is potentially important at a time of ongoing European enlargement. More generally, the results lead to a relativization of the relative income hypothesis, which is at the heart of certain critical views of growth policies.
Quantification of regional left ventricular function by real-time 3D echocardiography: Validation by magnetic resonance imaging and clinical utility

Quantitative information on regional left ventricular (LV) function from real-time 3D echocardiographic (RT3DE) images has significant clinical potential, but needs validation. Our goals were to validate these measurements against cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and test the feasibility of automated detection of regional wall motion (RWM) abnormalities from RT3DE data. RT3DE and CMR images were obtained in 31 pts and analyzed using prototype software to calculate regional volumes and ejection fractions. Indices were compared between RT3DE and CMR. Additionally, CMR images were reviewed by an expert, whose RWM grades were used as a reference for the automated detection of RWM abnormalities. RT3DE measurements resulted in good agreement with CMR. Automated detection showed high levels of agreement with expert reading, similar for CMR and RT3DE. Analysis of RT3DE data provides accurate quantification of regional function and allows automated detection of RWM abnormalities.
A New Quantum-Inspired Binary PSO for Thermal Unit Commitment Problems

This paper proposes a new binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) approach inspired from quantum computing, so-called quantum-inspired BPSO (QBPSO), for solving the unit commitment (UC) problems. Although BPSO- based approaches have been successfully applied to the combinatorial optimization problems of power systems, the BPSO algorithm has some drawbacks such as premature convergence when handling heavily constrained problems. The proposed QBPSO combines the conventional BPSO with the concept and principles of quantum computing such as a quantum bit and superposition of states. The QBPSO adopts a Q-bit individual for the probabilistic representation, which replaces the velocity update procedure in the particle swarm optimization. This paper also proposes an efficient rotation gate for updating Q-bit individuals to improve the searching capability of the quantum computing. To verify the performance of the proposed QBPSO, it is applied to the test systems of up to 100-units with 24-hour demand horizon.
Social Work at the Millennium: Critical Reflections on the Future of the Profession

For the last century, social workers have attended to those in need and sought to improve the social and economic conditions of the disadvantaged. At the dawn of a new century the country's leading social work practitioners and educators have come together in one stellar volume to assess the successes and failures of the field in its first hundred years. They lay out the road social work must take to face the challenges ahead. Along with two chapters by the editors, June Gary Hopps and Robert Morris, Social Work at the Millennium includes ten chapters from an exceptionally strong group of contributors, offering a range of interpretations of the future of social work. By looking with a critical eye at the past century and at the present day, the authors come to varying conclusions that will stir debate within the field for years to come. But all agree that social workers need a place at the policy drafting tables as well as in the human services triage rooms, and that much work needs to be done to ensure that this happens. Social Work at the Millennium presents the top voices of the social work field as they begin to craft the future of the profession, and issues a challenge to social workers, students, scholars, and policy makers to continue the discussion to shape a better future for the profession and the people it serves.
Evidence for a gene–gene interaction in predicting children's behavior problems: Association of serotonin transporter short and dopamine receptor D4 long genotypes with internalizing and externalizing behaviors in typically developing 7-year-olds

Abstract Recent work on the molecular genetics of complex traits in typical and atypical human development has focused primarilyon associations of single genes with behavior. Disparate literature suggests that the presence of one or two copies of the short allele of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene and the long allele (7-repeat allele) version of the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene predicts internalizing- and externalizing-related behaviors, respectively. Apparently for the first time in the extant literature, we report a gene–gene statistical interaction on behavior problems in a group of typically developing children at age 7. DNA was extracted from buccal cells collected from 108 children and genotyped for short and long alleles of the 5-HTT gene and the short (2–5 repeats) versus long (6–8 repeats) allele of the DRD4 gene. Mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist. As predicted, children with one or two copies of the short allele of the 5-HTT gene and the long allele version of the DRD4 gene exhibited significantly more internalizing and externalizing behaviors at age 7 than children with other combinations of the 5-HTT and DRD4 short and long genotypes. As well, children with the 5-HTT long and DRD4 long genotypes had the lowest reported scores on internalizing and externalizing behaviors at age 7, suggesting that the presence of the 5-HTT long genotype may serve as a protective factor against these behaviors in children with the long DRD4 genotype. Implications of these findings for understanding cumulative biological risk and protective factors in childhood behavior problems and psychopathology are discussed.
Effect of head uptilt on hrv in female human subjects

AIM: Cardiovascular autonomic response to orthostatic challenges are affected by cardiorespiratory fitness in adults. The mixed response to postural stress can be distinguished by changes in frequency components of Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Autonomic control via sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation of the heart can be assessed by power spectral analysis of heart rate variability . This is done by the Head uptilt test (HUT). Tilt Table Test is a standard clinical medical procedure used to diagnose dysautonomia or syncope. MATERIALS AND METHOD: With the use of a pretested structured proforma ,100 healthy female subjects were randomly selected . Head uptilt test was done at 300 ,600 and 800 with the help of a manually operated tilt table. Lead II ECG was monitored and frequency domain analysis was done in each position for 5 minutes by using Niviqure software. RESULTS: Low frequency values increased from supine position with head uptilt and the high frequency values decreased with head uptilt . The ratio of low frequency to high frequency increased with head uptilt. CONCLUSION: The determination of HRV gives an idea of autonomic nervous system activity in response to passive head uptilt. Cardiovascular reflex effects can be assessed by physiologists and clinicians to assess cardiovascular reflex response in man in health or disease