Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Rapid Hardening Cement and Setting Accelerator on the Freeze-Thaw Durability of Fly Ash Concrete

This paper presents the results of the second phase of an experimental research, which was carried out to investigate the freeze-thaw durability of fly ash (FA) concrete subjected to slow freeze-thaw cycles. The results of the first phase showed that FA had a significant detrimental effect on the freeze-thaw durability concrete. The lower resistance to freezing condition was attributed to the low early strength of FA concrete, at early ages, compared to Portland cement concrete. Therefore, rapid hardening Portland cement (RHPC) and setting accelerator (SA) were introduced, in the second phase, in a bid to modify the early age properties of FA concrete and, hence, enhance its freeze-thaw durability. The weight loss and residual strength of the specimens were assessed after specific number of freeze-thaw cycles. The results showed that the use of rapid hardening Portland cement (RHPC) and/or setting accelerator (SA) enabled earlier demoulding to take place and enhanced the early age strength of FA concrete. However, this did not necessarily improve the freeze-thaw durability of FA concrete. The effect RHPC and SA on the deterioration and residual strength of concrete containing fly ash was indifferent. Therefore, it is suggested that further research is needed to confirm the effect of RHPC and SA on the freeze-thaw durability of fly ash concrete.
The depth, duration, and degree of outpatient pediatric polypharmacy in Colorado fee‐for‐service Medicaid patients

Outpatient pediatric polypharmacy is poorly characterized. Identification of at‐risk populations has clinical implications for pharmacy case management programs. We described the degree of exposure to polypharmacy using parameters of depth (concurrent medication count) and duration, reported commonly dispensed medications and exposure to three example potential drug–drug interactions by different depths of polypharmacy, and determined patient characteristics associated with exposure to increased degrees (a function of depth and duration) of polypharmacy.
Effect of Using an Indoor Air Quality Sensor on Perceptions of and Behaviors Toward Air Pollution (Pittsburgh Empowerment Library Study): Online Survey and Interviews

Background Air quality affects us all and is a rapidly growing concern in the 21st century. We spend the majority of our lives indoors and can be exposed to a number of pollutants smaller than 2.5 microns (particulate matter, PM2.5) resulting in detrimental health effects. Indoor air quality sensors have the potential to provide people with the information they need to understand their risk and take steps to reduce their exposure. One such sensor is the Speck sensor developed at the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. This sensor provides users with continuous real-time and historical PM2.5 information, a Web-based platform where people can track their PM2.5 levels over time and learn about ways to reduce their exposure, and a venue (blog post) for the user community to exchange information. Little is known about how the use of such monitors affects people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors with respect to indoor air pollution. Objective The aim of this study was to assess whether using the sensor changes what people know and do about indoor air pollution. Methods We conducted 2 studies. In the first study, we recruited 276 Pittsburgh residents online and through local branches of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where the Speck sensor was made available by the researchers in the library catalog. Participants completed a 10- to 15-min survey on air pollution knowledge (its health impact, sources, and mitigation options), perceptions of indoor air quality, confidence in mitigation, current behaviors toward air quality, and personal empowerment and creativity in the spring and summer of 2016. In our second study, we surveyed 26 Pittsburgh residents in summer 2016 who checked out the Speck sensor for 3 weeks on the same measures assessed in the first study, with additional questions about the perception and use of the sensor. Follow-up interviews were conducted with a subset of those who used the Speck sensor. Results A series of paired t tests found participants were significantly more knowledgeable (t25=−2.61, P=.02), reported having significantly better indoor air quality (t25=−5.20, P<.001), and felt more confident about knowing how to mitigate their risk (t25=−1.87, P=.07) after using the Speck sensor than before. McNemar test showed participants tended to take more action to reduce indoor air pollution after using the sensor (χ225=2.7, P=.10). Qualitative analysis suggested possible ripple effects of use, including encouraging family and friends to learn about indoor air pollution. Conclusions Providing people with low- or no-cost portable indoor air quality monitors, with a supporting Web-based platform that offers information about how to reduce risk, can help people better express perceptions and adopt behaviors commensurate with the risks they face. Thus, thoughtfully designed and deployed personal sensing devices can help empower people to take steps to reduce their risk.
Improving a deep learning based RGB-D object recognition model by ensemble learning

Augmenting RGB images with depth information is a well-known method to significantly improve the recognition accuracy of object recognition models. Another method to improve the performance of visual recognition models is ensemble learning. However, this method has not been widely explored in combination with deep convolutional neural network based RGB-D object recognition models. Hence, in this paper, we form different ensembles of complementary deep convolutional neural network models, and show that this can be used to increase the recognition performance beyond existing limits. Experiments on the Washington RGB-D Object Dataset show that our best performing ensemble improves the recognition performance with 0.7% compared to using the baseline model alone.
Hyperbaric oxygenation and glucose/amino acids substitution in human severe placental insufficiency

In the first case, the AA and glucose were infused through a perinatal port system into the umbilical vein at 30 weeks' gestation due to severe IUGR. The patient received daily hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO, 100% O2) with 1.4 atmospheres absolute for 50 min for 7 days. At 31+4 weeks' gestation, the patient gave birth spontaneously to a newborn weighing 1378 g, pH 7.33, APGAR score 4/6/intubation. In follow‐up examinations at 5 years of age, the boy was doing well without any neurological disturbance or developmental delay. In the second case, the patient presented at 25/5 weeks' gestation suffering from severe IUGR received HBO and maternal AA infusions. The cardiotocography was monitored continuously during HBO treatment. The short‐time variations improved during HBO from 2.9 to 9 msec. The patient developed pathologic CTG and uterine contractions 1 day later and gave birth to a hypotrophic newborn weighing 420 g. After initial adequate stabilization, the extremely preterm newborn unfortunately died 6 days later. Fetal nutrition combined with HBO is technically possible and may allow the prolongation of the pregnancy. Fetal‐specific amino‐acid composition would facilitate the treatment options of IUGR fetuses and extremely preterm newborn.
MicroRNA-29a Functions as a Tumor Suppressor and Increases Cisplatin Sensitivity by Targeting NRAS in Lung Cancer

MicroRNAs have been reported to play an important role in diverse biological processes and progression of various cancers. MicroRNA-29a has been observed to be downregulated in human lung cancer tissues, but the function of microRNA-29a in lung cancer has not been well investigated. In this study, we demonstrated that the expression levels of microRNA-29a were significantly downregulated in 38 pairs of lung cancer tissues when compared to adjacent normal tissues. Overexpression of microRNA-29a inhibited the activity of cell proliferation and colony formation of lung cancer cells, H1299 and A549. Furthermore, microRNA-29a targeted NRAS proto-oncogene in lung cancer cells. In human clinical specimens, NRAS proto-oncogene was highly expressed in human lung cancer tissues compared to normal tissues. More interestingly, microRNA-29a also sensitizes lung cancer cells to cisplatin (CDDP[Please replace “CDDP” with its expansion in the abstract and also provide expansion for the same in its first occurrence in text, if appropriate.]) via its target, NRAS proto-oncogene. Thus, our results in this study demonstrated that microRNA-29a acted as a tumor suppressor microRNA, which indicated potential application of microRNAs for the treatment of human lung cancer in the future.
The prediction of cyclic proximal humerus fracture fixation failure by various bone density measures

Fixation of osteoporotic proximal humerus fractures has remained challenging, but may be improved by careful pre‐operative planning. The aim of this study was to investigate how well the failure of locking plate fixation of osteoporotic proximal humerus fractures can be predicted by bone density measures assessed with currently available clinical imaging (realistic case) and a higher resolution and quality modality (theoretical best‐case). Various density measures were correlated to experimentally assessed number of cycles to construct failure of plated unstable low‐density proximal humerus fractures (N = 18). The influence of density evaluation technique was investigated by comparing local (peri‐implant) versus global evaluation regions; HR‐pQCT‐based versus clinical QCT‐based image data; ipsilateral versus contralateral side; and bone mineral content (BMC) versus bone mineral density (BMD). All investigated density measures were significantly correlated with the experimental cycles to failure. The best performing clinically feasible parameter was the QCT‐based BMC of the contralateral articular cap region, providing significantly better correlation (R2 = 0.53) compared to a previously proposed clinical density measure (R2 = 0.30). BMC had consistently, but not significantly stronger correlations with failure than BMD. The overall best results were obtained with the ipsilateral HR‐pQCT‐based local BMC (R2 = 0.74) that may be used for implant optimization. Strong correlations were found between the corresponding density measures of the two CT image sources, as well as between the two sides. Future studies should investigate if BMC of the contralateral articular cap region could provide improved prediction of clinical fixation failure compared to previously proposed measures. © 2018 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 36:2250–2258, 2018.
Changes in glucose metabolism after distal pancreatectomy: a nationwide database study

Background This population-based study evaluated changes in glucose metabolism after distal pancreatectomy (DP). Methods Data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was collected from 2001 to 2010. Of 1,980 patients who underwent DP, 507 had diabetes and 1,410 did not. Results Of the 1,410 non-diabetic pre-DP patients, 312 (22.1%) developed newly-diagnosed diabetes after DP. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that dyslipidemia [hazard ratio = 1.940; 95% confidence interval = 1.362–2.763; P < 0.001] and chronic pancreatitis (hazard ratio = 2.428; 95% confidence interval = 1.889–3.121; P < 0.001) were significantly associated with the development of diabetes after DP. On the other hand, analysis of changes in glucose metabolism among 289 pre-DP diabetes without the use of insulin revealed that 173 (59.9%) had deteriorated glucose metabolism after DP. Conclusion Dyslipidemia and chronic pancreatitis are risk factors for the development of diabetes. Further, more than half of the pre-DP diabetes patients without the use of insulin had deterioration of glucose metabolism after DP. Therefore, clinicians should monitor glucose metabolism and clinical symptoms of hyperglycemia among DP patients.
Effects of tennis play on executive function in 6–11-year-old children: a 12-month longitudinal study

Abstract The present study aimed to assess the effects of 12 months of frequent tennis play on executive functions and the relationships of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), physical competence, and enjoyment of playing tennis to executive functions in children. Thirty-two children (6–11 years old) who had regularly played tennis (once a week; mean = 3 years, range = 0–6 years) before the study were enrolled in a 12-month intervention. Participants were allocated into two groups: low-dose (maintain current frequency of tennis play, N = 19) or high-dose (increased frequency of tennis play to four times per week, N = 13). Participants’ MVPA, physical competence, enjoyment of playing tennis, and executive functions (i.e. inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) were evaluated before and after this intervention. The high-dose group demonstrated a greater improvement in working memory than the low-dose group, while there was no group difference in MVPA, physical competence, and enjoyment of playing tennis. Changes in MVPA were associated with improvements in cognitive flexibility. Changes in physical competence were associated with improvements in working memory and cognitive flexibility. Changes in the enjoyment of playing tennis were associated with improvements in inhibitory control. The current findings suggest that replacement of MVPA with sports activity, such as tennis enhances executive functions development, and suggest that sports programmes that seek to build competence and enjoyment might help support the development of executive functions in children.
TIMSS 2011 Student and Teacher Predictors for Mathematics Achievement Explored and Identified via Elastic Net

A substantial body of research has been conducted on variables relating to students' mathematics achievement with TIMSS. However, most studies have employed conventional statistical methods, and have focused on selected few indicators instead of utilizing hundreds of variables TIMSS provides. This study aimed to find a prediction model for students' mathematics achievement using as many TIMSS student and teacher variables as possible. Elastic net, the selected machine learning technique in this study, takes advantage of both LASSO and ridge in terms of variable selection and multicollinearity, respectively. A logistic regression model was also employed to predict TIMSS 2011 Korean 4th graders' mathematics achievement. Ten-fold cross-validation with mean squared error was employed to determine the elastic net regularization parameter. Among 162 TIMSS variables explored, 12 student and 5 teacher variables were selected in the elastic net model, and the prediction accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 76.06, 70.23, and 80.34%, respectively. This study showed that the elastic net method can be successfully applied to educational large-scale data by selecting a subset of variables with reasonable prediction accuracy and finding new variables to predict students' mathematics achievement. Newly found variables via machine learning can shed light on the existing theories from a totally different perspective, which in turn propagates creation of a new theory or complement of existing ones. This study also examined the current scale development convention from a machine learning perspective.
Propulsion by sinusoidal locomotion: A motion inspired by Caenorhabditis elegans

Sinusoidal locomotion is commonly seen in snakes, fish, nematodes, or even the wings of some birds and insects. This doctoral thesis presents the study of sinusoidal locomotion of the nematode C. elegansin experiments and the application of the state-space airloads theory to the theoretical forces of sinusoidal motion. An original MATLAB program has been developed to analyze the video records of C. elegans' movement in different fluids, including Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. The experimental and numerical studies of swimming C. elegans has revealed three conclusions. First, though the amplitude and wavelength are varying with time, the motion of swimming C. elegans can still be viewed as sinusoidal locomotion with slips. The average normalized wavelength is a conserved character of the locomotion for both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. Second, fluid viscosity affects the frequency but not the moving speed of C. elegans, while fluid elasticity affects the moving speed but not the frequency. Third, by the resistive force theory, for more elastic fluids the ratio of resistive coefficients becomes smaller. Inspired by the motion of C. elegans and other animals performing sinusoidal motion, we investigated the sinusoidal motion of a thin flexible wing in theory. Given the equation of the motion, we have derived the closed forms of propulsive force, lift and other generalized forces applying on the wing. We also calculated the power required to perform the motion, the power lost due to the shed vortices and the propulsive efficiency. These forces and powers are given as functions of reduced frequency k, dimensionless wavelength z, dimensionless amplitude A/b, and time. Our results show that a positive, time-averaged propulsive force is produced for all k>k 0 =&pi/z. At k=k 0 , which implies the moment when the moving speed of the wing is the same as the wave speed of its undulation, the motion reaches a steady state with all forces being zero. If there were no shed vorticity effects, the propulsive force would be zero at z = 0.569 and z = 1.3 for all k, and for a fixed k the wing would gain the optimal propulsive force when z = 0.82. With the effects of shed vorticity, the propulsive efficiency decreases from 1.0 to 0.5 as k goes to infinity, and the propulsive efficiency increases almost in a linear relationship with k 0 .
Resemblance of Symptoms for Major Depression Assessed at Interview versus from Hospital Record Review

Background Diagnostic information for psychiatric research often depends on both clinical interviews and medical records. Although discrepancies between these two sources are well known, there have been few studies into the degree and origins of inconsistencies. Principal findings We compared data from structured interviews and medical records on 1,970 Han Chinese women with recurrent DSM-IV major depression (MD). Correlations were high for age at onset of MD (0.93) and number of episodes (0.70), intermediate for family history (+0.62) and duration of longest episode (+0.43) and variable but generally more modest for individual depressive symptoms (mean kappa = 0.32). Four factors were identified for twelve symptoms from medical records and the same four factors emerged from analysis of structured interviews. Factor congruencies were high but the correlation of factors between interviews and records were modest (i.e. +0.2 to +0.4). Conclusions Structured interviews and medical records are highly concordant for age of onset, and the number and length of episodes, but agree more modestly for individual symptoms and symptom factors. The modesty of these correlations probably arises from multiple factors including i) inconsistency in the definition of the worst episode, ii) inaccuracies in self-report and iii) difficulties in coding medical records where symptoms were recorded solely for clinical purposes.
Computed tomography airway lumen volumetry in patients with acromegaly: Association with growth hormone levels and lung function

The segmentation and skeletonisation of images via computed tomography (CT) airway lumen volumetry provide a new perspective regarding the incorporation of this technique in medical practice. Our aim was to quantify morphological changes in the large airways of patients with acromegaly through CT and, secondarily, to correlate these findings with hormone levels and pulmonary function testing (PFT) parameters.
Response Bias on Self-Report Measures of Sexual Fantasies Among Sexual Offenders

The impact of sexual fantasies in future risk and treatment response among sexual offenders has long been known. However, as we develop objective self-report measures of sexual fantasies, response bias is becoming an increasing concern. In examining a sample of institutionalized sex offenders, the present study suggests that offenders’ responses on these measures are prone to response bias, the bias does not negate their associations with other self-report measures of sexual deviance, and relationship of their sexual fantasies does not appear to relate to actual behavioral indications. Clinical and research implications for these findings are discussed.
Dynamic Assessment for 3- and 4-Year-Old Children Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Evaluating Expressive Syntax.

Purpose The developmental readiness to produce early sentences with an iPad communication application was assessed with ten 3- and 4-year-old children with severe speech disorders using graduated prompting dynamic assessment (DA) techniques. The participants' changes in performance within the DA sessions were evaluated, and DA performance was compared with performance during a subsequent intervention. Method Descriptive statistics were used to examine patterns of performance at various cueing levels and mean levels of cueing support. The Wilcoxon signed-ranks test was used to measure changes within the DA sessions. Correlational data were calculated to determine how well performance in DA predicted performance during a subsequent intervention. Results Participants produced targets successfully in DA at various cueing levels, with some targets requiring less cueing than others. Performance improved significantly within the DA sessions-that is, the level of cueing required for accurate productions of the targets decreased during DA sessions. Last, moderate correlations existed between DA scores and performance during the intervention for 3 out of 4 targets, with statistically significant findings for 2 of 4 targets. Conclusion DA offers promise for examining the developmental readiness of young children who use augmentative and alternative communication to produce early expressive language structures.
Amphiphysin (BIN1) negatively regulates dynamin 2 for normal muscle maturation

Regulation of skeletal muscle development and organization is a complex process that is not fully understood. Here, we focused on amphiphysin 2 (BIN1, also known as bridging integrator-1) and dynamin 2 (DNM2), two ubiquitous proteins implicated in membrane remodeling and mutated in centronuclear myopathies (CNMs). We generated Bin1–/– Dnm2+/– mice to decipher the physiological interplay between BIN1 and DNM2. While Bin1–/– mice die perinatally from a skeletal muscle defect, Bin1–/– Dnm2+/– mice survived at least 18 months, and had normal muscle force and intracellular organization of muscle fibers, supporting BIN1 as a negative regulator of DNM2. We next characterized muscle-specific isoforms of BIN1 and DNM2. While BIN1 colocalized with and partially inhibited DNM2 activity during muscle maturation, BIN1 had no effect on the isoform of DNM2 found in adult muscle. Together, these results indicate that BIN1 and DNM2 regulate muscle development and organization, function through a common pathway, and define BIN1 as a negative regulator of DNM2 in vitro and in vivo during muscle maturation. Our data suggest that DNM2 modulation has potential as a therapeutic approach for patients with CNM and BIN1 defects. As BIN1 is implicated in cancers, arrhythmia, and late-onset Alzheimer disease, these findings may trigger research directions and therapeutic development for these common diseases.