Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Kinematics of Contact and Grasp

The kinematics of contact describe the motion of a point of contact over the surfaces of two contacting objects in response to a relative motion of these objects. Using concepts from differential geometry, I derive a set of equations, called the contact equations, that embody this relationship. I employ the contact equations to design the following applications to be executed by an end-effector with tactile sensing capability: ( 1) determining the curvature form of an unknown object at a point of contact; and (2) following the surface of an unknown object. The contact equations also serve as a basis for an investigation of the kinematics of grasp. I derive the relation ship between the relative motion of two fingers grasping an object and the motion of the points of contact over the object surface. Based on this analysis, we explore the following applications: (1) rolling a sphere between two arbitrarily shaped fingers ; (2) fine grip adjustment ( i.e., having two fingers that grasp an unknown object locally optimize their grip for maximum stability).
Results of a phase I trial evaluating a liver support device utilizing albumin dialysis.

BACKGROUND We have previously reported the clearance of protein-bound and water-soluble hepatic toxins, in vitro and in an animal model, using albumin dialysis as an extracorporeal hepatic support (ECHS) device. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate albumin dialysis through a phase I clinical trial. We hypothesized that albumin dialysis would (1) decrease elevated levels of hepatic toxins, (2) increase the Fischer ratio, and (3) decrease hepatic encephalopathy (HES) and intracranial pressure (ICP), while (4) maintaining stable hemodynamics. METHODS Patients with acute liver failure were treated with an ECHS device utilizing continuous hemodiafiltration with continuous albumin dialysis. Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), systemic venous oxygen saturation (Svo(2)), ICP, and HES were recorded. Blood samples were evaluated for hepatic toxins and factor VII levels. RESULTS Nine patients were enrolled (status I, n = 5; status IIA, n = 4). There was no significant change in MAP, HR, or Svo(2) (MAP: Pre = 81 +/- 5.6 mm Hg, Post = 79 +/- 5.9 mm Hg, P =.70; HR: Pre = 104 +/- 5.2 bpm, Post = 107 +/- 6.2 bpm, P =.62; Svo(2): Pre = 72 +/- 3.5, Post = 71 +/- 1.7, P =. 77). There was a decrease in the ammonia and total bilirubin levels (NH(3): Pre = 129.8 +/- 23.8 mg/dL, Post = 63.9 +/- 16.1 mg/dL, P =. 01; total bilirubin: Pre = 20.3 +/- 2.5 mg/dL, Post = 17.6 +/- 2.7 mg/dL, P =. 4). There was a significant increase of the Fischer ratio and factor VII levels (Fischer ratio: Pre = 0.98 +/- 0.2, Post = 2.17 +/- 0.5, P =.038; factor VII: Pre = 13.9 +/- 4.9, Post = 23.2 +/- 4.8, P =.015). There was a significant decrease in the HES and ICP (HES: Pre = 3.8 +/- 0.1, Post = 2 +/- 0.7, P =.02; ICP: Pre = 37 +/- 3.9, Post = 13.3 +/- 2.8, P =.048). Of 5 status I patients, 1 recovered native hepatic function and 3 were bridged to transplantation. CONCLUSIONS This phase I study suggests that albumin dialysis as a liver support device is safe and effective in clearing hepatic toxins, with an associated decrease in the HES and ICP. This encouraging efficacy data warrant further investigation with a phase II/III trial.
Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys.

CONTEXT Little is known about the extent or severity of untreated mental disorders, especially in less-developed countries. OBJECTIVE To estimate prevalence, severity, and treatment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) mental disorders in 14 countries (6 less developed, 8 developed) in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Face-to-face household surveys of 60 463 community adults conducted from 2001-2003 in 14 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The DSM-IV disorders, severity, and treatment were assessed with the WMH version of the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI), a fully structured, lay-administered psychiatric diagnostic interview. RESULTS The prevalence of having any WMH-CIDI/DSM-IV disorder in the prior year varied widely, from 4.3% in Shanghai to 26.4% in the United States, with an interquartile range (IQR) of 9.1%-16.9%. Between 33.1% (Colombia) and 80.9% (Nigeria) of 12-month cases were mild (IQR, 40.2%-53.3%). Serious disorders were associated with substantial role disability. Although disorder severity was correlated with probability of treatment in almost all countries, 35.5% to 50.3% of serious cases in developed countries and 76.3% to 85.4% in less-developed countries received no treatment in the 12 months before the interview. Due to the high prevalence of mild and subthreshold cases, the number of those who received treatment far exceeds the number of untreated serious cases in every country. CONCLUSIONS Reallocation of treatment resources could substantially decrease the problem of unmet need for treatment of mental disorders among serious cases. Structural barriers exist to this reallocation. Careful consideration needs to be given to the value of treating some mild cases, especially those at risk for progressing to more serious disorders.
Isotope studies reveal a complete Himalayan section in the Nanga Parbat syntaxis

Many models of orogenesis invoke simple anatomies for mountain belts, comprising a small number of major tectonic provinces separated by major faults. In the Himalayan arc, three main tectonic provinces (the Lesser Himalayan, High Himalayan and Tethyan Series) have been recognized over 2500 km along strike from Bhutan to Kashmir. However, their extension westward to the Nanga Parbat syntaxis remains equivocal. We have supplemented detailed field work in the area with isotopic analysis aimed at revealing distinct signatures for each of the three main provinces. Using Sr isotopic data to refine previous Nd-based discrimination, we demonstrate that the three main tectonic provinces of the central Himalaya also occur in the western syntaxis of northern Pakistan. These three units are thus continuous along the entire orogenic arc. However, their metamorphic grade is generally higher in the syntaxis than in the central Himalaya, challenging the validity of distinctions commonly drawn on this basis elsewhere in the mountain belt. The corollary is that these high-grade units probably continue beyond the syntaxis into northwestern Pakistan, which suggests that, although the precollisional materials may be identical, the western syntaxis marks a change in tectonic style from the main orogen. This conclusion in turn requires that the burial and exhumation history in the western Himalaya be radically different from that in the central Himalaya and thus necessitates a reexamination of models for India-Asia collision.
Geographic Regularities in Residential Search Behavior

Abstract Households exhibit strong spatial regularities in their residential search behavior; moreover these regularities arise from two distinct but interrelated sources: the spatial variation in the number of vacancies meeting particular housing needs and spatial biases in the household's search strategies. Three models of the search process are evaluated against observed search behavior for a sample of prospective home buyers in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles; in each instance, analysis of observed search behavior supports the hypothesized relationship between the search pattern and the locational variables influencing it. A constrained choice set model calls attention to the relationship between the spatial variation in the number of vacancies in the household's possibility set and the pattern of vacancies visited by the household. The area-based search model focuses on the locational persistence in the household's search behavior. The key to the anchor points model is that locational preferen.
Peace through Tourism: A Critical Look at Nepalese Tourism

Tourism, the world’s largest and one of the fastest developing economic sectors, virtually affects every region and nation of the world due to its potential contribution to international understanding and poverty reduction. Nepal is no exception. The remarkable growth of tourism at present (peace time) has been progressing through its four progressive theoretical models/platforms (e.g., advocacy, cautionary, adaptancy and knowledge-based platforms) with each having both peace potential and limitation. In this scenario, there is likely growing attention and look at tourism with a passion for its peace prospective. ‘Peace’, a vital and most cherished dream of humanity, is a state that not only indicates the absence of direct violence but also sustains peaceful relationships among all levels and segments of society and between society and nature. Tourism is sensitive to conflict and responsive to peace. There are both opportunities and challenges for the peace responsiveness of tourism in Nepal. Nepalese tourism, which passed through a decade long (1996-2006) armed conflict, serves a concrete illustration of this nexus of tourism and peace with the dual attributes of tourism for conflict and peace. However, this paper envisages that it is a community-based village tourism supported by sustainable structures and actions, backed by proper implementations of tourism regulations, framed with appropriate codes of conduct and materialized by the integrated effort and partnership actions of all (non-scientific and scientific) stakeholders that can be the most viable option for achieving the noble goal of peace through tourism in Nepal. In this context, this paper exemplifies it with an innovative example of a research-linked and empirically executed case of Machhapuchchhre Model Trek (MMT) in Western Nepal. MMT is footed at the knowledgebased platform on transdisciplinary approach in which the scientific (e.g., researchers) and both academic and non-academic (e.g., local communities, local government, tourism practitioners, tourists, etc.) actors approached in an integrated effort to transform local tourism initiatives as peace promoting and conflict mitigating. This paper finally recommends the knowledge-based approach to Nepalese tourism as important not only for bridging the earlier three platforms but also for fulfilling the dual (mass as well as small-scale community-based village tourism) needs of Nepalese tourism at present and thus succeed on peace aspirations through tourism. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3126/ntdr.v1i1. 7368 Nepal Tourism and Development Review Vol.1(1) 2011 15-40
A COMPARISON OF SURVIVAL AT DIFFERENT DEGREES OF HEMORRHAGIC SHOCK IN GERM-FREE AND GERM-BEARING RATS

ABSTRACT We have previously reported superior survival after one level of hemorrhagic shock in germ-free (GF) rats compared with germ-bearing (GB) rats. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the GF state on survival at different degrees of hemorrhagic shock. GF and GB rats were bled to a mean arterial blood pressure of 30 mmHg. Shock was terminated after 10, 20, 40, or 80% of the maximum shed blood volume was reabsorbed spontaneously. Both shock time and time to decompensation were significantly longer in GF rats (p < .05). Comparative survival was greater for GF rats at most levels of shock (p < .01). This superiority in survival was greatest at moderate shock levels and decreased at severe shock levels. There may be several reasons for the increased tolerance of GF animals to hemorrhagic shock such as metabolic or immunologic variations. It is hard to avoid the fact, however, that the most notable difference between the GF and GB rat is the presence or absence of bacteria.
The role of the Highland Border Ophiolite in the ∼ 470 Ma Grampian Event, Scotland

Field and petrological studies of the Highland Border Ophiolite demonstrate that it was obducted onto the Neoproterozoic–Ordovician rocks of the Dalradian block, and not emplaced against them by post-orogenic strike-slip movement. It was welded onto the upper, southward-younging limb of the already recumbent Tay Nappe (D1), and deformed by the Downbend Antiform (D4). However, its emplacement was not accompanied by significant internal deformation of the Dalradian block. As the ophiolite is correlated with those at Clew Bay, Tyrone and Shetland, this result will necessitate complete revision of the current model for basin closure on the southeastern margin of Laurentia.
Coberturas cenozóicas e estruturas deformadoras na Depressão Periférica Paulista, Campinas, São Paulo

The study area is located in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas, on the contact between the Depressao Periferica Paulista and the Atlantic Plateau. The work here presented aims at mapping the Cenozoic deposits and also the tectonic structures that deform them. Three Cenozoic deposit units, associated to hill tops and slopes, were identified; from the oldest to the youngest, they correspond to: Rio Claro Formation (Trc), planation surface deposits (TQsp), and gravitational flow deposits (Qfg). The Trc deposits consist of meandering fluvial facies intercalated, or in lateral contact, with gravitational flow facies. The TQsp occurs at the top or on gently sloping divides of gentle and rolling hills. It consists of sandy-clayey or sandy deposits underlain by a stone line. The Qfg occurrences are very restrict, associated to the lower portion of slopes, and its thickness increases towards current valleys; it consists of both colluvial, with a basal stone line, and fluvial terrace deposits. This stone line sometimes contains ferruginous fragments originated from ferricretes of the Trc sediments. Two older strike-slip Cenozoic events and a younger extensional one affect the Cenozoic deposits. The older, with σ1 trending around EW, has generated strike-slip NE and NW faults, and normal EW ones. It was probably contemporaneous with the deposition of the Trc. The second event, whose σ1 trends around NW, has generated EW to WNW and NS to NNW faults, and is probably of transtensional nature. This event affects the Trc and TQsp deposits and has produced vertical tectonic offsets of the basal surface of the Trc totalizing at least 50m. The younger event, with a sub-horizontal σ3 trending around NE, has generated NE normal faults, which affect the Trc and TQsp sediments.
Modeling RED with Idealized TCP Sources

We analyze the dynamic behavior of a single RED controlled queue interacting with a large population of idealized TCP sources, i.e., sources obeying the rules of linear increase and multiplicative decrease. The aggregate trac from this population is modeled in terms of the time dependent expected value of the packet arrival rate which reacts to the packet loss taking place in the queue. The queue is described in terms of the time dependent expected values of the instantaneous queue length and of the exponentially averaged queue length, for which we also derive a pair of dierential equations. This provides us with a complete model for the dynamics of the system which we use to explore transient and equilibrium behavior. The accuracy of the model is veried by comparison with simulated results.
Long-term Clinical Experience with Vedolizumab in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: Vedolizumab, a gut-selective, anti-inflammatory monoclonal antibody, has shown preliminary efficacy in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). We report long-term experience with vedolizumab for active UC and CD. Methods: After a placebo-controlled study, 38 patients with UC were randomized to a loading regimen of vedolizumab 2, 6, or 10 mg/kg on days 1, 15, and 43, followed by maintenance dosing every 8 weeks. Thirty-four vedolizumab-naive patients (15 UC; 19 CD) were randomized to vedolizumab 2, 6, or 10 mg/kg on the same schedule. Rollover patients were treated up to 630 days and treatment-naive patients were treated up to 547 days. Results: Seventy-two patients were dosed; 52 (72%) completed the study. In exploratory analyses, 28 of 72 (39%; UC: 21 of 53, CD: 7 of 19) achieved clinical response and 42 of 72 (58.3%; UC: 38 of 53, CD: 4 of 19) achieved clinical remission. Mean partial Mayo scores declined from baseline through day 155 in both treatment-naive patients with UC (5.4 to 1.7, respectively) and rollover patients with UC (2.3 to 1.4, respectively), leveling off thereafter. Mean Crohn's Disease Activity Index scores decreased from 295 (baseline) to 238 at day 43, continued to trend downward through day 155, and remained below baseline through day 491. Mean Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire scores increased in all treatment groups. No deaths or systemic opportunistic infections were reported. Conclusion: Vedolizumab every 8 weeks for up to 78 weeks had an adverse event profile similar to that previously observed. Mean disease activity indices (partial Mayo score and Crohn's Disease Activity Index score) improved with all 3 doses investigated.
m‐TOR inhibitors and their potential role in haematological malignancies

It is widely demonstrated that the PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR signalling is critical in normal myeloid and lymphoid development and function. Thus, it is not strange that this pathway is often deregulated in haematological tumours, providing a strong preclinical rationale for the use of drugs targeting the PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR axis in haematological malignancies. The main focus of this review is to examine the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR, also termed mechanistic target of rapamycin [MTOR]) signalling pathways and to provide a brief overview of rapalogs and second‐generation mTOR inhibitors used to target its aberrant activation in cancer treatment. We will also discuss the results obtained with the use of these agents in patients with acute leukaemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non‐Hodgkin lymphomas, multiple myeloma and Waldenström macroglobulinaemia. Ongoing clinical trials in haematological malignancies that are investigating first‐ and second‐generation mTOR inhibitors as single agents and as components of combination regimens are also presented.
Prediction of 30‐day mortality after hip fracture surgery by the Nottingham Hip Fracture Score and the Surgical Outcome Risk Tool

The care of the elderly with hip fractures and their outcomes might be improved with resources targeted by the accurate calculation of risks of mortality and morbidity. We used a multicentre national dataset to evaluate and recalibrate the Nottingham Hip Fracture Score and Surgical Outcome Risk Tool. We split 9,017 hip fracture cases from the Anaesthesia Sprint Audit of Practice into derivation and validation data sets and used logistic regression to derive new model co‐efficients for death at 30 postoperative days. The area (95% CI) under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.71 (0.67–0.75) indicated acceptable discrimination by the Nottingham Hip Fracture Score and acceptable calibration fit (Hosmer–Lemeshow test), p = 0.23, with a similar discrimination by the Surgical Outcome Risk Tool, 0.70 (0.66–0.74), which was miscalibrated to the observed data, p = 0.001. We recommend that studies test these scores for patients with hip fractures in other countries. We also recommend these models are compared with case‐mix adjustment tools used in the UK.
Functional Connectivity Separates Switching Operations in the Posterior Lateral Frontal Cortex

Task representations consist of different aspects such as the representations of the relevant stimuli, the abstract rules to be applied, and the actions to be performed. To be flexible in our daily lives, we frequently need to switch between some or all aspects of a task. In the present study, we examined whether switching between abstract task rules and switching between response hands is associated with overlapping regions in the posterior lateral frontal cortex and whether switching between these two aspects of a task representation is neurally implemented by distinct functional brain networks. Subjects performed a cue-based task-switching paradigm where the location of the task cue additionally specified the response hand to be used. Overlapping activity for switching between abstract rules versus response hands was present in the inferior frontal junction area of the posterolateral frontal cortex. This region, however, showed very distinct patterns of functional connectivity depending on the content of the switch: Increased functional connectivity with anterior prefrontal, superior frontal, and hippocampal regions was present for abstract rule switching, whereas response hand switching led to increased coupling with motor regions surrounding the central sulcus. These results reveal that a rather general involvement of the posterior lateral frontal cortex in different switching contexts can be further characterized by highly specific functional interactions with other task-relevant regions, depending on the content of the switch.
The mechanics of sand transport on beaches

On steep-faced beaches where waves break and swash at an angle to the shoreline the littoral drift of beach material results from the saw-tooth motions of the sediment in the longshore direction. The sand moves forward obliquely to the shore under the incoming wave swash and then moves normal to the shoreline under the return flow. For such transport conditions a rational derivation leads to the relationship Ii=K(ECn)b sin αb cos αb, where Ii is the longshore transport rate of sediment expressed as an immersed weight, (ECn)b is the flux of wave energy at the breaker zone, αb is the angle the breaking wave makes with the shoreline, and K is a dimensionless proportionality coefficient. This often applied relationship, previously only intuitive, is therefore more rigorously established for special saw-tooth transport. It has recently been shown to also apply when the sediment is transported by a longshore current proportional to um sin αb, where um is the orbital velocity under the breaking waves. These are the two most important mechanisms by which sediment is transported along the shore under wave action, and hence the successful application of the above relationship can be expected. Deriving the relationship by two different approaches suggests that the ratio tan β cos αb/cf may be constant, where tan β is the beach slope, and cf is the coefficient of bottom friction. This helps to explain the observation that the longshore current is proportional to um sin αb and to account for the lack of dependence of the sand transport relationships on the beach slope. The profiles of variation of the longshore sand transport as a function of the distance seaward of the swash line are examined theoretically. The results conform with the field observations.
Mesenchymal stem cell and immunosuppressive drug interactions.

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors thank Eddie Takahashi for the English translation. Address correspondence to: Prof. Georges Mourad, M.D., Department of Nephrology and Transplantation, University of Montpellier, Hôpital Lapeyronie 191, Avenue du Doyen Gaston Giraud, 34295 Montpellier cedex 05, France. E-mail: g-mourad@chu-montpellier.fr Received 5 November 2008. Revision requested 30 January 2009. Accepted 5 March 2009. Copyright © 2009 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins ISSN 0041-1337/09/8712-1898 DOI: 10.1097/TP.0b013e3181a98ff5