Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of partial-thickness tear on loading capacities of the supraspinatus tendon: a finite element analysis

Abstract Partial-thickness tears of the supraspinatus tendon frequently occur at its insertion on the greater tubercule of the humerus, causing pain and reduced strength and range of motion. The goal of this work was to quantify the loss of loading capacity due to tendon tears at the insertion area. A finite element model of the supraspinatus tendon was developed using in vivo magnetic resonance images data. The tendon was represented by an anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive law identified with experimental measurements. A failure criterion was proposed and calibrated with experimental data. A partial-thickness tear was gradually increased, starting from the deep articular-sided fibres. For different values of tendon tear thickness, the tendon was mechanically loaded up to failure. The numerical model predicted a loss in loading capacity of the tendon as the tear thickness progressed. Tendon failure was more likely when the tendon tear exceeded 20%. The predictions of the model were consistent with experimental studies. Partial-thickness tears below 40% tear are sufficiently stable to persist physiotherapeutic exercises. Above 60% tear surgery should be considered to restore shoulder strength.
A Carboxyl-terminal Domain in Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF)-2 Inhibits FGF-1 Release in Response to Heat Shock in Vitro*

The fibroblast growth factor (FGF) prototypes, FGF-1 and FGF-2, lack a signal sequence, but both contain a nuclear localization sequence. We prepared a series of FGF-1 deletion mutants fused to the reporter gene, β-galactosidase (β-gal) and determined that a domain between residues 83 and 154 is responsible for FGF-1 cytosol retention in NIH 3T3 cells. Using a series of FGF-β-gal chimeric proteins prepared by the shuffling of cassette-formatted synthetic FGF prototype genes, we were able to demonstrate that the nuclear localization sequence from the 5′-CUG region of FGF-2 is not able to direct the nuclear association of FGF-1 due to its inability to repress the function of the FGF-1 cytosol retention domain. We also observed that while the FGF-1:β-gal chimera was released in response to heat shock, the FGF-2:β-gal protein was not. Further, replacement of the FGF-1 cytosol retention domain with the corresponding domain from FGF-2 repressed the release of the chimeric protein. These data suggest that the specificity of the stress-induced secretion pathway for FGF-1 involves a carboxyl-terminal domain that is absent in FGF-2 and that the FGF-1 secretion pathway does not restrict the release of high molecular weight forms of FGF-1.
Effects of short-wave therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of short-wave therapy with sham or no intervention for the management of patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: We searched the following databases from their inception up to 26 October 2016: MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, CINAHL and OpenGrey. Studies included randomized controlled trials compared with a sham or no intervention in patients with knee osteoarthritis. The results were calculated via standardized mean difference (SMD) and risk ratio for continuous variables outcomes as well as dichotomous variables, respectively. Heterogeneity was explored by the I2 test and inverse-variance random effects analysis was applied to all studies. Results: Eight trials (542 patients) met the inclusion criteria. The effect of short-wave therapy on pain was found positive (SMD, −0.53; 95% CI, −0.84 to −0.21). The pain subgroup showed that patients received pulse modality achieved clinical improvement (SMD, –0.83; 95% CI, –1.14 to −0.52) and the pain scale in female patients decreased (SMD, −0.53; 95% CI, −0.98 to −0.08). In terms of extensor strength, short-wave therapy was superior to the control group (p < 0.05, I2 = 0%). There was no significant difference in the physical function (SMD, −0.16; 95% CI, −0.36 to 0.05). For adverse effects, there was no significant difference between the treatment and control group. Conclusion: Short-wave therapy is beneficial for relieving pain caused by knee osteoarthritis (the pulse modality seems superior to the continuous modality), and knee extensor muscle combining with isokinetic strength. Function is not improved.
A Repurposing Strategy for Hsp90 Inhibitors Demonstrates Their Potency against Filarial Nematodes

Novel drugs are required for the elimination of infections caused by filarial worms, as most commonly used drugs largely target the microfilariae or first stage larvae of these infections. Previous studies, conducted in vitro, have shown that inhibition of Hsp90 kills adult Brugia pahangi. As numerous small molecule inhibitors of Hsp90 have been developed for use in cancer chemotherapy, we tested the activity of several novel Hsp90 inhibitors in a fluorescence polarization assay and against microfilariae and adult worms of Brugia in vitro. The results from all three assays correlated reasonably well and one particular compound, NVP-AUY922, was shown to be particularly active, inhibiting Mf output from female worms at concentrations as low as 5.0 nanomolar after 6 days exposure to drug. NVP-AUY922 was also active on adult worms after a short 24 h exposure to drug. Based on these in vitro data, NVP-AUY922 was tested in vivo in a mouse model and was shown to significantly reduce the recovery of both adult worms and microfilariae. These studies provide proof of principle that the repurposing of currently available Hsp90 inhibitors may have potential for the development of novel agents with macrofilaricidal properties.
Responses of the fish ectoparasite Salmincola edwardsii (Copepoda) to stimulation, and their implication for host-finding

SUMMARY The short-lived infective copepodid stages of the copepod Salmincola edwardsii, ectoparasitic on brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, are under strong selective pressure to evolve efficient host-finding mechanisms. In laboratory experiments, we quantified the effects of visual and mechanical stimulation on the activity of the copepodids. We found that shadows passing above the copepodids and shock waves passing through the water generated marked increases in the rate and length of upward swimming bursts, which resulted in more time spent suspended in the water column and greater distances travelled. However, we found no strong evidence for a relationship between the magnitude of the copepodids' response and the intensity of stimulation. Although these responses are not host-specific, they allow the parasites to conserve their limited energy stores by increasing their host-finding activity only when potential hosts are nearby.
(Don’t) Make My Vote Count

Proponents of proportional electoral rules often argue that majority rule depresses turnout and may lower welfare due to the ‘tyranny of the majority’ problem. The present paper studies the impact of electoral rules on turnout and social welfare. We analyze a model of instrumental voting where citizens have private information over their individual cost of voting and over the alternative they prefer. The electoral rule used to select the winning alternative is a combination of majority rule and proportional rule. Results show that the above arguments against majority rule do not hold in this set up. Social welfare and turnout increase with the weight that the electoral rule gives to majority rule in a close election, while they are independent of the electoral rule when the expected size of the minority tends to zero. However, more proportional rules can increase turnout within the minority group; this effect is stronger the smaller the minority group. We provide a general version of the competition effect, i.e. that turnout in close elections is higher than in biased elections, independently of the systems adopted in the two cases.
Deep bottleneck network based i-vector representation for language identification

This paper presents a unified i-vector framework for language identification (LID) based on deep bottleneck networks (DBN) trained for automatic speech recognition (ASR). The framework covers both front-end feature extraction and back-end modeling stages.The output from different layers of a DBN are exploited to improve the effectiveness of the i-vector representation through incorporating a mixture of acoustic and phonetic information. Furthermore, a universal model is derived from the DBN with a LID corpus. This is a somewhat inverse process to the GMM-UBM method, in which the GMM of each language is mapped from a GMM-UBM. Evaluations on specific dialect recognition tasks show that the DBN based i-vector can achieve significant and consistent performance gains over conventional GMM-UBM and DNN based i-vector methods. The generalization capability of this framework is also evaluated using DBNs trained on Mandarin and English corpuses. Index Terms: Language Identification, Deep Neural Network, Deep Bottleneck Feature, i-vector representation
Five Essential Elements of Crisis Intervention for Communities and Schools When Responding to Technological Disasters

Technological disasters result from human error, negligence, or limitations in perceiving and reducing risk. They are a form of manmade disaster that exerts a devastating effect on impacted individuals, communities, and ecosystems. Because of their negative impacts, technological disasters often erode community connectedness, undermine adaptive coping strategies in victims, contribute to income and social capital loss, result in complicated legal proceedings that can forestall the provision of needed post-disaster resources, and make it difficult for victims to find meaning in their struggles and recover from disaster. However, 5 empirically supported intervention principles may help mitigate some of these negative effects. These include promoting a sense of safety among victims, calming and supporting fearful individuals, engendering a general sense of self-efficacy and collective efficacy, increasing feelings of connectedness, and inspiring hope in discouraged disaster victims. This article discusses the application of these principles, as well as specific ways that they can be applied to support the needs of children, families, schools, and communities impacted by technological disasters.
Pathways to Defense of the Self: A Theory of Two Types of Paranoia

Developments in cognitive therapies and theories for paranoid psychosis have constituted a significant breakthrough in our understanding of this disorder, offering a valid psychological alternative to biomedical approaches, which have been criticized on scientific, pragmatic, and ethical grounds. However, we have recently found evidence for two types of paranoia which, together with other conceptual and empirical work, show these cognitive theories to be insufficient. We propose an interpersonal theory of the self, which places the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of paranoia within a broader context of the person. In this article, we (a) survey cognitive theories and the alternative Interventions they imply; (b) describe new findings on two types of paranoia, which imply the need for significant theoretical adjustments; and (c) propose and describe a modified theory of paranoid threat and defense of the self, which, we argue, more adequately explains the phenomena.
Can we use electrocochleography as a clinical tool in the diagnosis of Meniere’s disease during the early symptomatic period?

Abstract Conclusion: Our results indicate that electrocochleography (ECoG) has limited value in diagnosing Meniere’s disease during the early symptomatic period. Objective: We hypothesized that if endolymphatic hydrops is a cause of Meniere’s disease, ECoG results obtained in normal subjects would differ from those obtained during the early symptomatic period of Meniere’s disease. We aimed to investigate the usefulness of ECoG in the diagnosis of Meniere’s disease during the early symptomatic period. Methods: Extratympanic ECoG was used to evaluate 60 patients in a Meniere’s group (17 men, 43 women; mean age 43.6 years, range 19–62 years) and 30 controls (11 men, 19 women; mean age 43.5 years, range 21–63 years). The summating potential/action potential (SP/AP) amplitude ratio and SP/AP area ratio were compared between the groups. Results: Statistically significant differences were not demonstrated in the SP/AP amplitude ratio between the definite Meniere’s, probable Meniere’s, overall Meniere’s, or control groups (0.35 ± 0.02, 0.30 ± 0.03, 0.33 ± 0.02, and 0.30 ± 0.01, respectively). Additionally, statistically significant differences were not indicated in the mean SP/AP area ratio between the definite Meniere’s, probable Meniere’s, overall Meniere’s, or control groups (5.18 ± 0.98, 4.78 ± 0.21, 4.01 ± 0.78, and 3.72 ± 0.66, respectively).
Water Content Determinations for Peat and Other Organic Soils Using the Oven-Drying Method

There has been much debate in the literature over the past 60 years regarding an appropriate oven-drying temperature for water content determinations in peat and other organic soils. For inorganic soils, the water content is usually based on the equilibrium dry mass corresponding to drying temperatures in the range 100–110°C. However, for peat and other organic soils, several researchers have recommended lower drying temperatures in the range 60–90°C in an attempt to prevent possible charring, oxidation, and/or vaporization of substances other than pore water. However, all of the relevant water is not fully evaporated at too low a temperature, and because specimen dry mass is a function of drying temperature, the resulting water content values are lower than those determined for the temperature range 100–110°C. Experimental data reported in this article show that oven drying of peat and other organic soils at 100–110°C using either gravity–convection or forced-draft ovens is acceptable for routine water content determinations. Because a standardized oven temperature is desirable when correlating water content with other material properties, it is recommended that oven drying of peat and other organic soils be performed over temperature ranges of either 105–110°C or 105 ± 5°C, in line with standardized ranges for inorganic soils.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cognitive Control following Traumatic Brain Injury

Novel and non-routine tasks often require information processing and behavior to adapt from moment to moment depending on task requirements and current performance. This ability to adapt is an executive function that is referred to as cognitive control. Patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) have been reported to exhibit impairments in cognitive control and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has provided evidence for TBI-related alterations in brain activation using various fMRI cognitive control paradigms. There is some support for greater and more extensive cognitive control-related brain activation in patients with moderate-to-severe TBI, relative to comparison subjects without TBI. In addition, some studies have reported a correlation between these activation increases and measures of injury severity. Explanations that have been proposed for increased activation within structures that are thought to be directly involved in cognitive control, as well as the extension of this over-activation into other brain structures, have included compensatory mechanisms, increased demand upon normal processes required to maintain adequate performance, less efficient utilization of neural resources, and greater vulnerability to cognitive fatigue. Recent findings are also consistent with the possibility that activation increases within some structures, such as the posterior cingulate gyrus, may reflect a failure to deactivate components of the default mode network (DMN) and that some cognitive control impairment may result from ineffective coordination between the DMN and components of the salience network. Functional neuroimaging studies examining cognitive control-related activation following mild TBI (mTBI) have yielded more variable results, with reports of increases, decreases, and no significant change. These discrepancies may reflect differences among the various mTBI samples under study, recovery of function in some patients, different task characteristics, and the presence of comorbid conditions such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder that also alter brain activation. There may be mTBI populations with activation changes that overlap with those found following more severe injuries, including symptomatic mTBI patients and those with acute injuries, but future research to address such dysfunction will require well-defined samples with adequate controls for injury characteristics, comorbid disorders, and severity of post-concussive symptoms.
Glucose tolerance status and risk of dementia in the community

Objective: We investigated the association between glucose tolerance status defined by a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and the development of dementia. Methods: A total of 1,017 community-dwelling dementia-free subjects aged ≥60 years who underwent the OGTT were followed up for 15 years. Outcome measure was clinically diagnosed dementia. Results: The age- and sex-adjusted incidence of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VaD) were significantly higher in subjects with diabetes than in those with normal glucose tolerance. These associations remained robust even after adjustment for confounding factors for all-cause dementia and AD, but not for VaD (all-cause dementia: adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19 to 2.53, p = 0.004; AD: adjusted HR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.18 to 3.57, p = 0.01; VaD: adjusted HR = 1.82, 95% CI = 0.89 to 3.71, p = 0.09). Moreover, the risks of developing all-cause dementia, AD, and VaD significantly increased with elevated 2-hour postload glucose (PG) levels even after adjustment for covariates, but no such associations were observed for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels: compared with those with 2-hour PG levels of <6.7 mmol/L, the multivariable-adjusted HRs of all-cause dementia and AD significantly increased in subjects with 2-hour PG levels of 7.8 to 11.0 mmol/L or over, and the risk of VaD was significantly higher in subjects with levels of ≥11.1 mmol/L. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that diabetes is a significant risk factor for all-cause dementia, AD, and probably VaD. Moreover, 2-hour PG levels, but not FPG levels, are closely associated with increased risk of all-cause dementia, AD, and VaD.
Managing anabolic steroids in pre-hibernating Arctic ground squirrels: obtaining their benefits and avoiding their costs

Androgens have benefits, such as promoting muscle growth, but also significant costs, including suppression of immune function. In many species, these trade-offs in androgen action are reflected in regulated androgen production, which is typically highest only in reproductive males. However, all non-reproductive Arctic ground squirrels, irrespective of age and sex, have high levels of androgens prior to hibernating at sub-zero temperatures. Androgens appear to be required to make muscle in summer, which, together with lipid, is then catabolized during overwinter. By contrast, most hibernating mammals catabolize only lipid. We tested the hypothesis that androgen action is selectively enhanced in Arctic ground squirrel muscle because of an upregulation of androgen receptors (ARs). Using Western blot analysis, we found that Arctic ground squirrels have AR in skeletal muscle more than four times that of Columbian ground squirrels, a related southern species that overwinters at approximately 0°C and has low pre-hibernation androgen levels. By contrast, AR in lymph nodes was equivalent in both species. Brain AR was also modestly but significantly increased in Arctic ground squirrel relative to Columbian ground squirrel. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that tissue-specific AR regulation prior to hibernation provides a mechanism whereby Arctic ground squirrels obtain the life-history benefits and mitigate the costs associated with high androgen production.
Development and Evaluation of a Percutaneous Technique for Repairing Proximal Femora With Metastatic Lesions

Abstract : Metastatic lesions in the proximal femur are a common and serious manifestation of breast cancer. These lesions can be painful and can lead to pathological fracture. Prophylactic surgical fixation is advised in patients thought to be at high risk of fracture and typically involves placement of a prosthetic implant or compression hip screw. This study is investigating whether proximal femora with metastatic lesions can be repaired by simply filling the defect with bone cement (polymethylmethacrylate), an innovative procedure that could be performed percutaneously and could eliminate the need for implanting hardware in many cases. If defects could be repaired using this technique, patients would benefit from shorter and less invasive surgical procedures, less pain and discomfort, greatly reduced recovery time, and shorter hospital stays - all at much lower cost. To date, mechanical testing and finite element modeling of femora with and without repaired simulated tumors support the feasibility of this repair technique. The finite element modeling method has been calibrated to produce accurate estimates of measured fracture load and validated on an independent data set. This method is being used to develop clinical guidelines for assessing the need for prophylactic fixation and for using the proposed percutaneous repair procedure.
Accuracy and Bias of Judgments in Romantic Relationships

In this article, I discuss recent research dealing with bias and accuracy of judgments in romantic relationships. First, two components of overall accuracy—directional bias and tracking accuracy—are outlined. Second, a model is described dealing with the causes and consequences of bias and accuracy in partner and relationship judgments, and research is reviewed showing that partners generally exhibit both positive bias and good levels of tracking accuracy. The roles played by various moderating variables (e.g., relationship stage, individual differences) are also discussed. I conclude that bias in relationship judgments is largely functional and that interactions between partners both shape and are shaped by the directional bias and tracking accuracy attendant in relationship and partner judgments.
Cooperative survey of "SMA" analyzers in Wisconsin. A method of improving interlaboratory performance.

A state-wide cooperative quality-control program for automated multichannel analytical systems is described. The survey benefits participating laboratories by providing, through regular comparison, a means of improving interlaboratory precision. A common lot of reference material used for a large group of similar multichannel analyzers is shown to significantly improve their precision. The study delineates components of interlaboratory variation resulting from the inconsistency of the reference materials and from the inherent precision of the analyzers. Errors in the assay values of commercial controls and reference sera, as well as problems of homogeneity in these products, are documented. These errors make some form of regular interlaboratory comparison an essential element of a total quality-control program