Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reference Values for the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory and the Multidimensional Fatigue Scale in Adolescent Athletes by Sport and Sex

Background: Effective use of patient-rated outcome measures to facilitate optimal patient care requires an understanding of the reference values of these measures within the population of interest. Little is known about reference values for commonly used patient-rated outcome measures in adolescent athletes. Purpose: To determine reference values for the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and the Multidimensional Fatigue Scale (MFS) in adolescent athletes by sport and sex. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A convenience sample of interscholastic adolescent athletes from 9 sports was used. Participants completed the PedsQL and MFS during one testing session at the start of their sport season. Data were stratified by sport and sex. Dependent variables included the total PedsQL score and the 5 PedsQL subscale scores: physical functioning, psychosocial functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, and school functioning. Dependent variables for the MFS included 3 subscale scores: general functioning, sleep functioning, and cognitive functioning. Summary statistics were reported for total and subscale scores by sport and sex. Results: Among 3574 males and 1329 female adolescent athletes, the PedsQL scores (100 possible points) generally indicated high levels of health regardless of sport played. Mean PedsQL total and subscales scores ranged from 82.6 to 95.7 for males and 83.9 to 95.2 for females. Mean MFS subscale scores (100 possible points) ranged from 74.2 to 90.9 for males and 72.8 to 87.4 for females. Conclusion: Healthy male and female adolescent athletes reported relatively high levels of health on the PedsQL subscales and total scores regardless of sport; no mean scores were lower than 82.6 points for males or 83.9 points for females. On the MFS, males and females tended to report low effect of general and cognitive fatigue regardless of sport; mean scores were higher than 83.5 points for males and 83.8 points for females. Clinically, athletes who score below the reference values for their sport have poorer health status than average adolescent athletes participating in that sport. Scores below reference values may warrant consideration of early intervention or treatment.
Numerical Simulation of Three-Dimensional Mold Filling in Resin Transfer Molding

Three-dimensional isothermal mold filling of the resin transfer molding (RTM) process is simulated using the control volume finite element method (CV/FEM). Numerical scheme used in this study is based on the formulation of nodal partial saturation at the flow front. This approach enables to include a transient term in the working equation, removing the need for calculation of the time step to track the flow front in conventional scheme. In order to compare the resultsof the nodal partial saturation concept with the conventional method, a numerical scheme based on the quasi-steady state formulation is also presented. The resulting computer codes based on both numerical formulations, allow the prediction of flow front and pressure field in the 3-D molds with complex shapes. The validity of the two schemes is checked by analytical solutions for simple geometries, and experimental observations. Excellent agreements are observed for bothanalytical solutions and experimental results. Numerical examples areprovidedto demonstrate the applicability of the developed computer codes. The agreement between the results of two codes is found to be reasonable. The results show that the CPU time required for the algorithm based on the nodal partial saturation formulation is significantly less than the algorithm based on the quasi-steady state formulation on a personal computer and hence, the first one shows to be quite CPU time effective for the simulation of complicated 3-D geometries. Also, nodal partial saturation approach provides more accurate estimationof the flow front compared with the quasi-steady state approach in molds with complex geometries even at relatively coarse mesh.
Social and Economic Ideologies Differentially Predict Prejudice Across the Political Spectrum, but Social Issues Are Most Divisive

Liberals and conservatives both express prejudice toward ideologically dissimilar others (Brandt et al., 2014). Previous work on ideological prejudice did not take advantage of evidence showing that ideology is multidimensional, with social and economic ideologies representing related but separable belief systems. In 5 studies (total N = 4912), we test 3 competing hypotheses of a multidimensional account of ideological prejudice. The dimension-specific symmetry hypothesis predicts that social and economic ideologies differentially predict prejudice against targets who are perceived to vary on the social and economic political dimensions, respectively. The social primacy hypothesis predicts that such ideological worldview conflict is experienced more strongly along the social than economic dimension. The social-specific asymmetry hypothesis predicts that social conservatives will be more prejudiced than social liberals, with no specific hypotheses for the economic dimension. Using multiple target groups, multiple prejudice measures (e.g., global evaluations, behavior), and multiple social and economic ideology measures (self-placement, issue positions), we found relatively consistent support for the dimension-specific symmetry and social primacy hypotheses, and no support for the social-specific asymmetry hypothesis. These results suggest that worldview conflict and negative intergroup attitudes and behaviors are dimension-specific, but that the social dimension appears to inspire more political conflict than the economic dimension.
ESO-based repetitive control for rejecting periodic and aperiodic disturbances in piezoelectric actuators

This paper presents the Extended State Observer (ESO) based repetitive control (RC) for piezoelectric actuator (PEA) based nano-positioning systems. The system stability is proved using Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs), which guarantees the asymptotic stability of the system. The ESO-based RC used in this paper has the ability to eliminate periodic disturbances, aperiodic disturbances and model uncertainties. Moreover, ESO can be tuned using only two parameters and the model free approach of ESO-based RC, makes it an ideal solution to overcome the challenges of nano-positioning system control. Different types of periodic and aperiodic disturbances are used in simulation to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm. The comparison studies validates that the ESO-based RC is ideal for PEA control.
The Role of Navigation in Total Knee Replacement Surgery

Since the introduction of modern implants in the 1970s, total knee replacement surgery has been a great clinical and commercial success. Implants and techniques have continued to evolve, driven by the desire for improved function and longevity. However, inaccurate insertion of these implants may cause them to loosen and fail. Computer navigation has been introduced as a modification to existing surgical techniques to improve the accuracy with which the bones are cut prior to inserting the knee replacement implants. Research continues to see if this potentially costly and time consuming technique can contribute to improved longevity of knee replacements.
Workload Characteristic Oriented Scheduler for MapReduce

Applications in many areas are increasingly developed and ported using the Map Reduce framework (more specifically, Hadoop) to exploit (data) parallelism. The application scope of Map Reduce has been extended beyond the original design goal which was large-scale data processing. This extension inherently makes a need for scheduler to explicitly take into account characteristics of job for two main goals of efficient resource use and performance improvement. In this paper, we study Map Reduce scheduling strategies to effectively deal with different workload characteristics CPU intensive and I/O intensive. We present the Workload Characteristic Oriented Scheduler (WCO), which strives for co-locating tasks of possibly different Map Reduce jobs with complementing resource usage characteristics. WCO is characterized by its essentially dynamic and adaptive scheduling decisions using information obtained from its characteristic estimator. Workload characteristics of tasks are primarily estimated by sampling with the help of some static task selection strategies, e.g., Java byte code analysis. Results obtained from extensive experiments using 11 benchmarks in a 4-node local cluster and a 51-node Amazon EC2 cluster show 17% performance improvement on average in terms of throughput in the situation of co-existing diverse workloads.
A perceptually relevant shearlet-based adaptation of the PSNR

Although being one of the simplest and most widely used image quality metrics (IQMs) the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) correlates only poorly with visual quality as perceived by humans. Based on an analysis of the non-linear mapping from PSNR to mean opinion scores (MOS) we identify a functional mapping parameter to adapt the PSNR perceptually meaningful. Neurophysiologically motivated, a shearlet-based correction is proposed for controlling this perceptual PSNR adaption. The performance of the proposed perceptually adapted PSNR is evaluated on the LIVE and TID2013 databases and shows to be superior or comparable to benchmark IQMs.
Effects of reclaimed asphalt pavement content and virgin binder grade on properties of plant produced mixtures

This paper presents the results of a study to evaluate the mixture properties of plant-produced asphalt mixtures containing up to 40% reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). Five sets of asphalt mixtures were tested to determine their dynamic moduli and low temperature tensile creep compliance and strength. The mixture moduli were analyzed to assess changes in mixture behavior over a range of temperatures (frequencies) and in combination with extracted binder properties to analyze the extent of binder blending in the mix. The low temperature test results were analyzed to predict the critical cracking temperature of the mixtures. The results suggest that, for these materials, up to 25% RAP could be added to the mix with no change in the virgin binder grade without detriment to the low temperature properties of the mix.
tDCS effect on cognitive performance in Parkinson's disease

Randomized transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) controlled trials in neurodegenerative disorders such Alzheimer’s disease and PD have reported variable effects on cognition, possibly as a result of protocol heterogeneity (hemisphere side, electrode montage, duration of stimulation, number of session per day, etc.). Online anodal tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and cathode over the right supra-orbital region may improve working memory in healthy controls and mood in patients with major depression. However, none of these studies investigated the long-term effect of tDCS modulation on overall cognitive abilities. We read with interest the study by Manenti and colleagues that reported the shortand long-term effects of 25 minutes anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (AtDCS) over dorsolateral prefrontal-cortex plus physical therapy versus placebo tDCS plus physical therapy in PD with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). The authors found improved cognitive global status and fronto-striatal abilities (according to PD-CRS cut-off scores) as well as performance at verbal fluency task at the end of the treatment with a stable effect at 3 months follow-up, but did not observe additional effects of AtDCS on motor performance. In a previous study using a similar design and sample size (20 minutes AtDCS plus 30 minutes computerbased cognitive training vs. placebo tDCS over dorsolateral prefrontal-cortex plus 30 minutes computer-based cognitive training), we observed increased performance in frontal tasks only at 3 months follow-up in PD-MCI patients screened according to level II criteria, and no significant motor changes between groups at the end of treatment and follow-up (see Fig. 1). Although motor results were similar, the differences in timing of cognitive outcome may relate to the use by Manenti and colleagues of less-specific level I criteria to define MCI status. Moreover, they included cognitively preserved patients (MMSE cut-off >26) and stimulated the less-affected body side, whereas we selected patients with moderate cognitive abnormalities using a more sensitive global test (MOCA) and level II criteria at screening. Indeed, tDCS-induced modulation and plasticity may depend on the accurate characterization of cognitive and motor status. In this regard, using a detailed cognitive assessment and conservative MCI criteria for PD would be desirable to facilitate outcome comparison from different studies. Overall, we believe these results should encourage additional research in this field including the use of a double-blind study design to assess the long-term cognitive effect of tDCS and identify the most suitable cognitive and motor window to treat PD patients.
Goat milk: Non‐invasive source for mammary epithelial cell isolation and in vitro culture

Mammary epithelial cells (MECs) used to study mammary gland function in vitro are typically isolated from mammary tissue. Breast milk offers an alternative source of MECs to replace mammary gland tissue. This study aimed to isolate and culture MECs from goat milk. Samples of fresh goat milk were collected from early and late‐lactating Saanen goats. Samples were subjected to isolation, culture and characterization for putative MECs. The cells adhered to the culture dishes 1 day after isolation and displayed a monolayer pattern, epithelial‐like cobblestone morphology, and formed alveoli‐like structures that are typical of MECs. We identified the epithelial origin of the isolated cell by staining with antibodies against cytokeratin 8, 18 and alkaline phosphatase. Moreover, some of the isolated cells expressed the stem cell marker stage‐specific embryonic antigen‐4. The transcription of Capra hircus β‐casein (CNS2) gene, a candidate gene for analysis of lactational function, was detected in MECs after induced differentiation. In addition, green fluorescence protein (GFP)‐expressing cells could be generated from goat milk‐derived MECs. This study demonstrated that goat MECs can be easily isolated from milk samples collected from early and late‐lactating goats. Our MECs model could be an effective model for in vitro studies of milk synthesis and gene targeting in the goat mammary gland. Isolation of MECs from goat milk rather than mammary tissue improves animal welfare and can be used as a replacement for the animal in future studies.
The Development of Empathic Concern in Siblings: A Reciprocal Influence Model.

This study utilized actor-partner interdependence modeling to examine the bidirectional effects of younger (Mage = 18 months) and older siblings (Mage = 48 months) on later empathy development in a large (n = 452 families), diverse (42% immigrant) Canadian sample. Controlling for parenting, demographic characteristics, sibling relationship quality, and within-child stability in empathic concern, both younger and older siblings' observed empathic concern uniquely predicted relative increases in the other's empathy over a period of 18 months. The strength of the partner effects did not differ by birth order. Sex composition moderated the younger sibling partner effect, whereas age gap moderated the older sibling partner effect. This study highlights the important role that siblings play in enhancing the development of care and concern for others.
Mechanical Performance of a Cast A354 Aluminium Alloy

Cast aluminum alloys are an important group of materials which find wide application in the automotive industry. Insufficient studies have been carried out to date with regard to the mechanical performance of the aged A354 alloy. Therefore, the present work investigates the Quality index charts with the purpose of setting the limits of the tensile properties, as well as for comparing the mechanical behavior of cast alloy A354, to delineate the effect of the solution treatment applied. Tensile properties upon artificial aging in the temperature range of 155–350oC for times ranging from 2 to 100 hours are also investigated. The results showed that the use of quality index charts is a satisfactory method for presenting tensile test results and, for assessing the effect of solution and aging treatment conditions subjected to the modified and grain-refined A354 alloys. It is also observed that the quality index, Q, is more sensitive to variations in the tensile ductility than to tensile strength.
Phase II trial of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with L-asparaginase and MIDLE chemotherapy for newly diagnosed stage I/II extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (CISL-1008)

We designed a new treatment protocol incorporating concurrent administration of L-asparaginase (to reduce the probability of systemic progression during concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT)) plus high-dose methotrexate to consolidation chemotherapy to intensify the regimen for treating localized extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL). CCRT comprised radiation (36–44 Gy) with weekly cisplatin (30 mg/m2) and tri-weekly L-asparaginase (4 000 IU). Chemotherapy—MIDLE (methotrexate 3 g/m2 on day 1, etoposide 100 mg/m2 and Ifosfamide 1 000 mg/m2 on days 2–3, dexamethasone 40 mg on days 1–4, and L-asparaginase 6 000 IU/m2 on days 4, 6, 8, 10)—was repeated every 28 days for two cycles. One of the 28 patients developed distant lesions after CCRT. The final complete response rate was 82.1%. Four patients dropped out during or after their first MIDLE cycle due to toxicities (recurrent G3 hyperbilirubinemia [n = 1], G3-5 increased creatinine [n = 2], and G5 infection [n = 1]). With a median follow-up of 46 months (95% CI: 39–47 months), the estimated 3-year progression-free survival rate and overall survival rate were 74.1% and 81.5%, respectively. This MIDLE protocol may be effective for localized ENKTL. However, concurrent administration of L-asparaginase during CCRT does not seem to provide additional benefits.
Sociolinguistic Typology and Sign Languages

This paper examines the possible relationship between proposed social determinants of morphological ‘complexity’ and how this contributes to linguistic diversity, specifically via the typological nature of the sign languages of deaf communities. We sketch how the notion of morphological complexity, as defined by Trudgill (2011), applies to sign languages. Using these criteria, sign languages appear to be languages with low to moderate levels of morphological complexity. This may partly reflect the influence of key social characteristics of communities on the typological nature of languages. Although many deaf communities are relatively small and may involve dense social networks (both social characteristics that Trudgill claimed may lend themselves to morphological ‘complexification’), the picture is complicated by the highly variable nature of the sign language acquisition for most deaf people, and the ongoing contact between native signers, hearing non-native signers, and those deaf individuals who only acquire sign languages in later childhood and early adulthood. These are all factors that may work against the emergence of morphological complexification. The relationship between linguistic typology and these key social factors may lead to a better understanding of the nature of sign language grammar. This perspective stands in contrast to other work where sign languages are sometimes presented as having complex morphology despite being young languages (e.g., Aronoff et al., 2005); in some descriptions, the social determinants of morphological complexity have not received much attention, nor has the notion of complexity itself been specifically explored.
Family Engagement in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease Visits

ABSTRACT Adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) report problems in relationship building and information exchange during clinic visits. To explore the origin of these communication challenges, we compare communication in pediatric SCD, diabetes, and asthma visits. We collected visit videos and parent surveys from 78 children ages 9–16 years with SCD, asthma, or diabetes. Coders assessed child, parent, and physician utterances reflecting relationship building, information giving, and information gathering. Associations of engagement with type of chronic disease visit were performed with negative binomial regression. Compared to SCD visits, children in diabetes visits spoke 53% more relationship-building utterances (p < .05) and physicians in asthma visits spoke 48% fewer relationship building utterances to the child (p < .01). In diabetes visits, physicians gave almost twice as much information to children and gave 48% less information to parents (both p < .01) compared to SCD visits. Compared to SCD visits, physicians spoke fewer information-gathering utterances to parents in diabetes and asthma visits (85% and 72% respectively, both p < .001). SCD visits reflect less engagement of the children and greater physician effort to gather information from parents. These differences highlight opportunities to enhance engagement as a mechanism for ultimately improving SCD care.
Helicobacter pylori eradication in functional dyspepsia: HEROES trial.

BACKGROUND Eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients with functional dyspepsia continues to be a matter of debate. We studied eradication effects on symptoms and quality of life of primary care patients. METHODS Helicobacter pylori -positive adult patients with functional dyspepsia meeting the Rome III International Consensus criteria were randomly assigned to receive omeprazole, amoxicillin trihydrate, and clarithromycin, or omeprazole plus placebo for 10 days. Endoscopy and H pylori tests were performed at screening and at 12 months. Outcome measures were at least 50% symptomatic improvement at 12 months using a validated disease-specific questionnaire (primary end point), patient global assessment of symptoms, and quality of life. RESULTS We randomly assigned 404 patients (78.7% were women; mean age, 46.1 years); 201 were assigned to be treated with antibiotics (antibiotics group) and 203 to a control group. A total of 389 patients (96.3%) completed the study. The proportion of patients who achieved the primary outcome was 49.0% (94 of 192) in the antibiotics group and 36.5% (72 of 197) in the control group (P = .01; number needed to treat, 8). In the patient global assessment of symptoms, 78.1% in the antibiotics group (157 of 201) answered that they were better symptomatically, and 67.5% in the control group (137 of 203) said that they were better (P = .02). The antibiotics group had a significantly larger increase in their mean (SD) Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey physical component summary scores than the control group did (4.15 [8.5] vs 2.2 [8.1]; P = .02). CONCLUSION Helicobacter pylori eradication provided significant benefits to primary care patients with functional dyspepsia. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00404534.