Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
One-Year Prospective Evaluation of the Technique of Percutaneous Cortical Bone Trajectory Spondylodesis in Comparison with Percutaneous Pedicle Screw Fixation: A Preliminary Report with Technical Note

Abstract Background and Objective Cortical bone trajectory (CBT) spondylodesis is a novel screw fixation method in which screws are inserted through the pedicle in a caudal-medial to cephalad-lateral direction, providing a similar or more rigid spinal fixation compared with traditional pedicle screws. However, the traditional CBT technique requires invasive detaching and opening of the paraspinal muscle. In a small clinical prospective study we introduced a percutaneous CBT fixation technique by modifying the percutaneous pedicle screw (PPS) technique and evaluated the short-term outcome. Materials and Methods We enrolled 40 patients with lower back pain (LBP) and limb r;adicular pain with a diagnosis of spondylolisthesis who underwent transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion surgery. The patients were divided into two groups according to screw trajectory: the percutaneous CBT (pCBT) and the traditional PPS arms (20 patients in each). A consecutive group of 20 patients underwent traditional PPS, and the other underwent pCBT; dorsal spondylodesis was combined with transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) in both groups. Perioperative data such as operative time, blood loss, duration of fluoroscopy, and total incision length were investigated. Postoperative outcomes were evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) for LBP and leg pain at baseline, 1, 6, and 12 months. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results We observed no significant disadvantages in pCBT patients in perioperative and postoperative data compared with the PPS group. There were no complications. The pCBT patients showed a significantly shorter total incision length (p < 0.01) with a significantly shorter duration of fluoroscopy (p < 0.05). The postoperative VAS score was significantly improved in the pCBT group, especially 6 months after the surgery (p < 0.05). Conclusion The pCBT spondylodesis provided an outcome comparable with PPS fixation with a tendency for improvement 1 year postsurgery. This technique can be used in appropriate cases, combined with lumbar interbody fusion.
Maximum Clique Algorithm and Its Approximation for Uniform Test Form Assembly

Educational assessments occasionally require uniform test forms for which each test form comprises a different set of items, but the forms meet equivalent test specifications (i.e., qualities indicated by test information functions based on item response theory). We propose two maximum clique algorithms (MCA) for uniform test form assembly. The proposed methods can assemble uniform test forms with allowance of overlapping items among uniform test forms. First, we propose an exact method that maximizes the number of uniform test forms from an item pool. However, the exact method presents computational cost problems. To relax those problems, we propose an approximate method that maximizes the number of uniform test forms asymptotically. Accordingly, the proposed methods can use the item pool more efficiently than traditional methods can. We demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methods using simulated and actual data.
Factors associated with the morphological type of laryngomalacia and prognostic value for surgical outcomes.

IMPORTANCE The classic presentation of laryngomalacia (LM) is stridor, but alternate presentations include snoring and/or sleep-disordered breathing (S-SDB) and swallowing dysfunction (SWD). Several classification schemes have been developed for LM, but to our knowledge, none have been successfully investigated as to the ability to predict parameters of patients with LM or surgical outcomes. OBJECTIVE To compare parameters of patients with different types of LM and determine whether the type has prognostic value for surgical outcomes and to explore if any variable predicts or correlates with the type of LM. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Retrospective case series from a single tertiary pediatric otolaryngology practice. Patients with LM treated with supraglottoplasty (SGP) were eligible. We included patients with confirmed diagnosis of LM who underwent a cold steel SGP and had complete resolution of symptoms or at least 3 months of follow-up, with complete data. INTERVENTIONS Investigations and treatment of the patients were followed as per routine practice for the senior author (H.E.). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Demographics, type of LM, secondary airway lesions, secondary diagnosis, primary presentation (stridor, S-SDB, SWD), and outcome of SGP were collected. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were performed. RESULTS A total of 125 children with LM who underwent SGP for LM were identified. Of these procedures, 119 were cold steel technique, and 8 were repeated procedures. Ninety patients met criteria and were included (mean [SD] age, 1.46 [2.34] years [range, <6 months to 15 years]; male to female ratio, 1.9:1). The primary presentation was stridor in 66 children, S-SDB in 14, and SWD in 10. The type of LM correlated significantly with age (-0.9), and presentation (0.49). Sex and presence of neurological diagnosis (correlation coefficient [SE], -0.317 [0.136], P = .02; and -0.968 [0.361], P <.01, respectively) were associated with outcome. Presentation and obesity were associated with type of LM (-0.251 [0.071], P <.001; and 0.593 [0.296], P = .048, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Type of LM varies by age and primary presentation. Outcome of management is poorer for males and in the presence of a neurological diagnosis. The findings of the present study may help in counseling parents on the risks and benefits of SGP surgery as well as on expected outcomes postoperatively. Further work is required in validating an existing classification scheme for LM or developing a new, validated classification system with may be used for future outcomes research.
A Mutant High-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Inhibits Proliferation of Human Breast Cancer Cells

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) stimulates the growth of many types of cells, including those of breast cancer. High levels of HDL are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer development. A scavenger receptor of the B class (SR-BI)/human homolog of SR-BI, CD36, and LIMPII analogous-1 (CLA-1) facilitates the cellular uptake of cholesterol from HDL and thus augments cell growth. Furthermore, HDL is also believed to have antiapoptotic effects on various cell types, and this feature adds to its ability to promote cell growth. These collaborative roles of HDL and CLA-1 prompted us to assess the function of these components on human breast cancer cells. In this study, we created a mutant CLA-1 (mCLA) that lacked the COOH-terminal tail to determine its potential role in breast cancer cell growth. Expression of mCLA inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cell line MCF-7. This inhibitory action of mCLA required the transcriptional factor activator protein-1 (AP-1), and the mutant receptor also affected the antiapoptotic features of HDL. The effect of HDL on AP-1 activation and [3H]thymidine incorporation was abrogated by wortmannin, a specific inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase. Furthermore, the dominant negative mutant of Akt abolished the ability of HDL to activate AP-1. These findings raise the possibility that the inhibitors of the effects of HDL may be of therapeutic value for breast cancer.
Improving lecturers’ evaluation score by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP): a case at universiti kuala lumpur

The quality of education is primarily determined by the academician expertise, skills, abilities and competences. Poor quality of education will give bad impact to the institution. It is very important to enhance the quality of service to ensure education system in Malaysia higher education is at par as international education standard. To achieve the international standard, the teaching quality of lecturers must be seriously taken into consideration. An appropriate method of lecturers’ evaluation should be used to measure lecturers’ performance and credibility. The purpose of this study is to improve the lecturers’ evaluation score by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). AHP is used to obtain the weightage of each criteria in lecturers’ evaluation. The results show that teaching delivery carries the highest weightage, followed by assesment, course content and course material, lecturer’s interaction and lecturer’s commitment criteria. By implementing a new method of calculation, the overall score will be more accurate in describing the overall lecturers performance from students’ point of view.
A study of Onychomycosis in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh , India

Onychomycosis has been referred to as the most prevalent of all the nail ailments and affects 35% of the population worldwide [3] and represents 2040% of onychopathies and about 30% of mycotic cutaneous infections [4]. Various workers have reported the incidence to vary from 0.5 to 5% in the general population in India [5]. The prevalence rate of onychomycosis is determined by age, predisposing factors, social class, occupation, climate, living environment and frequency of travel. Several factors have been implicated to the increase in disease such as reduced peripheral circulation, diabetes, nail trauma and difficulty to maintain proper nail hygiene [6]. Nail diseases can lead to impairment of hand function, difficulty in walking, and cosmetic disfigurement.
Effect of Supplemental Corn Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles Fed to Beef Steers Grazing Native Rangeland during the Forage Dormant Season

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of the level of corn dry distillers grains with solubles (CDDGS) supplementation on growing performance, blood metabolites, digestion characteristics and ruminal fermentation patterns in steers grazing dormant forage. In Exp. 1, of growth performance, 120 steers (204±5 kg initial body weight [BW]) were distributed randomly into 3 groups (each of 40 steers), which were provided with the following levels of CDDGS supplement: 0%, 0.25%, or 0.50% BW. All groups of steers were grazed for 30 days in each of 3 grazing periods (March, April, and May). Approximately 1,000 ha of the land was divided with electric fencing into 3 equally sized pastures (333 ha in size). Blood samples were collected monthly from 20 steers in each grazing group for analysis of glucose (G), urea-nitrogen (UN) and non-esterified fatty acids. Final BW, average daily gain (ADG) and supplement conversion (CDDGS-C) increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). The CDDGS supplementation also increased the plasma G and UN concentrations (p<0.05). In Exp. 2, of digestive metabolism, 9 ruminally cannulated steers (BW = 350±3 kg) were distributed, following a completely randomized design, into groups of three in each pasture. The ruminally cannulated steers were provided the same levels of CDDGS supplementation as in the growing performance study (0%, 0.25%, and 0.50% BW), and they grazed along with the other 40 steers throughout the grazing periods. The dry matter intake, crude protein intake, neutral detergent fiber intake (NDFI), apparent digestibility of dry matter (ADDM), crude protein (ADCP) and neutral detergent fiber (ADNDF) increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). The ruminal degradation rates of CP (kdCP), NDF (kdNDF) and passage rate (kp) also increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). Ruminal ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and propionate concentrations also increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). However, acetate concentrations decreased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation (p<0.05). Liquid dilution rate increased with increasing levels of CDDGS supplementation but ruminal liquid volume decreased (p<0.05). On the basis of these findings, we can conclude that CDDGS supplementation enhanced the productive performance of cattle grazing native rangeland without negatively affecting forage intake, glucose and urea-nitrogen blood concentrations, ruminal degradation and ruminal fermentation patterns.
Inverted List Kinetic Monte Carlo with Rejection Applied to Directed Self-Assembly of Epitaxial Growth

We study the growth of epitaxial thin ﬁlms on pre-patterned substrates that inﬂuence the surface diffusion of subsequently deposited material using a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm that combines the use of inverted lists with rejection. The resulting algorithm is well adapted to systems with spatially heterogeneous hopping rates. To evaluate the algorithm’s performance we compare it with an efﬁcient, binary-tree based algorithm. A key ﬁnding is that the relative performance of the inverted list algorithm improves with increasing system size.
Mainshocks are aftershocks of conditional foreshocks: How do foreshock statistical properties emerge from aftershock laws

[1] The inverse Omori law for foreshocks discovered in the 1970s states that the rate of earthquakes prior to a mainshock increases on average as a power law ∝ 1/(tc − t)p′ of the time to the mainshock occurring at tc. Here, we show that this law results from the direct Omori law for aftershocks describing the power law decay ∼ 1/(t − tc)p of seismicity after an earthquake, provided that any earthquake can trigger its suit of aftershocks. In this picture, the seismic activity at any time is the sum of the spontaneous tectonic loading and of the activity triggered by all preceding events weighted by their corresponding Omori law. The inverse Omori law then emerges as the expected (in a statistical sense) trajectory of seismicity, conditioned on the fact that it leads to the burst of seismic activity accompanying the mainshock. In particular, we predict and verify by numerical simulations on the epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model that p′ is always smaller than or equal to p and a function of p, of the b-value of the Gutenberg–Richter law (GR), and of a parameter quantifying the number of direct aftershocks as a function of the magnitude of the mainshock. The often documented apparent decrease of the b-value of the GR law at the approach to the mainshock results straightforwardly from the conditioning of the path of seismic activity culminating at the mainshock. However, we predict that the GR law is not modified simply by a change of b-value but that a more accurate statement is that the GR law gets an additive (or deviatoric) power law contribution with exponent smaller than b and with an amplitude growing as a power law of the time to the mainshock. In the space domain, we predict that the phenomenon of aftershock diffusion must have its mirror process reflected into an inward migration of foreshocks toward the mainshock. In this model, foreshock sequences are special aftershock sequences, which are modified by the condition to end up in a burst of seismicity associated with the mainshock. Foreshocks are not just statistical creatures but are genuine forerunners of large shocks as shown by the large prediction gains obtained using several of their qualifiers.
An effective hybrid optimization algorithm for the synthesis of 4-D linear antenna arrays

Some major global optimization algorithms, which involves all the optimized variables in one problem, were used to synthesize time-modulated linear antenna arrays (TMLAs) in the existing literature. In this work, a hybrid approach, combining differential evolution (DE) algorithm and convex optimization, is proposed. This hybrid method is performed to optimize the static excitations amplitude and the switch-on duration time of TMLAs in order to achieve ultralow sidelobe and low sideband radiation at the same time effectively. In one iteration, as long as a set of switch-on duration time is fixed by the DE algorithm, Then the problem with respect to the static excitation is convex. So a convex optimization programming can solve the static excitation which is best for the corresponding set of switch-on time. The approach makes full use of the convexity of the problem with respect to the static excitation variables. Consequently, DE algorithm is used to optimize the switch-on time variables only. Which means fewer optimized variables are needed and it is more likely to find the global optimal solution in a less iterations. So that faster convergence can be obtained compared to DE algorithm which includes all optimized variables, especially for larger arrays. Furthermore, some examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this hybrid approach. First is a 32-element broadside TMLAs, with half wavelength uniform spacing, which is concerned for synthesizing a ultralow sideband at the same time suppress the sideband radiation pattern. Second is to sparse a uniform spaced 30-element TMLAs with fewer element satisfies the requirement of pattern. The last is to synthesis shaped beams. For the first example, numerical results show that a -61.4 dB sidelobe pattern with a static excitation amplitude ratio 4 can be synthesized, while the sideband level (SBL) is suppressed to -32.1 dB. For the second example, we can only use 18-element to achieve a -23.8 dB sidelobe and -31.3 dB SBL pattern with a static excitation amplitude ratio 2.77.
Admittance Response of PZT Transducers Bonded to a Structural Member Subjected to External Loading

In the Electro Mechanical Impedance method (EMI) for structural health monitoring (SHM), a piezoelectric ceramic transducer (PZT) is bonded on to the structure to be regularly monitored. There exists a dynamic coupling between the mechanical impedance of the structure and the mechanical impedance of the bonded PZT transducer, which is reflected in the electrical admittance response of the PZT to frequency of its actuation, popularly called as the admittance signature. Damage or deterioration in the structure affects the mass, stiffness and damping parameters locally, which alters the mechanical impedance of the structure. This change reflects in the admittance signature of the PZT transducer by which the structural health can be assessed. External loads can also induce mass and stiffness changes locally and thus alter the admittance signature. The load induced changes in the admittance signatures have to be filtered out to get factual damage induced changes for reliable SHM. This paper presents the results of a numerical study, carried out to understand the influence of external loading on the PZT admittance signature, using coupled field FE analysis in ANSYS TM .
The depressor response to intracerebroventricular hypotonic saline is sensitive to TRPV4 antagonist RN1734

Several reports have shown that the periventricular region of the brain, including the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), is critical to sensing and responding to changes in plasma osmolality. Further studies also implicate the transient receptor potential ion channel, type V4 (TRPV4) channel in this homeostatic behavior. In previous work we have shown that TRPV4 ion channels couple to calcium-activated potassium channels in the PVN to decrease action potential firing frequency in response to hypotonicity. In the present study we investigated whether, similarly, intracerebroventricular (ICV) application of hypotonic solutions modulated cardiovascular parameters, and if so whether this was sensitive to a TRPV4 channel inhibitor. We found that ICV injection of 270 mOsmol artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) decreased mean blood pressure, but not heart rate, compared to naïve mice or mice injected with 300 mOsmol ACSF. This effect was abolished by treatment with the TRPV4 inhibitor RN1734. These data suggest that periventricular targets within the brain are capable of generating depressor action in response to TRPV4 ion channel activation. Potentially, in the future, the TRPV4 channel, or the TRPV4–KCa coupling mechanism, may serve as a therapeutic target for treatment of cardiovascular disease.
Study of Chinese Text Similarity Based on Difference Factor in Word-Number

Text similarity calculation is the basic work in the application of Chinese information processing. A high-quality text similarity calculation method must be accurate and efficient, that is, it can be able to compare texts from the level of text natural language meaning, and arrive at the similarity distinction similar to artificial reading based on a full understanding of the author or text source semantic. At the same time, it should also be an efficient algorithm to save the processing time in facing large amount of text information to be processed. Through the research of many domestic and foreign literature, analysis and further research on current situation of similarity calculation, this paper intended to present a new method to improve the performance of similarity calculation, namely a Chinese text similarity algorithm based on word-number difference, which combined the traditional based on statistics and the narrow semantic method that meant the combination of the statistical efficiency and semantic accuracy. Combining the advantages of statistics and semantic category also means the necessity to face and overcome disadvantages of the two kinds of methods. This paper attempted to take the difference in word-number as the breakthrough point, took advantage of the diversity of Chinese word-number, combining with the word frequency, number and meaning, in order to successfully extend the word similarity calculation to the text similarity calculation. Finally, introduced the self built small text set as test object, compared similarity calculation of different methods in the laboratory environment. It shows that the similarity calculation method based on difference in word-number performances better than the traditional methods based on statistical and semantic. Through artificial comparison of the test results of research on this topic in accuracy and speed of segmentation, provide a new approach for Chinese text similarity calculation
Underpricing of IPOs during Hot and Cold Market Periods on the South African Stock Exchange (JSE)

— Underpricing is one anomaly in initial public offerings (IPO) literature that has been widely observed across different stock markets with different trends emerging over different time periods. This study seeks to determine how IPOs on the JSE performed on the first day, first week and first month over the period of 1996-2011. Underpricing trends are documented for both hot and cold market periods in terms of four main sectors (cyclical, defensive, growth stock and interest rate sensitive stocks). Using a sample of 360 listed companies on the JSE, the empirical findings established that IPOs on the JSE are significantly underpriced with an average market adjusted first day return of 62.9%. It is also established that hot market IPOs on the JSE are more underpriced than the cold market IPOs. Also observed is the fact that as the offer price per share increases above the median price for any given period, the level of underpricing decreases substantially. While significant differences exist in the level of underpricing of IPOs in the four different sectors in the hot and cold market periods, interest rates sensitive stocks showed a different trend from the other sectors and thus require further investigation to uncover this pattern.