Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Noise and Complexity in Human Postural Control: Interpreting the Different Estimations of Entropy

Background Over the last two decades, various measures of entropy have been used to examine the complexity of human postural control. In general, entropy measures provide information regarding the health, stability and adaptability of the postural system that is not captured when using more traditional analytical techniques. The purpose of this study was to examine how noise, sampling frequency and time series length influence various measures of entropy when applied to human center of pressure (CoP) data, as well as in synthetic signals with known properties. Such a comparison is necessary to interpret data between and within studies that use different entropy measures, equipment, sampling frequencies or data collection durations. Methods and Findings The complexity of synthetic signals with known properties and standing CoP data was calculated using Approximate Entropy (ApEn), Sample Entropy (SampEn) and Recurrence Quantification Analysis Entropy (RQAEn). All signals were examined at varying sampling frequencies and with varying amounts of added noise. Additionally, an increment time series of the original CoP data was examined to remove long-range correlations. Of the three measures examined, ApEn was the least robust to sampling frequency and noise manipulations. Additionally, increased noise led to an increase in SampEn, but a decrease in RQAEn. Thus, noise can yield inconsistent results between the various entropy measures. Finally, the differences between the entropy measures were minimized in the increment CoP data, suggesting that long-range correlations should be removed from CoP data prior to calculating entropy. Conclusions The various algorithms typically used to quantify the complexity (entropy) of CoP may yield very different results, particularly when sampling frequency and noise are different. The results of this study are discussed within the context of the neural noise and loss of complexity hypotheses.
A pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic model predicting tumour growth inhibition after intermittent administration with the mTOR kinase inhibitor AZD8055

AZD8055 is a potent orally available mTOR kinase inhibitor with in vitro and in vivo antitumour activity against a range of tumour types. Preclinical studies showed that AZD8055 induced a dose‐dependent pharmacodynamic effect in xenograft models in vivo, but a lack of understanding of the relative contributions of the maximum inhibition of the biomarkers and the duration of inhibition to the antitumour effect, limited the rational design of experiments to optimize the dose and schedules of treatment.
Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strain That Caused an Outbreak in a Neurosurgery Ward and Its aac(6′)-Iae Gene Cassette Encoding a Novel Aminoglycoside Acetyltransferase

ABSTRACT We characterized multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from patients involved in an outbreak of catheter-associated urinary tract infections that occurred in a neurosurgery ward of a hospital in Sendai, Japan. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of SpeI-, XbaI-, or HpaI-digested genomic DNAs from the isolates revealed that clonal expansion of a P. aeruginosa strain designated IMCJ2.S1 had occurred in the ward. This strain possessed broad-spectrum resistance to aminoglycosides, β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, sulfonamides, and chlorhexidine. Strain IMCJ2.S1 showed a level of resistance to some kinds of disinfectants similar to that of a control strain of P. aeruginosa, ATCC 27853. IMCJ2.S1 contained a novel class 1 integron, In113, in the chromosome but not on a plasmid. In113 contains an array of three gene cassettes of blaIMP-1, a novel aminoglycoside resistance gene, and the aadA1 gene. The aminoglycoside resistance gene, designated aac(6′)-Iae, encoded a 183-amino-acid protein that shared 57.1% identity with AAC(6′)-Iq. Recombinant AAC(6′)-Iae protein showed aminoglycoside 6′-N-acetyltransferase activity by thin-layer chromatography. Escherichia coli expressing exogenous aac(6′)-Iae showed resistance to amikacin, dibekacin, isepamicin, kanamycin, netilmicin, sisomicin, and tobramycin but not to arbekacin, gentamicins, or streptomycin. Alterations of gyrA and parC at the amino acid sequence level were detected in IMCJ2.S1, suggesting that such mutations confer the resistance to fluoroquinolones observed for this strain. These results indicate that P. aeruginosa IMCJ2.S1 has developed multidrug resistance by acquiring resistance determinants, including a novel member of the aac(6′)-I family and mutations in drug resistance genes.
Evaluation of the Risk Factors for Shedding Salmonella with or without Antimicrobial Resistance in Swine Using Multinomial Regression Method

A multinomial logistic regression method was used to investigate the risk factors for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Salmonella isolated from faecal samples collected on 80 Ontario swine farms in Canada. The samples were classified into three groups including Salmonella‐negative samples (S−), Salmonella‐positive samples without AMR (S+AMR−) and Salmonella‐positive samples with AMR (S+AMR+). The samples collected directly from pigs had a greater chance to be positive for Salmonella with AMR compared to those samples collected from the pen floor. The odds of culturing Salmonella with or without AMR was higher if pelleted feed was used compared with mash or liquid feed (P < 0.001). The faecal samples collected on farrow‐to‐finish farms had a significant lower chance of testing positive for Salmonella with multidrug resistance than the samples from grow‐finisher farms (P = 0.004). The chance of culturing Salmonella without AMR on farms with a continuous system was higher than on farms with an all‐in/all‐out system (P = 0.009). However, there was no significant association between the flow system and recovery of Salmonella with AMR. The larger farms were more likely to be in S+AMR+ group than in S− group (P < 0.001) whereas herd size did not appear as a risk factor for being in S+AMR− group compared with S− group. These findings indicate that although on‐farm antimicrobial use is one component of resistance, there might be other farm management factors that also affect the development of emerging resistant bacterial foodborne pathogens on swine farms. Finding different risk factors for shedding Salmonella with or without antimicrobial resistance would help to take the appropriate approach to each group if a control programme were to be implemented or an intervention applied.
The relationship between luteinizing hormone and estradiol secretion in female precocious puberty: evaluation by sensitive gonadotropin assays and the leuprolide stimulation test.

We used the GnRH agonist (GnRHa) stimulation test (20 micrograms/kg leuprolide sc, followed by 24-h serial sampling) to investigate the relationship between gonadotropin and estradiol (E2) secretion in the early phase of female central precocious puberty (CPP). Girls with CPP and moderately increased (early pubertal) peak E2 concentrations after GnRHa stimulation (136 +/- 11 pmol/L; range, 92-176; group B; n = 7) were compared to girls with CPP and higher (midpubertal) peak E2 responses to GnRHa (mean +/- SE, 590 +/- 63 pmol/L; range, 235-1189; group C; n = 19) and to a group of subjects with no breast development and a prepubertal hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (peak E2 response to GnRHa, 39 +/- 7 pM/L; range, 18-62; group A; n = 6). Compared to group A subjects, patients in group B had similar (P > 0.2) peak GnRHa-stimulated LH concentrations (B, 4.8 +/- 1 IU/L; A, 2.3 +/- 0.5 IU/L) and peak nocturnal LH (B, 0.81 +/- 0.2; A, 0.25 +/- 0 IU/L), but higher peak GnRHa-stimulated FSH concentrations (B, 26 +/- 7; A, 11 +/- 2 IU/L; P < 0.05) and mean nocturnal FSH (B, 4.2 +/- 1; A, 1.1 +/- 0.3 IU/L; P < 0.05) concentrations. Compared to group B, group C patients had higher (P < 0.001) GnRHa-stimulated peak LH (67 +/- 19 IU/L) and higher (P < 0.05) peak nocturnal LH (9.7 +/- 2.9 IU/L) concentrations, but similar GnRHa-stimulated peak FSH (27 +/- 3 IU/L) and mean nocturnal FSH (3.8 +/- 0.5 IU/L) levels. Group C patients with a ratio of peak GnRHa-stimulated LH to FSH concentrations below or above 1, respectively, had similar peak E2 responses to GnRHa (516 +/- 80 vs. 644 +/- 92 pM/L; P > 0.1). Stepwise regression analysis indicated that the peak LH response to GnRHa (r = 0.76; P < 0.001), but none of the FSH secretory parameters (P > 0.10), affected the E2 response to GnRHa. These data suggest that girls with CPP in the early phase of activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis are capable of clinically relevant E2 production, which may occur in the face of low LH secretion and low LH/FSH ratios and cannot be explained solely on the basis of increased FSH secretion. Thus, endocrine or paracrine factors other than gonadotropins may be important in amplifying E2 secretion in the early phase of CPP.
Direct to Implant Reconstruction in Nipple Sparing Mastectomy: Patient Selection by Preoperative Digital Mammogram

Background: Digital mammography clearly distinguishes gland tissue density from the overlying nonglandular breast tissue coverage, which corresponds to the existing tissue between the skin and the superficial layer of the fascia superficialis surrounding the gland (i.e., dermis and subcutaneous fat). Preoperative digital imaging can determine the thickness of this breast tissue coverage, thus facilitating planning and reducing the rate of necrotic complications after direct to implant (DTI) reconstruction in nipple sparing mastectomy (NSM). Methods: Thirty NSMs in 22 patients with type 3 tissue coverage (subcutaneous tissue thickness of 2 cm or more) were selected for DTI reconstruction after NSM to evaluate immediate skin flap/nipple areola complex ischemic complications and patient satisfaction. Results: We experienced no wound healing problems or ischemic complications immediately after surgery in our population. Only 1 seroma was observed as a short-term complication. Quality of life and patients’ satisfaction level were optimal at 3 and 6 months follow-up, respectively. The aesthetic results have been evaluated as good/excellent in all cases. Conclusions: DTI immediate reconstruction with silicone implants following NSM appears to be a safe option in selected cases with enough tissue coverage, also providing a high level of patient satisfaction. The possibility of selecting cases for this procedure according to the preoperative digital mammogram showing more than 2 cm of superficial tissues thickness may help reducing the risk of immediate ischemic complications.
Analysis of crystallite size changes in a hematite and magnetite formed on steel used in the power idustry

The paper presents results of studies on the crystallite sizes of oxide layer formed during a long-term operation on 10CrMo9-10 steel at an elevated temperature (T = 545C, t = 200,000 h). This value was determined by a method based on analysis of the diffraction line profile, according to a Scherrer formula. The oxide layer was studied on a surface and a cross-section at the outer and inner site on the pipe outlet, at the fire and counter-fire wall of the tube. X-ray studies were carried out on the surface of a tube, then the layer’s surface was polished and the diffraction measurements repeated to reveal differences in the originated oxides layer.
The medium‐ and long‐term outcome of total shoulder arthroplasty for primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis in middle‐aged patients

Aims Promising medium‐term results from total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) have been reported for the treatment of primary osteoarthritis in young and middle‐aged patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long‐term functional and radiological outcome of TSA in the middle‐aged patient. Patients and Methods The data of all patients from the previous medium‐term study were available. At a mean follow‐up of 13 years (8 to 17), we reviewed 21 patients (12 men, nine women, 21 shoulders) with a mean age of 55 years (37 to 60). The Constant‐Murley score (CS) with its subgroups and subjective satisfaction were measured. Radiological signs of implant loosening were analysed. Results Two shoulders (two patients) were revised and in two shoulders of two different patients, revision surgery was recommended. The mean CS increased from 23.3 (10 to 45) pre‐operatively to 56.5 (26 to 81; p < 0.0001), but with a decrease in CS from 62.8 (38 to 93) to 56.5 (26 to 81) between medium‐ and long‐term follow‐up (p = 0.01). Without revision surgery, 18 patients (95%) rated their result as good or very good. The mean radiolucent line score for the glenoid components increased from 1.8 (0 to 6) to 8.2 (2 to 18) between medium‐ and long‐term follow‐up (p < 0.001). Conclusion TSA in young and middle‐aged patients leads to improvement in clinical function and a relatively high satisfaction rate. However, clinical or radiological glenoid loosening worsens in the long term. Further studies are needed to optimise the treatment options in this patient population.
[Research on the expression of c-myc mRNA in ameloblastoma].

PURPOSE To study the expression of c-myc mRNA in ameloblastoma (AB) and odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) and to investigate the genesis, development and biological characteristics of AB and OKC. METHODS We detected c-myc mRNA in 54 cases of AB (31 primary ABs, 19 recurrent Abs and 4 malignant ABs), 16 cases of OKC and 7 cases of normal oral mucosa (NOM) by in situ hybridization. Chi2 test was used to analyze the results. RESULTS The positive rate of AB, OKC and NOM was 81.5% (44/54), 75.0% (12/16) and 14.3% (1/7), respectively. There was statistical difference among three groups (chi2=15.488, P<0.05). Comparing the expression of primary AB (71.0%) with recurrent (94.7%), malignant AB (100.0%), there was a significant statistical difference (chi2=16.912, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The expression of c-myc is important to the genesis and development of AB; following the change of primary, recurrent and malignant AB, the expression of c-myc mRNA increased significantly.It is suggested that c-myc mRNA may be an effective marker to evaluate the prognosis of AB.
Recommender System Based on Consumer Product Reviews

Consumer reviews, opinions and shared experiences in the use of a product is a powerful source of information about consumer preferences that can be used in recommender systems. Despite the importance and value of such information, there is no comprehensive mechanism that formalizes the opinions selection and retrieval process and the utilization of retrieved opinions due to the difficulty of extracting information from text data. In this paper, a new recommender system that is built on consumer product reviews is proposed. A prioritizing mechanism is developed for the system. The proposed approach is illustrated using the case study of a recommender system for digital cameras
An approach for automated scenario-based testing of distributed and heterogeneous systems

The growing dependence of our society on increasingly complex software systems, makes software testing ever more important and challenging. In many domains, such as healthcare and transportation, several independent systems, forming a heterogeneous and distributed system of systems, are involved in the provisioning of end-to-end services to users. However, existing testing techniques, namely in the model-based testing field, provide little tool support for properly testing such systems. Hence, in this paper, we propose an approach and a toolset architecture for automating the testing of end-to-end services in distributed and heterogeneous systems. The tester interacts with a visual modeling frontend to describe key behavioral scenarios, invoke test generation and execution, and visualize test results and coverage information back in the model. The visual modeling notation is converted to a formal notation amenable for runtime interpretation in the backend. A distributed test monitoring and control infrastructure is responsible for interacting with the components of the system under test, as test driver, monitor and stub. At the core of the toolset, a test execution engine coordinates test execution and checks the conformance of the observed execution trace with the expectations derived from the visual model. A real world example from the Ambient Assisted Living domain is presented to illustrate the approach.
Intimate partner violence prevention and reduction: A review of literature

ABSTRACT In this literature review, we present a synthesis of interventions for intimate partner violence (IPV) among migrants. Searching through five databases for relevant articles published between 2005 and 2016, we report findings from ten relevant articles with focus on process, outcomes, and challenges encountered. Our reported interventions mainly targeted survivors, perpetrators, and primary level of prevention. The authors argued that grounding interventions on IPV within the cultural context of migrant population is crucial in increasing participants’ engagement and obtaining a positive outcome. We suggest culturally appropriate IPV interventions with embedded strategies for evaluation among migrants.
Spatio-spectral Modulation Using a Binary Photomask for Compressive Chromotomography

Recent advances in compressive spectral imagers have demonstrated the potential of spatio-spectral modulation (SSM) for improved reconstruction performance. Existing SSM techniques, however, use either a color filter array or a complex optical arrangement, both of which can only provide limited modulation bandwidth in the spectral dimension. This paper proposes a practical SSM method to help address the "missing cone" problem of chromo-tomography. A high-resolution binary coded aperture is used to modulate the dispersed images, which in the Fourier domain fulfills a 3D convolution of the probed spectrum with the aperture’s wide spectrum. This spectrum spreading process facilitates the compressed sensing strategy determined by the Fourier Slice Theorem and we demonstrate the advantages of the proposed approach with numerical experiments.
Description of the UPENN CAMP System as Used for Coreference

Scoring the performance of a system is an extremely important aspect of coreference algorithm performance. The score for a particular run is the single strongest measure of how well the system is performing and it can strongly determine directions for further improvements. In this paper, we present several di erent scoring algorithms and detail their respective strengths and weaknesses for varying classes of processing. In particular, we describe and analyze the coreference scoring algorithm used to evaluate the coreference systems in the sixth Message Understanding Conference (MUC-6)[MUC-6, 95]. We also present two shortcomings of this algorithm. In addition, we present a new coreference scoring algorithm, our B-CUBED algorithm, which was designed to overcome the shortcomings of the MUC-6 algorithm.
Effect of High-Density Lipoprotein Metabolic Pathway Gene Variations and Risk Factors on Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy in China

Purpose To investigate the effect of genetic variants in the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolic pathway and risk factors on neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) in China. Methods A total of 742 Chinese subjects, including 221 controls, 230 cases with nAMD, and 291 cases with PCV, were included in the present study. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from three genes in the HDL metabolic pathway (HDLMP) including cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), hepatic lipase (LIPC) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) were genotyped in all study subjects with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Risk factors including gender, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and coronary artery disease were identified. Chi-square tests or Fisher’s exact tests were applied to discover associations between SNPs and risk factors for PCV and nAMD. Gene-gene interactions and gene-environment interactions were evaluated by the multifactor-dimensionality reduction (MDR) method. Results CETP rs3764261 were significantly associated with an increased risk for PCV (odds ratio (OR) = 1.444, P = 0.0247). LIPC rs1532085 conferred an increased risk for PCV (OR = 1.393, P = 0.0094). We found no association between PCV and LPL rs12678919, LIPC rs10468017 or CETP rs173539. No association was found between five SNPs with nAMD. Regarding risk factors, females were found to have significantly decreased risks for both PCV and nAMD (P = 0.006 and 0.001, respectively). Coronary artery disease (CAD) was a risk factor in PCV patients but played a protective role in nAMD patients. Hyperlipidemia was associated with PCV but not with nAMD. Neither hypertension nor diabetes mellitus was associated with PCV or nAMD. The MDR analysis revealed that a three-locus model with rs12678919, rs1532085, and gender was the best model for nAMD, while a five-locus model consisting of rs10468017, rs3764261, rs1532085, gender, and hyperlipidemia was best for PCV. Conclusion Our large-sample study suggested that CETP rs3764261 conferred an increased risk for PCV. We also first found the association between rs1532085 and PCV. The result of present study also showed that gender and CAD are associated with PCV and nAMD. Significant association was found between hyperlipidemia and PCV but not nAMD.
Prevalence of Porphyromonas gingivalis isolated from oral cavity in Indian population - A culture-based study

Background: Among the many oral bacteria residing in the oral cavity, Porphyromonas gingivalis is known to be the major organism associated with periodontitis. Different methods have been used for identification. However, culture is the gold standard in identification. Culture helps in characterization of the physiologic characters, identification pathogenic traits, virulence factors, etc. Gene alterations can be studied better if the organism is cultivated in the laboratory. Aims and Objectives: The aims and objectives were to study the isolation of P. gingivalis from subgingival plaque samples of periodontally healthy and diseased individuals by culture and phenotypic identification. Materials and Methods: A total of 400 subjects each with 200 chronic periodontitis and healthy individuals were selected. Patients meeting all criteria’s samples were inoculated on Blood agar fortified with Hemin and Vitamin K media. Phenotypic characterization was done by morphological and biochemical analysis to identify P. gingivalis. Results: Of 400 samples, 173 were male and 227 were female. In chronic periodontitis, 119 were female and 81 were male. The total sample positive for P gingivalis was 288. In chronic periodontitis, the positivity for P gingivalis was 179. The positivity for P gingivalis was more in females 168. Conclusion: Identification of anaerobic microbes can be easily done these anaerobic culture techniques. Hence, we recommend using these techniques in the identification of oral anaerobes as a routine laboratory procedure which is lacking in our country.