Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Techniques and Devices Used in Palpation Simulation with Haptic Feedback

Palpation exam is a procedure in which a healthcare professional presses a specific region of a patient’s body with the fingers in order to detect the presence of features and abnormalities under the skin. A simulator that aids the training of this procedure may contribute to the learning of the technique and the improvement of its implementation in real patients. This article presents a systematic review conducted in order to assess the state of the art of the simulation of the palpation procedure, providing a categorization of techniques and approaches used in systems with haptic feedback. The results indicate that there are existing gaps concerning the accessibility of the haptic devices, innovative methods to calculate force feedback and deformation caused by haptic devices, and user experience improvement, since most of the studies consider only one point of contact, which can limit the simulation realism.
Increased Titin Compliance Reduced Length-Dependent Contraction and Slowed Cross-Bridge Kinetics in Skinned Myocardial Strips from Rbm20ΔRRM Mice

Titin is a giant protein spanning from the Z-disk to the M-band of the cardiac sarcomere. In the I-band titin acts as a molecular spring, contributing to passive mechanical characteristics of the myocardium throughout a heartbeat. RNA Binding Motif Protein 20 (RBM20) is required for normal titin splicing, and its absence or altered function leads to greater expression of a very large, more compliant N2BA titin isoform in Rbm20 homozygous mice (Rbm20ΔRRM) compared to wild-type mice (WT) that almost exclusively express the stiffer N2B titin isoform. Prior studies using Rbm20ΔRRM animals have shown that increased titin compliance compromises muscle ultrastructure and attenuates the Frank-Starling relationship. Although previous computational simulations of muscle contraction suggested that increasing compliance of the sarcomere slows the rate of tension development and prolongs cross-bridge attachment, none of the reported effects of Rbm20ΔRRM on myocardial function have been attributed to changes in cross-bridge cycling kinetics. To test the relationship between increased sarcomere compliance and cross-bridge kinetics, we used stochastic length-perturbation analysis in Ca2+-activated, skinned papillary muscle strips from Rbm20ΔRRM and WT mice. We found increasing titin compliance depressed maximal tension, decreased Ca2+-sensitivity of the tension-pCa relationship, and slowed myosin detachment rate in myocardium from Rbm20ΔRRM vs. WT mice. As sarcomere length increased from 1.9 to 2.2 μm, length-dependent activation of contraction was eliminated in the Rbm20ΔRRM myocardium, even though myosin MgADP release rate decreased ~20% to prolong strong cross-bridge binding at longer sarcomere length. These data suggest that increasing N2BA expression may alter cardiac performance in a length-dependent manner, showing greater deficits in tension production and slower cross-bridge kinetics at longer sarcomere length. This study also supports the idea that passive mechanical characteristics of the myocardium influence ensemble cross-bridge behavior and maintenance of tension generation throughout the sarcomere.
Rhythm timing in Japanese English

Due to the different sound systems of English and Japanese, obtaining a proper English speech rhythm is one of the greatest obstacles that Japanese face in their learning of English as a foreign language. Aims of this study are: 1) an explicit description of rhythm timing in English produced by four groups of Japanese subjects with different levels of English learning experiences in comparison with native speakers of English and 2) examinations and analyses of some underlying elements or factors which present obstacles for Japanese in obtaining proper English rhythm. English speech rhythm at a sentence level is investigated, focusing on feet or ISLs (interstress intervals) and their sound structure with the following criteria; a) proper use of function and content words and b) proper application of isochronous English rhythm in sentences. In this study all the factors are to be examined and analysed with respect to duration. Crucial transferred factors from underlying Japanese sound systems in Japanese English as well as the degree of difficulty in production have been obtained through comparison with the target English expressions. stem from transfer of patterns from Japanese to English. As higher levels of English are achieved, fewer transferred phenomena from the Japanese sound system can be observed. As this study is limited only to timing patterns, further research should be conducted on other crucial factors in speech rhythm such as fundamental frequency and phonetic quality in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the topic.
Linear network coding capacity region of the smart repeater with broadcast erasure channels

This work considers the smart repeater network where a single source s wants to send two independent packet streams to destinations {d1, d2} with the help of relay r. The transmission from s or r is modeled by packet erasure channels: For each time slot, a packet transmitted by s may be received, with some probabilities, by a random subset of {d1, d2, r}; and those transmitted by r will be received by a random subset of {d1, d2}. Interference is avoided by allowing at most one of {s, r} to transmit in each time slot. One example of this model is any cellular network that supports two cell-edge users when a relay in the middle uses the same downlink resources for throughput/safety enhancement. In this setting, we study the capacity region of (R1, R2) when allowing linear network coding (LNC). The proposed LNC inner bound introduces more advanced packing-mixing operations other than the previously well-known butterfly-style XOR operation on overheard packets of two co-existing flows. A new LNC outer bound is derived by exploring the inherent algebraic structure of the LNC problem. Numerical results show that, with more than 85% of the experiments, the relative sum-rate gap between the proposed outer and inner bounds is smaller than 0.08%, thus effectively bracketing the LNC capacity of the smart repeater problem.
Does Stock Return Momentum Explain the 'Smart Money' Effect?

Does the "smart money" effect documented by Gruber (1996) and Zheng (1999) reflect fund selection ability of mutual fund investors? We examine the finding that investors are able to predict mutual fund performance and invest accordingly. We show that the smart money effect is explained by the stock return momentum phenomenon documented by Jegadeesh and Titman (1993) . Further evidence suggests investors do not select funds based on a momentum investing style, but rather simply chase funds that were recent winners. Our finding that a common factor in stock returns explains the smart money effect offers no affirmation of investor fund selection ability. Copyright 2004 by The American Finance Association.
The Uniform Data Set, Czech Version: Normative Data in Older Adults from an International Perspective.

BACKGROUND Outside of the United States, international perspectives on normative data for neuropsychological test performance, within diverse populations, have been scarce. The neuropsychological test battery from the Uniform Data Set (UDS) of the Alzheimer's Disease Centers (ADC) program of the United States National Institute on Aging (NIA) is one of the most sensitive batteries for the evaluation of both normal cognitive aging and pathological cognitive decline. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the feasibility of the Czech Neuropsychological Test Battery from the Uniform Data Set (UDS-Cz 2.0), while also evaluating the results obtained from an international perspective. METHODS This paper describes data from 520 cognitively normal participants. Regression analyses were used to describe the influence of demographic variables on UDS-Cz test performance. RESULTS Cognitive performance on all measures declined with age, with patient education level serving as a protective factor. Therefore, the present study provides normative data for the UDS-Cz, adjusted for the demographic variables of age and education. CONCLUSION The present study determines the psychometric properties of the UDS-Cz and establishes normative values in the aging Czech population, which can be used in clinical settings.
A comparative analysis of offline and online evaluations and discussion of research paper recommender system evaluation

Offline evaluations are the most common evaluation method for research paper recommender systems. However, no thorough discussion on the appropriateness of offline evaluations has taken place, despite some voiced criticism. We conducted a study in which we evaluated various recommendation approaches with both offline and online evaluations. We found that results of offline and online evaluations often contradict each other. We discuss this finding in detail and conclude that offline evaluations may be inappropriate for evaluating research paper recommender systems, in many settings.
Experiences in the use of a media space

A media space is a system that uses integrated video, audio, and computers to aHow individuals and groups to work together despite being distributed spatially and temporally. Our media space, CAVECAT (Computer Audio Video Enhanced Collaboration And Telepresence), enables a small number of individuals or groups located in separate offices to engage in collaborative work without leaving their offices. This paper presents and summarizes our experiences during initial use of CAVECAT, including unsolved technological obstacles we have encountered, and the psychological and social impact of the technology. Where possible we discuss relevant findings from the psychological literature, and implications for design of the next-generation media space.
One size (never) fits all: segment differences observed following a school-based alcohol social marketing program.

BACKGROUND According to commercial marketing theory, a market orientation leads to improved performance. Drawing on the social marketing principles of segmentation and audience research, the current study seeks to identify segments to examine responses to a school-based alcohol social marketing program. METHODS A sample of 371 year 10 students (aged: 14-16 years; 51.4% boys) participated in a prospective (pre-post) multisite alcohol social marketing program. Game On: Know Alcohol (GO:KA) program included 6, student-centered, and interactive lessons to teach adolescents about alcohol and strategies to abstain or moderate drinking. A repeated measures design was used. Baseline demographics, drinking attitudes, drinking intentions, and alcohol knowledge were cluster analyzed to identify segments. Change on key program outcome measures and satisfaction with program components were assessed by segment. RESULTS Three segments were identified; (1) Skeptics, (2) Risky Males, (3) Good Females. Segments 2 and 3 showed greatest change in drinking attitudes and intentions. Good Females reported highest satisfaction with all program components and Skeptics lowest program satisfaction with all program components. CONCLUSION Three segments, each differing on psychographic and demographic variables, exhibited different change patterns following participation in GO:KA. Post hoc analysis identified that satisfaction with program components differed by segment offering opportunities for further research.
Development of Immunochromatography-Based Methods for Detection of Leptospiral Lipopolysaccharide Antigen in Urine

ABSTRACT Leptospirosis is an infectious disease caused by the spirochete bacteria Leptospira spp. and is commonly found throughout the world. Diagnosis of leptospirosis performed by culture and microscopic agglutination tests is laborious and time-consuming. Therefore, we aimed to develop a novel immunochromatography (ICG)-based method for detecting Leptospira antigen in the urine of patients and animals. We used the 1H6 monoclonal antibody (MAb), which is specific to the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) that is common among Leptospira spp. The MAb was coupled to 40-nm-diameter colloidal gold, and the amounts of labeled antibody and immobilized antibody were 23 μg and 2 μg per test, respectively. Several strains of Leptospira and other bacterial species were used to evaluate the sensitivities and specificities of the assays we developed. The detection limit of the assays was 106 cells/ml when disrupted whole bacterial cells were used. The assays were Leptospira specific since they did not cross-react with non-Leptospira bacteria used in the study. Application of diagnostic assays was done on the urine samples of 46 Leptospira-infected hamsters, 44 patients with suspected leptospirosis, and 14 healthy individuals. Pretreatment of the urine samples by boiling and centrifugation (for ultrafiltration and concentration) eliminated nonspecific reactions that occurred in the assay. The sensitivity and specificity of the ICG-based lateral flow assay (LFA) were 89% and 87%, respectively, which were higher than those of the dipstick assay, which were 80% and 74%, respectively. In summary, this ICG-based LFA can be used as an alternative diagnostic assay for leptospirosis. Further development is still necessary to improve the assay.
Measurement of Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the production processes of the recently discovered Higgs boson is performed in the two-photon final state using 5.4 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions data at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The number of observed Higgs boson decays to diphotons divided by the corresponding Standard Model prediction, called the signal strength, is found to be $\mu = 1.17 \pm 0.27$ at the value of the Higgs boson mass measured by ATLAS, $m_{H}$ = 125.4 GeV. The analysis is optimized to measure the signal strengths for individual Higgs boson production processes at this value of $m_{H}$. They are found to be $\mu_{\mathrm{ggF}} = 1.32 \pm 0.38$, $\mu_{\mathrm{VBF}} = 0.8 \pm 0.7$, $\mu_{{WH}} = 1.0 \pm 1.6 $, $\mu_{{ZH}} = 0.1 ^{+3.7}_{-0.1} $, $\mu_{{t\bar{t}H}} = 1.6 ^{+2.7}_{-1.8} $, for Higgs boson production through gluon fusion, vector-boson fusion, and in association with a $W$ or $Z$ boson or a top-quark pair, respectively. Compared with the previously published ATLAS analysis, the results reported here also benefit from a new energy calibration procedure for photons and the subsequent reduction of the systematic uncertainty on the diphoton mass resolution. No significant deviations from the predictions of the Standard Model are found.
Predicting work and organizational engagement with work and personal factors

PREDICTING WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH WORK AND PERSONAL FACTORS by Andrea A. Kittredge The current study examined how psychological hardiness and self efficacy would be related to both work engagement and organizational engagement after controlling for job characteristics, perceived organizational support, and procedural justice as work characteristics. Findings showed that psychological hardiness, specifically commitment, added significant predictive value to both work and organizational engagement after controlling for the work characteristics. However, commitment accounted for more variance in work engagement than variance in organizational engagement. Although it was correlated with overall hardiness, self efficacy was not found to be directly related to either engagement variable, nor did it add predictive value to either of the forms of engagement. Implications of the study are discussed.
Neural circuits in anxiety and stress disorders: a focused review

Anxiety and stress disorders are among the most prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders. In recent years, multiple studies have examined brain regions and networks involved in anxiety symptomatology in an effort to better understand the mechanisms involved and to develop more effective treatments. However, much remains unknown regarding the specific abnormalities and interactions between networks of regions underlying anxiety disorder presentations. We examined recent neuroimaging literature that aims to identify neural mechanisms underlying anxiety, searching for patterns of neural dysfunction that might be specific to different anxiety disorder categories. Across different anxiety and stress disorders, patterns of hyperactivation in emotion-generating regions and hypoactivation in prefrontal/regulatory regions are common in the literature. Interestingly, evidence of differential patterns is also emerging, such that within a spectrum of disorders ranging from more fear-based to more anxiety-based, greater involvement of emotion-generating regions is reported in panic disorder and specific phobia, and greater involvement of prefrontal regions is reported in generalized anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. We summarize the pertinent literature and suggest areas for continued investigation.
Diurnal rhythm of cone opsin expression in the teleost fish Haplochromis burtoni

The biochemical and morphological specializations of rod and cone photoreceptors reflect their roles in sight. The apoprotein opsin, which converts photons into chemical signals, functions at one end of these highly polarized cells, in the outer segment. Previous work has shown that the mRNA of rod opsin, the opsin specific to rods, is renewed in the outer segment with a diurnal rhythm in the retina of the teleost fish Haplochromis burtoni. Here we show that in the same species, all three cone opsin mRNAs (blue, green, and red) also have a diurnal rhythm of expression. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primer pairs specific for the cone photoreceptor opsin subtypes was used to detect opsin mRNA abundance in animals sacrificed at 3-h intervals around the clock. All three cone opsins were expressed with diurnal rhythms similar to each other but out of phase with the rod opsin rhythm. Specifically, cone opsin expression occurs at a higher level near the onset of the dark period, when cones are not used for vision. Finally, we found that the rhythm of cone opsin expression in fish appears to be light dependent, as prolonged darkness changes normal diurnal expression patterns.
TSQL2 language specification

This docuinent specifies a temporal extension to the SQL-92 language standard. The language is designated TSQLZ. The document is organized as follows. The next section indicates the starting point of the design, the SQL92 language. Section 4 lists the desired features on which the TSQL2 Language Design Committee reached consensus. Section 5 presents the major concepts underlying TSQL2. Compatibility with SQL-92 is the topic of Section 6. Section 7 briefly discusses how the language can be implemented. Subsequent sections specify the syntax of the language extensions.
The minimum principle for time-varying hybrid systems with state switching and jumps

The hybrid minimum principle (HMP) is extended to hybrid systems with autonomous (internally forced) switching on switching manifolds, controlled (externally forced) switching, jumps of the continuous state when switching, and time-varying functions for specifying the continuous and discrete dynamics. The formulation of the hybrid optimal control problem (HOCP) includes running, switching, and terminal costs. The HMP provides necessary optimality conditions for a solution of the HOCP and can be used as basis for developing numerical optimal control algorithms.
Hepatitis B Reactivation with Novel Agents in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Prevention Strategies

Abstract Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains an endemic disease in most parts of the world despite available prophylactic vaccines. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the most common hematological malignancy, and certain patients undergoing therapy are at increased risk of HBV reactivation. Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody, is well studied in HBV reactivation, but newer agents have been implicated as well. Here, we review novel agents suspected in HBV reactivation and effective strategies to prevent HBV reactivation. Fifteen years of literature were reviewed in order to better understand the reactivation rates of hepatitis B in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Anti-CD20 antibodies continue to be the main medications that can lead to HBV reactivation, and HBV reactivation rates have decreased with increased awareness. HBV reactivation is uncommon when using other novel agents. Entecavir and lamivudine remain the agents of choice to prevent HBV reactivation in high risk patients. In conclusion, the immunosuppressive effect of NHL and its therapy provide a pathway for HBV reactivation, especially in patients treated with anti-CD20 antibody. Since many HBV positive patients are often excluded from clinical trials of novel agents in NHL, more aggressive post-market surveillance of new agents, well-designed best practice advisories, and timely case reports are needed to reduce the incidence of HBV reactivation. Lastly, large prospective investigations coupled with well-utilized best practice advisories need to be conducted to understand the impact of more potent novel NHL therapy on HBV reactivation.
Mobile Homophily and Social Location Prediction

The mobility behavior of human beings is predictable to a varying degree e.g. depending on the traits of their personality such as the trait extraversion - introversion: the mobility of introvert users may be more dominated by routines and habitual movement patterns, resulting in a more predictable mobility behavior on the basis of their own location history while, in contrast, extrovert users get about a lot and are explorative by nature, which may hamper the prediction of their mobility. However, socially more active and extrovert users meet more people and share information, experiences, believes, thoughts etc. with others. which in turn leads to a high interdependency between their mobility and social lives. Using a large LBSN dataset, his paper investigates the interdependency between human mobility and social proximity, the influence of social networks on enhancing location prediction of an individual and the transmission of social trends/influences within social networks.