Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative effects of small intestinal glucose on blood pressure, heart rate, and noradrenaline responses in obese and healthy subjects

Meal consumption leads to an increase in sympathetic output to compensate for hemodynamic changes and maintain blood pressure (BP). Obesity is associated with a blunting of the sympathetic response to meal ingestion, but interpretation of studies investigating these responses is compromised by their failure to account for the rate of gastric emptying, which is an important determinant of postprandial cardiovascular and sympathetic responses and, in both health and obesity, exhibits a wide interindividual variation. We sought to determine the effects of intraduodenal glucose infusion, bypassing gastric emptying, on BP, heart rate (HR), and noradrenaline responses in obese and healthy control subjects. 12 obese subjects (age 36.6 ± 3.9 years, body mass index (BMI) 36.1 ± 1.3 kg/m2) and 23 controls (age 27.8 ± 2.4 years, BMI 22.4 ± 0.5 kg/m2) received intraduodenal infusions of glucose at 1 or 3 kcal/min, or saline, for 60 min (t = 0–60 min), followed by intraduodenal saline (t = 60–120 min). BP and HR were measured with an automatic cuff, and blood samples collected for measurement of plasma noradrenaline. Intraduodenal glucose at 1 kcal/min was associated with a fall in diastolic BP in the control subjects only (P < 0.01), with no change in systolic BP, HR or noradrenaline in either group. In both groups, intraduodenal glucose at 3 kcal/min was associated with a fall in diastolic (P < 0.01), but not systolic, BP, and rises in HR (P < 0.001) and plasma noradrenaline (P < 0.01), with no difference in responses between the groups. We conclude that cardiovascular and sympathetic responses to intraduodenal glucose infusion are comparable between obese and control subjects, and dependent on the rate of glucose delivery.
Do the physical and environment PETTLEP elements predict sport imagery ability?

Abstract The present study aimed to examine whether physical and environment elements of PETTLEP imagery relate to the ability to image five types of sport imagery (i.e. skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery). Two hundred and ninety participants (152 males, 148 females; Mage = 20.24 years, SD = 4.36) from various sports completed the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire (SIAQ), and a set of items designed specifically for the study to assess how frequently participants incorporate physical (e.g. ‘I make small movements or gestures during the imagery’) and environment (e.g. ‘I image in the real training/competition environment’) elements of PETTLEP imagery. Structural equation modelling tested a hypothesised model in which imagery priming (i.e. the best fitting physical and environment elements) significantly and positively predicted imagery ability of the different imagery types (skill, β = 0.38; strategy, β = 0.23; goal, β = 0.21; affect, β = 0.25; mastery, β = 0.22). The model was a good fit to the data: χ2 (174) = 263.87, p < . 001, CFI = . 96, TLI = . 95, SRMR = . 09, RMSEA = 0.05 (90% CI = 0.03–0.05). Findings displayed that priming imagery with physical and environment elements is associated with better skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery imagery ability. The findings extend models of imagery use by indicating that how athletes images may influence their imagery ability.
Root Canal Preparation with Two Different Rotary Systems: Comparative Study Assessed By Micro-computed Tomography

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iv List of Tables . vii List of Figures . viii CHAPTER 1: Introduction . 1 CHAPTER 2: Literature Review.3 2.1 Mesiobuccal root of the maxillary first molar . 3 Clinical studies on the MB root of the maxillary first molar . 4 Laboratory studies on the MB root of the maxillary first molar . 6 Inter-canal communications in the MB root of the maxillary first molar . 8 2.2 Mechanical root canal preparation . 13 Nickel-titanium instruments . 15 Criteria for assessment of the quality of root canal preparation . 18 Rotary instrument design . 28 BioRaCe instruments . 29 AlphaKite instruments . 31 2.3 Micro-computed tomography . 32 Micro-computed tomography and research . 34 2.4 Aim of the study . 36 2.5 Hypotheses . 36 CHAPTER 3: Materials and Methods . 37 3.1 Preparation of specimens . 37 3.2 Root canal preparation . 40 3.3 Micro-CT scanning . 41 Three-Dimensional (3-D) Reconstruction . 45 3.4 Image analysis . 46 Quantitative image analysis . 46 Statistical analysis . 48 Qualitative image analysis . 49 CHAPTER 4: Results . 50 vi 4.1 Canal transportation . 50 4.2 Centering ratio . 53 4.3 Intra-examiner reliability . 55 4.4 Three-dimensional image analysis . 57 BioRaCe . 57 AlphaKite . 63 CHAPTER 5: Discussion & Conclusion . 68 5.1 Study design . 68 5.2 Shaping ability . 69 5.3 Eradication of canal variations . 78 5.4 Study limitations and suggestions for future work . 79 5.5 Conclusion . 80 References . 82 APPENDIX 1: Abstract for poster presentation . 103 APPENDIX 2: Raw data . 104
Joint bi-affine parsing and semantic role labeling

We propose a simple encoder-decoder model for joint learning of dependency parsing and semantic role labeling (SRL). Experiments on CoNLL-2009 datasets show that our model is competitive with the state-of-the-art ensemble model on SRL task and significantly outperforms state-of-the-art joint models on joint evaluation metrics. Results show that with the implicit encoding, the syntax information can further improve a state-of-the-art semantic role labeler.
What We Can Learn About Student Learning From Open-Ended Programming Projects in Middle School Computer Science

Block-based programming environments such as Scratch, App Inventor, and Alice are a key part of introductory K-12 computer science (CS) experiences. Free-choice, open-ended projects are encouraged to promote learner agency and leverage the affordances of these novice-programming environments that also support creative engagement in CS. This mixed methods research examines what we can learn about student learning from such programming artifacts. Using an extensive rubric created to evaluate these projects along several dimensions, we coded a sample of ~80 Scratch and App Inventor projects randomly selected from 20 middle school classrooms in a diverse urban school district in the US. We present key elements of our rubric, and report on noteworthy trends including the types of artifacts created and which key programming constructs are or are not commonly used. We also report on how factors such as students' gender, grade, and teachers' teaching experience influenced students' projects. We discuss differences between programming environments in terms of artifacts created, use of computing constructs, complexity of projects, and use of features of the environment for creativity, interactivity, and engagement. Our findings will help educators of introductory computing be more cognizant of how best to leverage the programming environments they are using, and what aspects they need to focus on as they attempt to address the learning needs of all in "CS For All. "
Multi-heme cytochromes provide a pathway for survival in energy-limited environments

Widely distributed outer-membrane cytochromes enable sulfur-reducing bacteria to obtain energy from solid electron donors. Bacterial reduction of oxidized sulfur species (OSS) is critical for energy production in anaerobic marine subsurfaces. In organic-poor sediments, H2 has been considered as a major energy source for bacterial respiration. We identified outer-membrane cytochromes (OMCs) that are broadly conserved in sediment OSS-respiring bacteria and enable cells to directly use electrons from insoluble minerals via extracellular electron transport. Biochemical, transcriptomic, and microscopic analyses revealed that the identified OMCs were highly expressed on the surface of cells and nanofilaments in response to electron donor limitation. This electron uptake mechanism provides sufficient but minimum energy to drive the reduction of sulfate and other OSS. These results suggest a widespread mechanism for survival of OSS-respiring bacteria via electron uptake from solid minerals in energy-poor marine sediments.
Dynamic Whole-Body Motion Generation Under Rigid Contacts and Other Unilateral Constraints

The most widely used technique for generating whole-body motions on a humanoid robot accounting for various tasks and constraints is inverse kinematics. Based on the task-function approach, this class of methods enables the coordination of robot movements to execute several tasks in parallel and account for the sensor feedback in real time, thanks to the low computation cost. To some extent, it also enables us to deal with some of the robot constraints (e.g., joint limits or visibility) and manage the quasi-static balance of the robot. In order to fully use the whole range of possible motions, this paper proposes extending the task-function approach to handle the full dynamics of the robot multibody along with any constraint written as equality or inequality of the state and control variables. The definition of multiple objectives is made possible by ordering them inside a strict hierarchy. Several models of contact with the environment can be implemented in the framework. We propose a reduced formulation of the multiple rigid planar contact that keeps a low computation cost. The efficiency of this approach is illustrated by presenting several multicontact dynamic motions in simulation and on the real HRP-2 robot.
War-Related Abduction and History of Incarceration Linked to High Burden of HIV Among Female Sex Workers in Conflict-Affected Northern Uganda

Objective:Sex workers (SWs) in sub-Saharan Africa face a disproportionate HIV burden and growing concerns of severe human rights violations. Given the dearth of evidence on the burden and correlates of HIV among SWs in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly within conflict-affected settings, we examined the relationship between structural determinants (eg, war-related abduction, incarceration) and HIV infection among conflict-affected SWs in Northern Uganda. Design:Cross-sectional community-based research study among female SWs in conflict-affected Gulu, Northern Uganda. Methods:Interview questionnaires and voluntary HIV testing were conducted with participants recruited through SW/peer-led outreach and time–location sampling from 2011 to 2012. HIV prevalence was calculated, and bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent associations with HIV seroprevalence. Results:Of 400 SWs, 135 (33.75%) were HIV seropositive; of whom one-third were new/previously undiagnosed HIV infections. In multivariable analysis, after adjusting for age of sex work entry and education, lifetime incarceration (adjusted odds ratio: 1.93, 95% confidence interval: 1.17 to −3.20) was independently associated with HIV seroprevalence, and history of wartime abduction (adjusted odds ratio: 1.62, 95% confidence interval: 1.00 to 2.63) was marginally associated (P = 0.051). Conclusions:This study documented a high rate of undiagnosed HIV infections and associations between war-related human rights violations, incarceration, and a heavy HIV burden among SWs in conflict-affected Northern Uganda. These findings highlight the serious harms of conflict and criminalization of marginalized women in sub-Saharan African contexts. SW-led interventions that address conflict experiences and policy shifts to promote a rights-based approach to HIV prevention and care remain critically needed.
Antenatal Cognitive-behavioral Therapy for Prevention of Postpartum Depression: A Pilot Study

Purpose To examine the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for the prevention of postpartum depression (PPD) in "at risk" women. Materials and Methods We recruited 927 pregnant women in 6 obstetric and gynecology clinics and screened them using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Ninety-nine of the screened women who had significantly high scores in BDI (a score above 16) were selected for the study. They were contacted through by telephone, and 27 who had consented to participate in the study were interviewed via SCID-IV-I. Twenty-seven eligible women were randomly assigned to the CBT intervention (n = 15) and control condition (n = 12). All participants were required to complete written questionnaires, assessing demographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, negative thoughts, dyadic communication satisfaction, and global marital satisfaction prior to treatment and approximately 1 month postpartum. The 15 women in the CBT condition received 9 bi-weekly 1-hour individual CBT sessions, targeting and modifying negative patterns of thinking and behaviors occurring in the context of the dyadic relationship. Results The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that there were significant differences in all postpartum measures between the 2 groups, indicating that our antenatal intervention with CBT was effective in reducing depressive symptoms and improving marital satisfaction, which lasted until the postpartum period. Conclusion Our pilot study has provided preliminary empirical evidence that antenatal CBT intervention can be an effective preventive treatment for PPD. Further study in this direction was suggested.
Projecting one’s own spatial bias onto others during a theory-of-mind task

Significance Most people have an intrinsic spatial bias—many are better at processing objects to the left, whereas some are biased to the right. Here, we found that this subtle bias in one’s own awareness is mirrored in one’s ability to process what is likely to be in other people’s minds. If you are biased toward processing your own right side of space, then you may be faster at recognizing when someone else processes an object to his or her right side. One possible interpretation is that we process the space around us, and understand how others process the space around them, using at least partially shared mechanisms. Many people show a left-right bias in visual processing. We measured spatial bias in neurotypical participants using a variant of the line bisection task. In the same participants, we measured performance in a social cognition task. This theory-of-mind task measured whether each participant had a processing-speed bias toward the right of, or left of, a cartoon agent about which the participant was thinking. Crucially, the cartoon was rotated such that what was left and right with respect to the cartoon was up and down with respect to the participant. Thus, a person’s own left-right bias could not align directly onto left and right with respect to the cartoon head. Performance on the two tasks was significantly correlated. People who had a natural bias toward processing their own left side of space were quicker to process how the cartoon might think about objects to the left side of its face, and likewise for a rightward bias. One possible interpretation of these results is that the act of processing one’s own personal space shares some of the same underlying mechanisms as the social cognitive act of reconstructing someone else’s processing of their space.
Polymer Injection Forming (PIF) Of Thin‐Walled Sheet Metal Parts — Preliminary Experimental Results

Polymer Injection Forming (PIF) is a new technology to manufacture sheet metal/polymer macro‐composite components in a one‐operation production process. During the process, a metal blank is shaped inside an injection mould by using the injection pressure of the molten polymer. In the same step the polymer is permanently bonded to the metal sheet creating a fully finished product in only one production step. Thus, the PIF technology is a combination of the injection moulding and sheet metal forming processes. In this paper, the influence of the main injection moulding process parameters on the sheet metal formability has been experimentally investigated. The results show that melt temperature and clamp force have a great effect on the sheet deformation since they affect respectively the ductility of the sheet metal and the degree of pure drawing. In order to maximize sheet metal formability avoiding the flash formation, the main process parameters have been optimized.
Working Papers 468 July 2012 Symmetric play in repeated allocation games

We study symmetric play in a class of repeated games when players are patient. We show that, while the use of symmetric strategy profiles essentially does not restrict the set of feasible payoffs, the set of equilibrium payoffs is an interesting proper subset of the feasible and individually rational set. We also provide a theory of how rational individuals play these games, identifying particular strategies as focal through the considerations of Pareto optimality and simplicity. We report experiments that support many aspects of this theory.
Exploring Methods to Measure the Prevalence of Ménière's Disease in the US Clinformatics™ Database, 2010-2012

Recent studies on the epidemiology of the inner-ear disorder Ménière's disease (MD) use disparate methods for sample selection, case identification and length of observation. Prevalence estimates vary geographically from 17 to 513 cases per 100,000 people. We explored the impact of case detection strategies and observation periods in estimating the prevalence of MD in the USA, using data from a large insurance claims database. Using case detection strategies of ≥1, ≥2 and ≥3 ICD-9 claim codes for MD within a 1-year period, the 2012 prevalence estimates were 66, 27 and 14 cases per 100,000 people, respectively. For ≥1, ≥2 and ≥3 insurance claims within a 3-year observation period, the prevalence estimates were 200, 104 and 66 cases per 100,000 people, respectively. Estimates based on a single claim are likely to overestimate prevalence; this conclusion is aligned with the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Foundation criteria requiring ≥2 definitive episodes for a definite diagnosis, and it has implications for future epidemiologic research. We believe estimates for ≥2 claims may be a more conservative estimate of the prevalence of MD, and multiyear estimates may be needed to allow for adequate follow-up time.
A randomised comparison of two faecal immunochemical tests in population-based colorectal cancer screening

Objective Colorectal cancer screening programmes are implemented worldwide; many are based on faecal immunochemical testing (FIT). The aim of this study was to evaluate two frequently used FITs on participation, usability, positivity rate and diagnostic yield in population-based FIT screening. Design Comparison of two FITs was performed in a fourth round population-based FIT-screening cohort. Randomly selected individuals aged 50–74 were invited for FIT screening and were randomly allocated to receive an OC -Sensor (Eiken, Japan) or faecal occult blood (FOB)-Gold (Sentinel, Italy) test (March–December 2014). A cut-off of 10 µg haemoglobin (Hb)/g faeces (ie, 50 ng Hb/mL buffer for OC-Sensor and 59 ng Hb for FOB-Gold) was used for both FITs. Results In total, 19 291 eligible invitees were included (median age 61, IQR 57–67; 48% males): 9669 invitees received OC-Sensor and 9622 FOB-Gold; both tests were returned by 63% of invitees (p=0.96). Tests were non-analysable in 0.7% of participants using OC-Sensor vs 2.0% using FOB-Gold (p<0.001). Positivity rate was 7.9% for OC-Sensor, and 6.5% for FOB-Gold (p=0.002). There was no significant difference in diagnostic yield of advanced neoplasia (1.4% for OC-Sensor vs 1.2% for FOB-Gold; p=0.15) or positive predictive value (PPV; 31% vs 32%; p=0.80). When comparing both tests at the same positivity rate instead of cut-off, they yielded similar PPV and detection rates. Conclusions The OC-Sensor and FOB-Gold were equally acceptable to a screening population. However, FOB-Gold was prone to more non-analysable tests. Comparison between FIT brands is usually done at the same Hb stool concentration. Our findings imply that for a fair comparison on diagnostic yield between FIT's positivity rate rather than Hb concentration should be used. Trial registration number NTR5385; Results.
Uses of Abrasives and Abrasive Tools

Grinding machines and equipment grinding tools systematics application of abrasive compounds and suspensions methods of testing of abrasive tools methods of testing and evaluation of coated abrasives regeneration and second regulation of abrasive tools properties functional analysis of working surface and shape of abrasive tools preparation of abrasive tool for rational uses machining and shaping of abrasive tools active cleaning of tool working surface wear and stability of abrasive tools basic examples of abrasive tools application selection of optimal conditions for abrasive tool applications principles of abrasive tools service.
Optimistic and pessimistic neural networks for object recognition

In this paper the application of uncertainty modeling to convolutional neural networks is evaluated. A novel method for adjusting the network's predictions based on uncertainty information is introduced. This allows the network to be either optimistic or pessimistic in it's prediction scores. The proposed method builds on the idea of applying dropout at test time and sampling a predictive mean and variance from the network's output. Besides the methodological aspects, implementation details allowing for a fast evaluation are presented. In the evaluation on the ILSVRC2014 and VOC2011 datasets it will be shown that modeling uncertainty allows for improving the performance of a given model purely at test time without any further training steps.
A SWAT/Microbial Sub-Model for Predicting Pathogen Loadings in Surface and Groundwater at Watershed and Basin Scales

Despite the many potential sources of release of pathogenic organisms into the environment, agronomic practices that utilize animal manures contaminated with pathogenic or parasitic organisms appear to be the major contributors to watershed or basin contaminations. High rates of land-applied raw manure increase the risks of surface or ground water contamination, both from excess nutrients and pathogenic organisms. Unfortunately, current technologies are not adequate for handling large-scale treatment processes (e.g., composting, digestion, etc.) for stabilizing human pathogens in animal manures before application to agricultural lands. Therefore, there is a need for modeling capabilities to assess risks associated with individual and cumulative impacts of various pollutants and pollutant sources on watershed and basin impairment. The aim of this project is to extend Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) capability by incorporating a microbial sub-model for use at watershed or basin levels. The model formulations have been structured to be comprehensive, flexible, and at a minimum contain: 1) functional relationships for both the die-off and re-growth rates that are dynamic and, at best, cover a range of representative values from less persistent to more persistent pathogenic bacterial species; and 2) optional processes that can easily be adaptable to simulate both the release and transport of pathogenic organisms from various sources that have distinctly different biological and physical characteristics. Model performance has been tested for pasture and crop fields at one location. Preliminary results appear to portray the general patterns of the fate and transport of bacteria, for the three field sites examined.