Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Sydney multicentre study of Parkinson’s disease: progression and mortality at 10 years

OBJECTIVES To report on a 10 year follow up of patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, particularly with respect to mortality and the effect of early treatment with bromocriptine. METHODS The patients are from the 149 new patients recruited for a double blind, randomised study of low dose levodopa-carbidopa versus low dose bromocriptine. Patients were examined neurologically at least yearly. Neuropsychological examinations were performed at 0, 3, 5, and 10 years. Mortality and cause of death in these patients were compared with the Australian population using standardised mortality ratios (SMRs). Mortality and disease progression were compared by sex and treatment group. Predictors of death within 10 years, nursing home admission, and progression in Columbia score of ⩾20 points were examined by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Thirteen patients were excluded as having atypical Parkinsonism and six were lost to follow up. All available patients have been followed up for 10 years. Fifty patients (38%) were dead by 10 years and 63 by the last follow up. The SMR was 1.58 for all patients (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in SMRs between the sexes. The mean duration of disease until death was 9.1 years. Parkinson’s disease was thought to have contributed substantially to the death of 30 patients. The most common cause of death was pneumonia. Women progressed at a similar rate to men until 8 years, when the severity of their disease as measured by Hoehn and Yahr stage became greater (p<0.05). Older age of onset correlated with increased risk of death but the SMR was increased even in those aged <70 years (SMR 1.80, p=0.03). Early use of bromocriptine did not reduce mortality or slow progression of disease. One quarter of all patients had been admitted to nursing homes by 10 years. Only four patients were still employed. CONCLUSIONS Mortality in Parkinson’s disease remains increased despite low dose levodopa-carbidopa therapy and no additional benefit was gained from early use of bromocriptine. Duration of disease was similar to that in the era before levodopa.
Evidence for a Nonuniversal Stellar Initial Mass Function from the Integrated Properties of SDSS Galaxies

This paper revisits the classical Kennicutt method for inferring the stellar IMF from the integrated light properties of galaxies. The large-size, uniform high-quality data set from the SDSS DR4 is combined with more in-depth modeling and quantitative statistical analysis to search for systematic IMF variations as a function of galaxy luminosity. Galaxy Hα equivalent widths are compared to a broadband color index to constrain the IMF. This parameter space is useful for breaking degeneracies that are traditionally problematic. Age and dust corrections are largely orthogonal to IMF variations. In addition, the effects of metallicity and smooth SFH e-folding times are small compared to IMF variations. We find that for the sample as a whole the best-fitting IMF slope above 0.5 M☉ is Γ = 1.4535, with a negligible random error of ±0.0004 and a systematic error of ±0.1. Galaxies brighter than around Mr,0.1 = − 20 (including galaxies like the Milky Way, which has Mr,0.1 ∼ − 21) are well fitted by a universal Γ ∼ 1.4 IMF, similar to Salpeter, and smooth, exponential SFHs. Fainter galaxies prefer steeper IMFs, and the quality of the fits reveals that for these galaxies a universal IMF with smooth SFHs is actually a poor assumption. Several sources of sample bias are ruled out as the cause of these luminosity-dependent IMF variations. Analysis of bursting SFH models shows that an implausible coordination of burst times is required to fit a universal IMF to the Mr,0.1 = − 17 galaxies. This leads to the conclusions that the IMF in low-luminosity galaxies has fewer massive stars, by either steeper slope or lower upper mass cutoff, and is not universal.
Dist-RIA Crawler: A Distributed Crawler for Rich Internet Applications

Crawling web applications is important for indexing, accessibility and security assessment. Crawling traditional web applications is an old problem, as old as the web itself. Crawling Rich Internet Applications (RIA) quickly and efficiently, however, is an open problem. Technologies such as AJAX and partial Document Object Model (DOM) updates only makes the problem of crawling RIA more time consuming to the web crawler. To reduce the time to crawl a RIA, this paper presents a new distributed algorithm to crawl a RIA in parallel with multiple computers, called Dist-RIA Crawler. Dist-RIA Crawler uses the JavaScript events in the DOM structure to partition the search space. This paper illustrates a prototype implementation of Dist-RIA Crawler and inspect empirical performance measurements.
Friction, adhesion, and wear properties of PDMS coatings in MEMS devices

This paper demonstrates the first tests of friction, adhesion, and wear properties of thin poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) films deposited on the sidewalls of silicon-on-insulator structures. The curves of coefficient of friction versus normal pressure were obtained for PDMS-on-PDMS, PDMS-on-silicon, and silicon-on-silicon sidewall interfaces. Tests were also completed to evaluate the effects of aging and wear on the properties of PDMS. The results of friction tests showed that the coefficient of friction follows the Hertz contact model, and in the wear tests PDMS showed high resistance to abrasion.
Between- and within-domain relations of students' academic emotions.

The authors investigated between- and within-domain relations of academic emotions, including students' enjoyment, pride, anxiety, anger, and boredom experienced in mathematics, physics, German, and English classes (N = 542; Grades 8 and 11). Corroborating assumptions of domain specificity, the between-domains relations of these emotions were weak and inconsistent. However, there was more domain specificity of academic emotions in Grade 11 students compared with Grade 8 students, suggesting that between-domains differentiation increased as a function of grade level. Concerning within-domain relations, emotional experiences of enjoyment and pride, anxiety, and anger and boredom were clearly differentiated. The strength of within-domain relations of academic emotions differed considerably across the 4 academic domains. However, for each of the 4 domains, within-domain relations were similar for the 2 grade levels. Methodological and educational implications as well as directions for future research are discussed.
Generalized coordinated port selection in a multi-cell distributed antenna system using semidefinite relaxation

The downlink of a coordinated multi-cell distributed antenna system is considered. In [1], coordinated port selection was shown to achieve significant performance gains. However, in the system considered therein, the ports in each cell were constrained to transmit only to user terminals (UTs) in that cell. In this work, we consider a generalization of the problem considered in [1] by alleviating this constraint. We formulate the problem of determining the ports that maximize the minimum signal to interference plus noise ratio observed by the UTs as a binary-constrained optimization problem. Observing that it is NP-hard, we propose a semidefinite relaxation and Gaussian randomization based technique to obtain close-to-optimal solutions. Our simulation results show that the performance achieved by the proposed technique approaches that of the optimal solution. It is also shown that the proposed technique outperforms the one in [1], particularly for cell-edge UTs, albeit with an increased computational complexity.
Prevalence of Rome IV Pediatric Diagnostic Questionnaire-Assessed Disorder of Gut–Brain Interaction, Psychopathological Comorbidities and Consumption of Ultra-Processed Food in Pediatric Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe eating disorder primarily affecting children and adolescents. Disorders of the gut–brain interaction (DGBIs) have gained recognition as significant symptoms in individuals with AN. However, limited studies have explored GI symptoms in pediatric populations with AN using age-specific diagnostic tools. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of DGBIs, their associated psychopathological aspects and their potential correlations with ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption among pediatric AN patients. The study included AN patients who were under the care of a specialized multidisciplinary team. We assessed DGBI-related symptoms using the Rome IV Pediatric Diagnostic Questionnaire on Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (R4PDQ) and conducted psychological evaluations. Dietary intake and UPF consumption were evaluated. Among 56 AN patients, we observed a lower prevalence of DGBIs (functional constipation: 61%; functional dyspepsia: 54%; irritable bowel syndrome: 25%) compared to the existing literature. The psychological assessments revealed high rates of depression (72%) and anxiety (70%). UPF consumption was inversely related to depression levels (p = 0.01) but positively correlated with functional constipation (p = 0.046). This study highlights the importance of using age-specific diagnostic tools and emphasizes the crucial role of a specialized multidisciplinary team in the treatment of AN.
Paper-based, computer-based, and combined data-driven learning using a web-based concordancer

Very few studies have investigated the use of data-driven learning (DDL) in the beginner-level EFL classroom, and few or no studies have compared the use of paper-based, computer-based and combined approaches. This paper reports on the results of a three-year comparative case study of computer-based, paperbased, and combined computerand paper-based DDL using a parallel corpus for beginner-level university students. Students followed guided tasks on a worksheet to inductively understand target grammar patterns, had an explicit confirmation or correction of their hypotheses, and did follow up practice. The DDL exercises were done on a bilingual concordancer using newspaper corpus. It was demonstrated that each DDL approach can be effective for improving grammar basics such as understanding and producing noun phrases. Preand post-tests showed students made significant gains using all three approaches, and there does not appear to be any significant difference in effectiveness among the three approaches.
Use of in vivo bioluminescence and MRI to determine hyperthermia‐induced changes in luciferase activity under the control of an hsp70 promoter

We investigated the in vivo effect of hyperthermia on the expression of heat shock proteins and MRI changes in three tumor cell lines. Three tumor cell lines (SCCVII, NIH3T3, M21) were transfected with a plasmid containing the heat shock protein 70 gene (hsp70) promoter fragment and the luciferase reporter gene, and injected into mice. Tumors of 1100 mm3 in size were exposed to five different temperatures (38, 40, 42, 44 and 46 °C) in a water bath. Bioluminescence and MRI were performed at set time intervals. The MRI scan protocol was as follows: T1‐weighted spin echo ± contrast medium, T2‐weighted fast spin echo, dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI, diffusion‐weighted stimulated echo acquisition mode sequence, T2 time obtained on a 1.5T General Electric MRI scanner. Immunoblotting was also performed. hsp70 transcription was strongly induced at 42 and 44 °C, reaching values as high as 8531.5 ± 432.1‐fold above baseline in NIH3T3 tumors. At these temperatures, significant increases in the uptake of contrast medium, slope of initial enhancement, Akep values and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were observed in the 8‐h scan of the NIH3T3 cell line. In SCCVII tumors, ADC increased by about 23% (p = 0.010) in the scans performed at 8, 24, 48 and 96 h. At 46 °C, luciferase activity was reduced significantly in the three cell lines. In all tumor types, a significant increase in ADC was observed, which was highest in SCCVII tumors (33.8%; p < 0.01). In accordance with the bioluminescence results, significant Hsp70 protein production was shown by immunoblot analysis. The best correlation coefficient between luciferase activity and immunoblotting results was found for M21 tumors (r = 0.93, p < 0.0001). Different tissue types display distinct patterns of hsp70 transcription. MRI can be used, in combination with optical imaging, to provide information on hsp70 transcription and protein production. The major finding of the present study was that heat‐related biochemical changes in tumor tissue can be determined by MRI. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Brief Overview on Rabies: A Fatal and Preventable Virus

Rabies is a fatal and acute infection of the brain. The virulence factor of this infection is the Rabies virus, which belongs to the Rhabdoviridae family. It is a zoonotic disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans. The common ways of transferral of Rabies in humans are the transmission of rabies by the bite of a rabid animal and transmission due to saliva and consumption of meat and milk of rabid animals. Some wild animals, e.g., skunks, dogs, raccoons, foxes, and bats, can also transfer rabies in humans, mammals, and other animals. The incubation period of Rabies is at least 2 weeks to a maximum of 6 years, with an average duration of 2 to 3 months. Given its status as a significant zoonotic disease, it is crucial to have an accurate and prompt diagnosis to facilitate early treatment and implement effective measures for prevention and control. This study comprehensively analyzes epidemiology, transmission, etiology, advancements in diagnostics, immunization, therapy methods, and effective prevention and control techniques. The main objective of this study is to brief the threat of rabies and its management along with providing some brief knowledge related to rabies. The web sources (e.g., Google Scholar, Pubmed) were used to collect data regarding Rabies and briefly explained. As a result, it is clear that rabies is a big threat to the whole world so management strategies are required to target and overcome this threat. This study concludes that the Rabies virus can be managed by following the preventive and managemental strategies.
Behavior and Behavior Assessment

This chapter addresses these questions: What do we mean by “behavior” in personality and social psychology? How can we best assess social behavior? We define behavior as being observable and socially meaningful, but also discuss the dimensions on which behavior varies (e.g., intentional vs. habitual, discrete vs. continuous). We also discuss important variabilities in behavior as they relate to issues of measurement (e.g., behavioral frequency or desirability). For behavior assessment, we focus on some of the practical issues involved (e.g., choosing a coding system, selecting an observational setting), as well as how behavior assessment might intersect with personality and social psychological theory (e.g., manipulating or assessing behavior as it serves as moderator, mediator, or outcome in a theory). We end by discussing some established and emerging technologies that might prove useful for behavioral assessment (e.g., virtual reality), as well as calling for more integration of behavioral measures into future research.
Algebraic cryptanalysis of a small-scale version of stream cipher Lex

In this study, the authors analyse with respect to algebraic attacks a small-scale version of the stream cipher Lex. They base it on a small-scale version of the block cipher advanced encryption standard (AES) with 16-bit state and 16-bit key. They represent the small-scale Lex and its key schedule in two alternative ways: as a system of cubic boolean equations and as a system of quadratic boolean equations. The authors use Grobner bases to solve the two systems for different number of rounds and sizes of the leak. They obtain the best results for the quadratic representation of the cipher. For this case they are able to recover the secret key in time less than 2 min by solving a system of 374 quadratic boolean equations in 208 unknowns resulting from 5 rounds of the cipher.
Manometric measurement of the outflow facility in the living human eye and its dependence on intraocular pressure

The intraocular pressure (IOP) is determined by a dynamic equilibrium between the production and outflow of the aqueous humour. The relationship between IOP and the outflow rate through the conventional and unconventional pathway is quantified by the outflow facility coefficient (C). The purpose of this study is to employ a direct (manometric) tonographic technique and determine C as well as its inverse, resistance (R), as a function of IOP in the living human eye.
The Charcot-Marie-Tooth diseases: how can we identify and develop novel therapeutic targets?

Genetic studies have provided significant insights towards understanding inherited neurological diseases. As the most common inherited neuromuscular disorder, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a prime example of how the identification during the past 20 years of underlying genetic mutations in patients and their families has led to the realization that we can no longer regard CMT as a single disease but rather a collection of hereditary peripheral neuropathies resulting from pathogenic mutations in more than 40 distinct genes (http//www.molgen.ua.ac.be/CMTMutations/Mutations/MutByGene.cfm). It is no surprise therefore that diagnostic whole-genome sequencing methods were first applied to patients with CMT (Lupski et al ., 2010; Montenegro et al ., 2011). With this wealth of genetic information, a key question is whether all the pathogenic mutations associated with CMT lead to disease by mechanisms converging on a limited number of dysfunctional pathways, or, alternatively, does each genetic mutation lead to peripheral nerve degeneration by a distinct mechanism? The answer will have obvious implications as we attempt to develop effective treatments. Moreover, these questions highlight the fact that the identification of each genetic mutation is only the first step in deciphering molecular mechanisms that fail at the protein and cellular level in patients with CMT. The classification of CMT into ‘demyelinating’ and ‘axonal’ forms, reflecting the presumed main site of pathology, i.e. the Schwann cell or axon, respectively, has proved useful in terms of targeted genetic testing (Reilly et al. , 2011). Although most genes associated with axonal CMT are yet to be identified, many of those mutated in the demyelinating forms are known. Because of the role of the Schwann cells in axon myelination, it is no surprise that among the genes identified as being …
Percutaneous MR imaging-guided laser-induced thermotherapy of hepatic metastases

AbstractBackground: Many primary tumors may cause liver metastases, which are generally treated with surgical resection and/or chemotherapy. After resection of liver metastases in patients with colorectal carcinoma, 5-year survival rates are achieved in 25–38%, and two-thirds of patients will experience recurrent metastases. We examined percutaneous, minimally invasive, laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT) as an alternative outpatient procedure. Local tumor control rate and survival data were analyzed prospectively. Methods: Between June 1993 and August 2000, 7148 laser applications were performed in 1981 lesions in 705 consecutive patients and 1653 treatment sessions. The complications of the procedure were evaluated by clinical examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography. Local tumor control was evaluated by plain and contrast-enhanced follow-up MRI using T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo and gradient-echo sequences every 3 months after treatment. Cumulative survival times were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results: The overall rate of complications and side effects was 7.5%. The rate of clinically relevant complications was 1.3%. Local tumor control rate after 3 months was 99.3%; 6 months after laser treatment, plain and contrast-enhanced MRI documented a local tumor control rate of 97.9%. In patients treated with MR-guided LITT for unresectable colorectal liver metastases, the mean survival was 41.8 months (95% confidence interval = 37.3–46.4 months). The 1-year survival rate was 93%, the 2-year survival rate was 74%, the 3-year survival rate was 50%, and the 5-year survival was 30%. In patients treated with LITT for liver metastases from breast cancer, the mean survival was 4.3 years (95% confidence interval = 3.6–5.0 years). Conclusion: In patients with liver metastases, local tumor destruction using minimally invasive, percutaneous LITT under local anesthesia results in improved clinical outcomes and survival rates and can be a potential alternative to surgical resection.
Real-time EEG-based emotion recognition for neurohumanities: perspectives from principal component analysis and tree-based algorithms

Within the field of Humanities, there is a recognized need for educational innovation, as there are currently no reported tools available that enable individuals to interact with their environment to create an enhanced learning experience in the humanities (e.g., immersive spaces). This project proposes a solution to address this gap by integrating technology and promoting the development of teaching methodologies in the humanities, specifically by incorporating emotional monitoring during the learning process of humanistic context inside an immersive space. In order to achieve this goal, a real-time emotion recognition EEG-based system was developed to interpret and classify specific emotions. These emotions aligned with the early proposal by Descartes (Passions), including admiration, love, hate, desire, joy, and sadness. This system aims to integrate emotional data into the Neurohumanities Lab interactive platform, creating a comprehensive and immersive learning environment. This work developed a ML, real-time emotion recognition model that provided Valence, Arousal, and Dominance (VAD) estimations every 5 seconds. Using PCA, PSD, RF, and Extra-Trees, the best 8 channels and their respective best band powers were extracted; furthermore, multiple models were evaluated using shift-based data division and cross-validations. After assessing their performance, Extra-Trees achieved a general accuracy of 94%, higher than the reported in the literature (88% accuracy). The proposed model provided real-time predictions of VAD variables and was adapted to classify Descartes' six main passions. However, with the VAD values obtained, more than 15 emotions can be classified (reported in the VAD emotion mapping) and extend the range of this application.
Survival Advantage Comparing Older Living Donor Versus Standard Criteria Donor Kidney Transplants

The aim of this analysis was to explore mortality outcomes for kidney transplant candidates receiving older living donor kidneys (age ≥60 years) versus younger deceased donors or remaining on dialysis. From 2000 to 2019, all patients on dialysis listed for their first kidney-alone transplant were included in a retrospective cohort analysis of UK transplant registry data. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality, with survival analysis conducted by intention-to-treat principle. Time-to-death from listing was modelled using nonproportional hazard Cox regression models with transplantation handled as a time-dependent covariate. A total of 32,978 waitlisted kidney failure patients formed the primary study cohort, of whom 18,796 (58.5%) received a kidney transplant (1,557 older living donor kidneys and 18,062 standard criteria donor kidneys). Older living donor kidney transplantation constituted only 17.0% of all living donor kidney transplant activity (overall cohort; n = 9,140). Recipients of older living donor kidneys had reduced all-cause mortality compared to receiving SCD kidneys (HR 0.904, 95% CI 0.845–0.967, p = 0.003) and much lower all-cause mortality versus remaining on the waiting list (HR 0.160, 95% CI 0.149–0.172, p < 0.001). Older living kidney donors should be actively explored to expand the living donor kidney pool and are an excellent treatment option for waitlisted kidney transplant candidates.