Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beta-Adrenergic Modulation of Tremor and Corticomuscular Coherence in Humans

Coherence between the bioelectric activity of sensorimotor cortex and contralateral muscles can be observed around 20 Hz. By contrast, physiological tremor has a dominant frequency around 10 Hz. Although tremor has multiple sources, it is partly central in origin, reflecting a component of motoneuron discharge at this frequency. The motoneuron response to ∼20 Hz descending input could be altered by non-linear interactions with ∼10 Hz motoneuron firing. We investigated this further in eight healthy human subjects by testing the effects of the beta-adrenergic agents propranolol (non-selective β-antagonist) and salbutamol (β2-agonist), which are known to alter the size of physiological tremor. Corticomuscular coherence was assessed during an auxotonic precision grip task; tremor was quantified using accelerometry during index finger extension. Experiments with propranolol used a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design. A single oral dose of propranolol (40 mg) significantly increased beta band (15.3–32.2 Hz) corticomuscular coherence compared with placebo, but reduced tremor in the 6.2–11.9 Hz range. Salbutamol (2.5 mg) was administered by inhalation. Whilst salbutamol significantly increased tremor amplitude as expected, it did not change corticomuscular coherence. The opposite direction of the effects of propranolol on corticomuscular coherence and tremor, and the fact that salbutamol enhances tremor but does not affect coherence, implies that the magnitude of corticomuscular coherence is little influenced by non-linear interactions with 10 Hz oscillations in motoneurons or the periphery. Instead, we suggest that propranolol and salbutamol may affect both tremor and corticomuscular coherence partly via a central site of action.
A Preliminary Study of Insect Succession in Al‐Ahsaa Oasis, in the Eastern Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Rabbit carcass decomposition was examined in four seasons in Al‐Ahsaa Oasis. Decomposition rate was significantly faster in summer compared with other seasons. Fourteen insect species from four orders and seven families were recorded: Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae, Formicidae, Histeridae, Dermestidae, and Tenebrionidae. Most of the fly maggots collected were Calliphoridae with only one species from both Muscidae and Sarcophagidae. Maggots of Calliphora vicina (R.‐D.) and Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) colonized the carcasses in all seasons while both Ch. bezziana (Villeneuve) and Lucilia sericata (Meigen) were found in all seasons except for winter. Maggots of Chrysomya megacephala (F.) and Phormia regina (Meigen) were only collected in the summer and autumn, respectively. Four coleopteran species were collected: Hymenorus sp. , Saprinus chacites (Illiger), Dermestes maculatus DeGeer and Blaps sp. One formicidian species, Pheidole megacephala (F.), was observed in all seasons. Insect richness was greater, and decomposition rate was faster in summer compared with other seasons.
Water-soluble organic carbon in urban aerosol: concentrations, size distributions and contribution to particulate matter

The aim of this study was to characterize the concentrations and particle mass size distributions of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in urban aerosols. The sample collection was carried out in spring 2006 at the SMEAR III station in Helsinki, Finland, by using a size-segregating method (MOUDI) and by collecting sub-micrometer fraction of aerosols on the filter. During the three-month measurement period, a major 12-day biomass burning pollution episode was observed. Concentrations of WSOC, organic carbon, monosaccharide anhydrides, inorganic ions and some organic acids (oxalic, succinic and malonic acid) were analyzed from the PM 1 samples. The measured OC and WSOC concentrations varied in ranges 0.67-15.7 μg m -3 and 0.26-10.7 μg m -3 , respectively. The WSOC/OC concentration ratio was between 0.30 and 0.89 with an average of 0.54. Size distributions of WSOC, inorganic ions and total mass were determined from the MOUDI samples. WSOC had bimodal size distributions with a clear accumulation mode below 1 μm of particle aerodynamic diameter and minor coarse mode at sizes > 1 μm.
Transurethral Resection of Prostate Abscess: Is It Different from Conventional Transurethral Resection for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia?

Purpose. To present our experience of prostate abscess management by modified transurethral resection (TUR) technique. Methods. Seventeen men with prostate abscess undergoing TUR between 2003 and 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Details of demography, surgical procedures, complications, and followup were noted. Results. With a mean age of 61.53 ± 8.58 years, all patients had multifocal abscess cavities. Initially, 6 men underwent classical TUR similar to the technique used for benign prostatic enlargement (group 1). Next, 11 men underwent modified TUR (group 2) in which bladder neck and anterior zone were not resected. The abscess cavities resolved completely, and no patient required a second intervention. One patient in group 1 and three in group 2 had postoperative fever requiring parenteral antibiotics (P = 0.916). Three patients in group 1 had transient urinary incontinence, whereas none of the patients in group 2 had this complication (P = 0.055). Four and five men in group 1 and 2 reported retrograde ejaculation, respectively (P = 0.740). Conclusion. The modified technique of prostate resection edges over conventional TURP in the form of reduced morbidity but maintains its high success rate for complete abscess drainage. It alleviates the need for secondary procedures, having an apparent advantage over limited drainage techniques. Use of this technique is emphasized in cases associated with BPH and lack of proper preoperative imaging.
Using Proximity Measure to Improve Locality in Structured P2P Networks

Peer-to-peer networks are generally characterized in terms of sharing computer resources without the intermediation of a centralized server. Interconnected nodes in peer-to-peer networks are able to communicate through a self organizing topology which runs as an overlay on top of the physical network. The mismatch problem between underlay and overlay network in such systems, known as locality problem, creates extra traffic in the network. Knowledge about peers in the underlay network can be used to find the solution of locality problem by defining a proximity measure. This paper proposes an algorithm to measure proximity of nodes in peerto-peer networks. In this algorithm, we measure proximity among pairs of nodes in the overlay network. The main advantages of our algorithm are making use of two metric for proximity evaluation, and comparing our simulation results with a well known and a structured peer-to-peer network for a better assessment. Also using real data is proper for algorithm performance verification. Results on real data indicate a good performance for the algorithm with low overhead in time and traffic by.
A review of recent evidence in human studies of n-3 and n-6 PUFA intake on cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depressive disorders: does the ratio really matter?

Abstract Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been considered of great interest for human health due to their potential anti-inflammatory action that may protect from a number of chronic-degenerative diseases with an inflammatory pathogenesis. This review aimed to report the most updated evidence of both n-3 and n-6 PUFAs effect on cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depression in humans. Attention has been also paid to those studies exploring the effects of the ratio intake. Results from pooled analyses of human studies reported a general positive effect of n-3 PUFAs intake on all outcomes considered. In contrast, the role of n-6 PUFAs on human health needs to be better assessed in order to clearly identify which compound exerts beneficial/harmful effects. Only a limited number of clinical studies considered the n-3:n-6 PUFAs ratio, rather reporting contrasting results. A number of limitations when considering the ratio between these two families of PUFAs have risen.
In vivo Measurement of Fascicle Length and Pennation Angle of the Human Biceps femoris Muscle

The purpose of this investigation was to measure in vivo fascicle length (Lfas) and pennation angle (PA) of the long head of the biceps femoris muscle (BFlh m.) at different hip and knee angles while the muscle was relaxed using ultrasonography (US). Data were collected from 18 healthy females (23.0 ± 1.8 years). To validate the measurements of the Lfas and PA, the US measurements on cadavers (n = 5), embalmed with the hip and knee in anatomical position, were compared to actual fiber lengths and PA from the dissected muscles. US images from volunteer subjects were recorded when the hip joint was positioned at 0°, 45° and 90° of hip flexion, and at each hip position, the knee joint was placed at 0°, 45° and 90° from full extension. The images were digitized to measure Lfas and PA. Results showed no significant differences between US and direct measurements of the Lfas and PA on the cadaver BFlh m. (p > 0.05). Lfas and PA changed significantly between the different hip and knee positions in volunteer subjects (p < 0.05). Changes in the Lfas and PA are more sensitive to changes in hip position with the knee position constant than to changes in knee position with the hip position constant. This difference may be related to the larger muscle moment arm at the hip resulting in greater excursion of the muscle with changing hip position. Based on the changes in Lfas with changing joint positions, BFlh sarcomere length was estimated to occupy a portion of the ascending limb, the plateau and descending limb of the length-tension relationship over the range of motion studied. US scanning is valid and reliable for measuring Lfas and PA of the BFlh m. An understanding of the dynamic nature of muscle architecture will assist in determining effective and efficient clinical evaluation and rehabilitation techniques.
A Smoking Reduction and Cessation Program With Registered Nurses: Findings and Implications for Community Health Nursing

A smoking reduction and cessation program was implemented with registered nurses in 3 Canadian provinces. Nurses (n = 117) participated in either an 8-week group or self-directed program using a resource specifically designed for nurses. Questionnaires were administered prior to and at the end of the 8-week interventions and at 6 and 12 months postintervention. Statistically significant changes at 8 weeks in nurses' smoking practices were found on the number of nurses continuing to smoke, mean number of cigarettes smoked, and movement in the stage of behavioral change. Attrition and variation in patterns of quitting over the 12-month study period made assessing participants' longer term out-comes difficult. This study¹ highlights the complexity of assisting nurses to quit smoking and of implementing and evaluating a program based on accepted community health models of practice.
Natural Language Comprehension with the EpiReader

We present the EpiReader, a novel model for machine comprehension of text. Machine comprehension of unstructured, real-world text is a major research goal for natural language processing. Current tests of machine comprehension pose questions whose answers can be inferred from some supporting text, and evaluate a model's response to the questions. The EpiReader is an end-to-end neural model comprising two components: the first component proposes a small set of candidate answers after comparing a question to its supporting text, and the second component formulates hypotheses using the proposed candidates and the question, then reranks the hypotheses based on their estimated concordance with the supporting text. We present experiments demonstrating that the EpiReader sets a new state-of-the-art on the CNN and Children's Book Test machine comprehension benchmarks, outperforming previous neural models by a significant margin.
PLCFRS Parsing of English Discontinuous Constituents

This paper proposes a direct parsing of non-local dependencies in English. To this end, we use probabilistic linear context-free rewriting systems for data-driven parsing, following recent work on parsing German. In order to do so, we first perform a transformation of the Penn Treebank annotation of non-local dependencies into an annotation using crossing branches. The resulting treebank can be used for PLCFRS-based parsing. Our evaluation shows that, compared to PCFG parsing with the same techniques, PLCFRS parsing yields slightly better results. In particular when evaluating only the parsing results concerning long-distance dependencies, the PLCFRS approach with discontinuous constituents is able to recognize about 88% of the dependencies of type *T* and *T*-PRN encoded in the Penn Treebank. Even the evaluation results concerning local dependencies, which can in principle be captured by a PCFG-based model, are better with our PLCFRS model. This demonstrates that by discarding information on non-local dependencies the PCFG model loses important information on syntactic dependencies in general.
Leader-following consensus control for linear multi-agents systems with switching directed topologies

This paper addresses the distributed leader-following consensus problem of multi-agent systems with general linear node dynamics and switching directed topologies. The possible underlying topologies consist of a null graph as well as several directed graphs with each of them containing a directed spanning trees with the leader being the root. A new kind of distributed controllers is constructed for each follower to guarantee that the states of the followers can track those of the leader asymptotically. By appropriately constructing a Lyapunov function and using tools from M-matrix theory, some sufficient conditions for achieving leader-following consensus are provided. Theoretical analysis is finally verified by performing numerical simulations.
[Analysis on the relationship between adolescent myopia and serum sex hormone].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the quantitative changes of the serum sex hormone levels in juvenile myopia patients. METHODS In January 2013, investigation of Wenzhou middle school 822 adolescents, including 432 male patients and 390 female patients were involved in the study Visual acuity ≥ 5 was set as the normal value. The subjects were divided into two groups, the myopia group and the non-myopia group. Chemiluminescence immunoassay analyzer was used to detect the subjects' sex hormone concentration of estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). RESULTS The follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone of the female patients were significantly higher than those of male counterparts (P < 0.01); among the two groups consisting female myopia and non-myopia patients, a significant difference in luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone was shown (P < 0.05); the distinct differences in the level of luteinizing hormone and testosterone level showed in the male myopia group and non-myopia group were of outstanding statistics significance (P < 0.01), showing the result that the level of sex hormone in myopia group was higher than that in the non-myopia group. CONCLUSION A close relationship perhaps between the level of sex hormone with gender differences and juvenile myopia is confirmed.
Chemical events on the primitive Earth.

In this paper the nature of the primitive atmosphere and ocean is considered in the light of geologic and geophysical information. The hypothesis of an early methane-ammonia atmosphere is found to be without solid foundation and indeed is contraindicated. Geologists favor an alternative view-that genesis of air and oceans is a result of planetary outgassing. Some consequences of this view are examined. Volatiles from outgassing interacted with the alkaline crust to form an ocean having a pH 8-9 and tzo produce an atmosphere consisting of CO, C02, N2, and H2. Radiation interacting with such a mixture yields HCN as a principal product. Ultraviolet irradiation of HCN solutions at pH 8-9 yields amino acids and other important substances of biologic interest. The nature of the earth's environment limited the kinds of compounds that might have accumulated in a soup. Arguments concerning feasible components support the view that amino acids and proteins preceded sugars and nucleic acids. If the methane-ammonia hypothesis were correct, there should be geochemical evidence supporting it. What is the evidence for a primitive methane-ammonia atmosphere on earth? The answer is that there is no evidence for it, but much against it. The methane-ammonia hypothesis is in major trouble with respect to the ammonia component, for ammonia on the primitive earth would have quickly disappeared. The effective threshold for degradation by ultraviolet radiation is 2,250 A. A quantity of ammonia equivalent to present atmospheric nitrogen would be destroyed in -30,000 years. Small amounts of ammonia would be reformed, but this process is unimportant in comparison to the destruction. If large amounts of methane had ever been present in the earth's atmosphere, geologic evidence for it should also be available. Laboratory experiments show that one consequence of irradiating a dense, highly reducing atmosphere is the production of hydrophobic organic molecules which are adsorbed by sedimenting clays. The earliest rocks should contain an unusually large proportion of carbon or organic chemicals. This is not the case. The composition of the present atmosphere with respect to the gases neon, argon, krypton, and xenon is crucial. Neon is present on earth to an extent about 10-1O
Multi-View Learning over Structured and Non-Identical Outputs

In many machine learning problems, labeled training data is limited but unlabeled data is ample. Some of these problems have instances that can be factored into multiple views, each of which is nearly sufficent in determining the correct labels. In this paper we present a new algorithm for probabilistic multi-view learning which uses the idea of stochastic agreement between views as regularization. Our algorithm works on structured and unstructured problems and easily generalizes to partial agreement scenarios. For the full agreement case, our algorithm minimizes the Bhattacharyya distance between the models of each view, and performs better than CoBoosting and two-view Perceptron on several flat and structured classification problems.
PREDICTING THE REDSHIFT 2 Hα LUMINOSITY FUNCTION USING [O iii] EMISSION LINE GALAXIES

Upcoming space-based surveys such as Euclid and WFIRST-AFTA plan to measure baryonic acoustic oscillations in order to study dark energy. These surveys will use IR slitless grism spectroscopy to measure redshifts of a large number of galaxies over a significant redshift range. In this paper, we use the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel Survey (WISP) to estimate the expected number of Hα emitters observable by these future surveys. WISP is an ongoing Hubble Space Telescope slitless spectroscopic survey, covering the 0.8–1.65 μm wavelength range and allowing the detection of Hα emitters up to z ∼ 1.5 and [O iii] emitters to z ∼ 2.3. We derive the Hα–[O iii] bivariate line luminosity function (LLF) for WISP galaxies at z ∼ 1 using a maximum likelihood estimator that properly accounts for uncertainties in line luminosity measurements and we demonstrate how it can be used to derive the Hα luminosity function by exclusively fitting [O iii] data. Using the z ∼ 2 ? > [O iii] LLF and assuming that the relation between Hα and [O iii] luminosity does not change significantly over the redshift range, we predict the Hα number counts at z ∼ 2 ? > —the upper end of the redshift range of interest for future surveys. For the redshift range 0.7 < z < 2 , ? > we expect ∼3000 galaxies deg−2 for a flux limit of 3 × 10−16 erg s−1 cm−2 (the proposed depth of the Euclid galaxy redshift survey) and ∼20,000 galaxies deg−2 for a flux limit of ∼10−16 erg s−1 cm−2 (the baseline depth of the WFIRST galaxy redshift survey).
Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced Composites for Biomedical Applications

This review paper reported carbon nanotubes reinforced composites for biomedical applications. Several studies have found enhancement in the mechanical properties of CNTs-based reinforced composites by the addition of CNTs. CNTs reinforced composites have been intensively investigated for many aspects of life, especially being made for biomedical applications. The review introduced fabrication of CNTs reinforced composites (CNTs reinforced metal matrix composites, CNTs reinforced polymer matrix composites, and CNTs reinforced ceramic matrix composites), their mechanical properties, cell experiments in vitro, and biocompatibility tests in vivo.
The impact of health literacy on cardiovascular disease

One's ability to read, listen, and comprehend health information is a vital element of maintaining and improving health. However, 90 million people in the United States exhibit less than adequate health literacy skills. Given that more than 70 million Americans suffer from cardiovascular diseases, it is certain that every physician's practice is affected by health literacy issues. Those with language and cultural issues tend to be the most affected. Yet numerous studies find physicians do a poor job of assessing their patients’ health literacy skills. Patients are also unaware of the steps they should take, and how to take them, to improve their health and prevent complications. Numerous studies find, however, that outcomes can be improved with targeted patient education and improved physician communication skills that take into account patients’ health literacy levels. Unfortunately, the health care system is only beginning to recognize this problem and take action to overcome its negative impact. By improving the communication process with patients, physicians may be able to improve cardiovascular outcomes.
Thrombospondin-1 Is a Plasmatic Marker of Peripheral Arterial Disease That Modulates Endothelial Progenitor Cell Angiogenic Properties

Objective—We examined whether plasma levels of angiogenic factors are altered in plasma of patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and whether these factors affect endothelial progenitor cell–induced angiogenesis. Methods and Results—Plasma was collected from 184 patients with PAD and 330 age-matched healthy controls. Vascular endothelial growth factor and placental growth factor concentrations did not differ between the groups, whereas we found a linear correlation between PAD disease and thrombospondin (TSP)-1 plasma level. TSP-1 was expressed in newly formed vessels in PAD patients having received local injections of bone marrow mononuclear cells. To analyze the functional role of TSP-1 during neoangiogenesis, we used a Matrigel-plug assay and showed that vascularization of implanted Matrigel-plugs was increased in TSP-1−/− mice. Moreover, injections of TSP-1 in C57Bl6/J mice after hindlimb ischemia induced a significant decrease of blood flow recovery. To investigate the effects of TSP-1 on human endothelial colony-forming cell (ECFC) angiogenic potential, recombinant human TSP-1 and a small interfering RNA were used. In vitro, TSP-1 N-terminal part significantly enhanced ECFC adhesion, whereas recombinant human TSP-1 had a negative effect on ECFC angiogenic potential. This effect, mediated by CD47 binding, modulated stromal cell–derived factor 1/CXC chemokine receptor 4 pathway. Conclusion—TSP-1 is a potential biomarker of PAD and ECFC-induced angiogenesis, suggesting that TSP-1 modulation might improve local tissue ischemia in this setting. (Clinical trial registration: NCT00377897.)