Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Movement and Mobility

This article provides an analysis of the concepts of movement and mobility within the context of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) for patients' functioning, disability, and health. The methodology developed by Walker and Avant was used to clarify definitions, components, and relationships relevant to the 2 concepts and to the elements of the ICF framework. Definitions and the relationship between concepts are key information that clinicians and researchers need to measure the correct concept when they are assessing the effectiveness of interventions in nursing practice. Concept analysis findings are grounded by the notion that movement occurs when the body causes its own displacement and is explained by the basic principles of physics, human anatomy, and physiology. Mobility is then distinct because it is affected by the environment that the individual is in and can be assisted by any type of mobility aid. Mobility does not need to be generated by the individual's muscles but does need to be controlled by the individual who is mobile. An individual's mobility in his or her environment is important to his or her well-being and needs to be understood in relationship to his or her movements.
Secure Real-time User Preference Collection for Broadcast Scheduling

Efficient broadcast scheduling is essential to the performance of wireless data broadcast systems. Existing algorithms for broadcast scheduling are mostly based on the knowledge of users' data access pattern. Unfortunately, the requirement of exposing individual preference profile becomes a serious threat to user privacy. In this paper, we investigate the issue of securely collecting user access patterns in real-time for broadcast scheduling. We propose a novel secure user profile collection protocol which protects the privacy of individual users yet facilitates efficient wireless data broadcast scheduling. To address the crucial issue of power conservation in mobile devices, our scheme does not rely on expensive public key cryptography. Light computation and communication at the user end makes the scheme feasible for mobile devices with limited resource. Our theoretical security analysis shows that the proposed protocol preserves user privacy against eavesdroppers and malicious broadcast servers. Moreover, our extensive performance evaluation experiments show that the proposed scheme has low computation and communication cost
New Direction on Low Complexity Implementation of Probabilistic Gradient Descent Bit-Flipping Decoder. (Nouvelle approche pour une implémentation matérielle à faible complexité du décodeur PGDBF)

Probabilistic Gradient Descent Bit Flipping (PGDBF) algorithm have been recently introduced as a new type of hard decision decoder for Low-Density Parity-Check Code (LDPC) applied on the Binary Symmetric Channel. By following precisely the decoding steps of the deterministic Gradient Descent Bit-Flipping (GDBF) decoder, PGDBF additionally incorporates a random perturbation in the flipping operation of Variable Nodes (VNs) and produces an outstanding decoding performance which is better to all known Bit Flipping decoders, approaching the performance of soft decision decoders. We propose in this thesis several hardware implementations of PGDBF, together with a theoretical analysis of its error correction capability. With a Markov Chain analysis of the decoder, we show that, due to the incorporation of random perturbation in VN processing, the PGDBF escapes from the trapping states which prevent the convergence of decoder. Also, with the new proposed analysis method, the PGDBF performance can be predicted and formulated by a Frame Error Rate equation as a function of the iteration, for a given error pattern. The analysis also gives a clear explanation on several phenomenons of PGDBF such as the gain of re-decoding (or restarting) on a received error pattern. The implementation issue of PGDBF is also addressed as a main part in this thesis. The conventional implementation of PGDBF, in which a probabilistic signal generator is added on top of the GDBF, is shown with an inevitable increase in hardware complexity. Several methods for generating the probabilistic signals are introduced which minimize the overhead complexity of PGDBF. These methods are motivated by the statistical analysis which reveals the critical features of the binary random sequence required to get good decoding performance and suggesting the simplification directions. The synthesis results show that the implemented PGDBF with the proposed probabilistic signal generator method requires a negligible extra complexity with the equivalent decoding performance to the theoretical PGDBF. An interesting and particular implementation of PGDBF for the Quasi-Cyclic LDPC (QC-LDPC) is shown in the last part of the thesis. Exploiting the structure of QC-LDPC, a novel architecture to implement PGDBF is proposed called Variable-Node Shift Architecture (VNSA). By implementing PGDBF with VNSA, it is shown that the decoder complexity is even smaller than the deterministic GDBF while preserving the decoding performance as good as the theoretical PGDBF. Furthermore, VNSA is also shown to be able to apply on other types of LDPC decoding algorithms.
Maternal and Infant Lipid-Based Nutritional Supplementation Increases Height of Ghanaian Children at 4–6 Years Only if the Mother Was Not Overweight Before Conception

ABSTRACT Background Few studies have evaluated the long-term effects of nutritional supplementation during the first 1000 d of life. We previously reported that maternal and child lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) increased child length by 18 mo. Objective The aim of this study was to examine the effects of LNS on later growth and body composition at 4–6 y of age. Design This was a follow-up of children in the International Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements (iLiNS)-DYAD trial in Ghana. Women (n = 1320) at ≤20 weeks of gestation were randomly assigned to: 1) iron and folic acid during pregnancy and 200 mg calcium/d for 6 mo postpartum, 2) multiple micronutrients (1–2 RDA of 18 vitamins and minerals) during both periods, or 3) maternal LNS during both periods plus child LNS from 6 to 18 mo. At 4–6 y, we compared height, height-for-age z score (HAZ), and % body fat (deuterium dilution method) between the LNS group and the 2 non-LNS groups combined. Results Data were available for 961 children (76.5% of live births). There were no significant differences between LNS compared with non-LNS groups in height [106.7 compared with 106.3 cm (mean difference, MD, 0.36; P = 0.226)], HAZ [−0.49 compared with −0.57 (MD = 0.08; P = 0.226)], stunting (< -2 SD) [6.5 compared with 6.3% (OR = 1.00; P = 0.993)], or % body fat [15.5 compared with 15.3% (MD = 0.16; P = 0.630)]. However, there was an interaction with maternal prepregnancy BMI (kg/m2) (P-interaction = 0.046 before correction for multiple testing): among children of women with BMI < 25 , LNS children were taller than non-LNS children (+1.1 cm, P = 0.017), whereas there was no difference among children of women with BMI ≥ 25 (+0.1 cm; P = 0.874). Conclusions There was no overall effect of LNS on height at 4–6 y in this cohort, which had a low stunting rate, but height was greater in the LNS group among children of nonoverweight/obese women. There was no adverse impact of LNS on body composition. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00970866.
Three-Dimensionally Printed Hyperelastic Bone Scaffolds Accelerate Bone Regeneration in Critical-Size Calvarial Bone Defects

Background: Autologous bone grafts remain the gold standard for craniofacial reconstruction despite limitations of donor-site availability and morbidity. A myriad of commercial bone substitutes and allografts are available, yet no product has gained widespread use because of inferior clinical outcomes. The ideal bone substitute is both osteoconductive and osteoinductive. Craniofacial reconstruction often involves irregular three-dimensional defects, which may benefit from malleable or customizable substrates. “Hyperelastic Bone” is a three-dimensionally printed synthetic scaffold, composed of 90% by weight hydroxyapatite and 10% by weight poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), with inherent bioactivity and porosity to allow for tissue integration. This study examines the capacity of Hyperelastic Bone for bone regeneration in a critical-size calvarial defect. Methods: Eight-millimeter calvarial defects in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with three-dimensionally printed Hyperelastic Bone, three-dimensionally printed Fluffy–poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) without hydroxyapatite, autologous bone (positive control), or left untreated (negative control). Animals were euthanized at 8 or 12 weeks postoperatively and specimens were analyzed for new bone formation by cone beam computed tomography, micro–computed tomography, and histology. Results: The mineralized bone volume–to–total tissue volume fractions for the Hyperelastic Bone cohort at 8 and 12 weeks were 74.2 percent and 64.5 percent of positive control bone volume/total tissue, respectively (p = 0.04). Fluffy–poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) demonstrated little bone formation, similar to the negative control. Histologic analysis of Hyperelastic Bone scaffolds revealed fibrous tissue at 8 weeks, and new bone formation surrounding the scaffold struts by 12 weeks. Conclusion: Findings from our study suggest that Hyperelastic Bone grafts are effective for bone regeneration, with significant potential for clinical translation.
Effect of Aqueous Extracts of some Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants on Tissues Involved in Glucose Homeostasis in vitro

Aqueous extracts of some antidiabetic Ayurvedic plant treatments such as Trigonella foenum-graecum Linn (TFG), Ptero- carpus marsupium Roxb (PM), Gymnema sylvestre R.Br (GS) and Curcuma longa Linn (CL) were tested for their biological effects on glucose uptake by mouse muscle tissue and insulin secretion from mouse pancreas under both basal and hypergly- cemic culture conditions. The results indicate that none of these treatments have a significant effect on either glucose uptake by muscle or insulin secretion from the pancreas under basal conditions. Under hyperglycemic conditions all treatments except GS demonstrate significant effects on glucose uptake by muscle tissue, and all treatments were effective at increasing insulin secretion from pancreas. This suggests that all these plant treatments enhance glucose homeostasis by stimulating either insulin secretion (GS) or enhancing glucose uptake (TFG) or activating both (CL and PM).
Surfing the right ventricular pressure waveform: methods to assess global, systolic and diastolic RV function from a clinical right heart catheterization

Right ventricular (RV) function strongly associates with mortality in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Current methods to determine RV function require temporal measurements of pressure and volume. The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of using right heart catheterization (RHC) measurements to estimate systolic and diastolic RV function. RV pressure and volume points were fit to P = α(eβV-1) to assess diastolic stiffness coefficient (β) and end-diastolic elastance (Eed). Single-beat methods were used to assess RV contractility (Ees). The effects of a non-zero unstressed RV volume (V0), RHC-derived stroke volume (SVRHC), and normalization of the end-diastolic volume (EDV) on estimates of β, Eed, and Ees were tested using Bland–Altman analysis in an incident PAH cohort (n = 32) that had both a RHC and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) test. RHC-derived measures of RV function were used to detect the effect of prostacyclin therapy in an incident PAH cohort and the severity of PAH in prevalent PAH (n = 21). A non-zero V0 had a minimal effect on β with a small bias and limits of agreement (LOA). Stroke volume (SV) significantly influenced estimates of β and Ees with a large LOA. Normalization of EDV had minimal effect on both β and Eed. RHC-derived β and Eed increased due to the severity of PAH and decreased due to three months of prostacyclin therapy. It is feasible to detect therapeutic changes in specific stiffness and elastic properties of the RV from signal-beat pressure-volume loops by using RHC-derived SV and normalizing RV EDV.
Complex Program Induction for Querying Knowledge Bases in the Absence of Gold Programs

Recent years have seen increasingly complex question-answering on knowledge bases (KBQA) involving logical, quantitative, and comparative reasoning over KB subgraphs. Neural Program Induction (NPI) is a pragmatic approach toward modularizing the reasoning process by translating a complex natural language query into a multi-step executable program. While NPI has been commonly trained with the ‘‘gold’’ program or its sketch, for realistic KBQA applications such gold programs are expensive to obtain. There, practically only natural language queries and the corresponding answers can be provided for training. The resulting combinatorial explosion in program space, along with extremely sparse rewards, makes NPI for KBQA ambitious and challenging. We present Complex Imperative Program Induction from Terminal Rewards (CIPITR), an advanced neural programmer that mitigates reward sparsity with auxiliary rewards, and restricts the program space to semantically correct programs using high-level constraints, KB schema, and inferred answer type. CIPITR solves complex KBQA considerably more accurately than key-value memory networks and neural symbolic machines (NSM). For moderately complex queries requiring 2- to 5-step programs, CIPITR scores at least 3× higher F1 than the competing systems. On one of the hardest class of programs (comparative reasoning) with 5–10 steps, CIPITR outperforms NSM by a factor of 89 and memory networks by 9 times.
Quantitative Relationships between Pulmonary Function and Residual Neuromuscular Blockade

Background Neuromuscular blockade is a risk factor for postoperative respiratory weakness during the immediate postoperative period. The quantitative relationships between postoperative pulmonary-function impairment and residual neuromuscular blockade are unknown. Methods 113 patients who underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled in this study. They all had a pulmonary-function test (PFT) during the preoperative evaluation. Predictive values based on demographic data were also recorded. The train-of-four ratio (TOFR) was recorded at the same time as the PFT and at every 5 minutes in the qualified 98 patients in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). We analyzed the degree of PFT recovery when the TOFR had recovered to different degrees. Results There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the preoperative baseline value and the postoperative forced vital capacity at each TOFR point, except at a TOFR value of 1.1. There was also a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the preoperative baseline value and the postoperative peak expiratory flow at each TOFR point. Conclusions Postoperative residual neuromuscular blockade was common (75.51%) after tracheal extubation, and pulmonary function could not recover to an acceptable level (85% of baseline value), even if TOFR had recovered to 0.90. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trial Register is ChiCTR-OOC-15005838.
Hands-Free Human-Computer Interface Based on Facial Myoelectric Pattern Recognition

Patients with no or limited hand function usually have difficulty in using conventional input devices such as a mouse or a touch screen. Having the ability of manipulating electronic devices can give patients full access to the digital world, thereby increasing their independence and confidence, and enriching their lives. In this study, a hands-free human-computer interface was developed in order to help patients manipulate computers using facial movements. Five facial movement patterns were detected by four electromyography (EMG) sensors, and classified using myoelectric pattern recognition algorithms. Facial movement patterns were mapped to cursor actions including movements in different directions and click. A typing task and a drawing task were designed in order to assess the interaction performance of the interface in daily use. Ten able-bodied subjects participated in the experiment. In the typing task, the median path efficiency was 80.4%, and the median input rate was 5.9 letters per minute. In the drawing task, the median time to accomplish was 239.9 s. Moreover, all the subjects achieved high classification accuracy (median: 98.0%). The interface driven by facial EMG achieved high performance, and will be assessed on patients with limited hand functions in the future.
Analysis and Modeling of the Multi-wavelength Observations of the Luminous GRB 190114C

Very-high-energy (VHE; ≥ 10 GeV) photons are expected from the nearest and brightest gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). VHE photons, at energies higher than 300 GeV, were recently reported by the MAGIC Collaboration for this burst. Immediately, GRB 190114C was followed up by a massive observational campaign covering a large fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this Letter, we obtain the Large Area Telescope (LAT) light curve of GRB 190114C and show that it exhibits similar features to other bright LAT-detected bursts; the first high-energy photon (≥100 MeV) is delayed with the onset of the prompt phase and the flux light curve exhibits a long-lasting emission (much longer than the prompt phase) and a short-lasting bright peak (located at the beginning of long-lasting emission). Analyzing the multi-wavelength observations, we show that the short-lasting LAT and Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor bright peaks are consistent with the synchrotron self-Compton reverse-shock model, and that the long-lasting observations are consistent with the standard synchrotron forward-shock model that evolves from a stratified stellar-wind–like medium to a uniform interstellar-medium–like medium. Given the best-fit values, a bright optical flash produced by synchrotron reverse-shock emission is expected. From our analysis we infer that the high-energy photons are produced in the deceleration phase of the outflow, and some additional processes to synchrotron in the forward shocks should be considered to properly describe the LAT photons with energies beyond the synchrotron limit. Moreover, we claim that an outflow endowed with magnetic fields could describe the polarization and properties exhibited in the light curve of GRB 190114C.
Self-Reported Hindering Health Complaints of Community-Dwelling Older Persons: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose Proactive care for community-dwelling older persons targeting self-reported hindering health complaints might prevent a decline in function. We investigated the spectrum of self-reported hindering complaints of community-dwelling older persons, the association with functional outcomes, and help-seeking behavior for these complaints. Methods Within the ISCOPE trial, participants (aged ≥75 years) received the ISCOPE screening questionnaire, including the open-ended question “At the moment, which health complaints limit you the most in your day-to-day life? ”. After coding the answers with the ICPC-1-NL, we examined the prevalence and the association between the number and type of complaints and functional outcomes (Groningen Activities Restriction Scale, quality of life measured on Cantril’s Ladder, Mini-Mental State Examination, Geriatric Depression Scale-15, and De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale). Electronic patient registers were searched for the most reported complaints. Results 7285 participants (median age: 81.0 years [IQR 77.8–85.3], 38.6% males) reported 13,524 hindering complaints (median 1, range 0–18); 32.7% reported no complaints. Participants mostly reported problems with walking/standing (22.1%), pain (20.8%) or weakness/tiredness (8.5%). These complaints were mentioned in the electronic patient registers in 28.3%, 91.3% and 55.5%, respectively. Higher numbers of hindering complaints were related to poorer scores on the number of domains with problems, Cantril’s Ladder for quality of life, Groningen Activities Restriction Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, and De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Self-reported weakness, problems with walking/standing, visual limitations, cognitive problems, dyspnea and back complaints were associated with poorer scores on the number of domains with problems, Groningen Activities Restriction Scale, MMSE or Geriatric Depression Scale. Conclusion One third of the participants reported no hindering complaints. Problems with walking/standing, pain, and weakness/tiredness were most reported, but not always found in electronic patient registers. A higher number of, and specific self-reported hindering complaints, were associated with poorer scores on functional outcomes. It may be helpful for general practitioners to ask about these complaints and their influence on daily life.
Review article: Investigations and the pregnant woman in the emergency department – part 1: Laboratory investigations

Accurate assessment of the pregnant patient in the ED depends on knowledge of physiological changes in pregnancy, and how these changes may impact on pathology tests, appearance on point‐of‐care ultrasound and electrocardiography. In addition the emergency physician needs to be cognisant of disorders that are unique to or more common in pregnancy. Part 1 of this review addresses potential deviations in laboratory investigation reference intervals resulting from physiological alterations in pregnancy, and the important causes of abnormal laboratory results in pregnancy. Part 2 will address the role of point‐of‐care ultrasound in pregnancy, physiological changes that may affect interpretation of point‐of‐care ultrasound, physiological changes in electrocardiography, and the safety of radiological procedures in the pregnant patient.
Low-Rank Principal Eigenmatrix Analysis

Sparse PCA is a widely used technique for high-dimensional data analysis. In this paper, we propose a new method called low-rank principal eigenmatrix analysis. Different from sparse PCA, the dominant eigenvectors are allowed to be dense but are assumed to have a low-rank structure when matricized appropriately. Such a structure arises naturally in several practical cases: Indeed the top eigenvector of a circulant matrix, when matricized appropriately is a rank-1 matrix. We propose a matricized rank-truncated power method that could be efficiently implemented and establish its computational and statistical properties. Extensive experiments on several synthetic data sets demonstrate the competitive empirical performance of our method.
Electrochemical Co-deposition of Polydopamine/Hyaluronic Acid for Anti-biofouling Bioelectrodes

Bioelectrodes are key components of electronic devices that efficiently mediate electrical signals in biological systems. However, conventional bioelectrodes often undergo biofouling associated with non-specific proteins and cell adhesion on the electrode surfaces, which leads to seriously degraded electrical and/or electrochemical properties. Hence, a facile and effective method to modify the surface of bioelectrodes is required to introduce anti-biofouling properties and improve performance. Here, we report an electrochemical surface modification of a bioelectrode via co-deposition of hyaluronic acid (HA) and polydopamine (PDA). The electrochemical polymerization and deposition of PDA offered simple and effective incorporation of highly hydrophilic and anti-fouling HA to the electrode surfaces, with no substantial increase in impedance. HA-incorporated PDA (PDA/HA)-modified electrodes displayed significant resistance to non-specific protein adsorption and the adhesion of fibroblasts. In addition, 4-week subcutaneous implantation studies revealed that the modified electrodes attenuated scar tissue formation compared with that induced by unmodified bare electrodes. This simple and effective electrochemical surface modification could be further employed for various implantable bioelectrodes (e.g., prosthetics and biosensors) and could extend their bioelectronic applications.