Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Botulinum toxin treatment of cocontractions after birth-related brachial plexus lesions

Article abstract The authors studied botulinum toxin type A therapy of severe biceps–triceps cocontractions after nerve regeneration following birth-related brachial plexus lesions. Six children (age, 2 to 4 years) were treated two to three times over a period of 8 to 12 months with 40 mouse units of botulinum toxin at two sites of the triceps muscle. Elbow range of motion improved from 0 to 25 to 50 deg to 0 to 25 to 100 deg (p < 0.05), and muscle force of elbow flexion increased from a mean of Medical Research Council classification 1.7 to 3.7 (p < 0.05). After a 1-year follow-up, there was no clinical recurrence.
Impact of Zinc Fortification on Zinc Nutrition

Food fortification is increasingly recognized as an effective approach to improve a population's micronutrient status. The present report provides a critical review of the scientific evidence currently available on the impact of zinc fortification on zinc nutrition. The available studies clearly show that zinc fortification can increase dietary zinc intake and total daily zinc absorption. Most absorption studies also indicate that adding zinc to food does not adversely affect the absorption of other minerals, such as iron. Despite the positive effect of zinc fortification on total zinc absorption, only a few studies have found positive impacts of zinc fortification on serum zinc concentrations or functional indicators of zinc status. The reasons for these inconsistent results are uncertain but may relate to the choice of food vehicles, the age group and zinc status of the study populations, or particular aspects of the study design. Thus, additional research is needed to determine the impact of zinc fortification, with or without other micronutrients, in populations at risk for zinc deficiency. Because of the benefits of increasing intake in populations at high risk for zinc deficiency, the documented increase in total zinc absorption that occurs following zinc fortification, the absence of any adverse effects, and the relatively low cost of adding zinc, public health planners should consider including zinc in mass and targeted fortification programs in such populations. Because of the limited available information on program impact, it will be important to evaluate the outcomes of such programs.
Bit error probability analysis of UWB communications with a relay node

In this paper, the extension of cooperative communication to the context of TH-UWB is investigated. In particular, the average bit error probability (BEP) is provided for cooperative TH-UWB systems with decode-and-forward relaying protocol. In the considered relay network, UWB links among the nodes are modeled according to IEEE 802.15. 4a standards. Our methodology is based on computing the characteristic function (CF) of the decision variable at the destination terminal. We use Gaussian quadrature numerical method to approximate the CF of interference component appeared in decision variable term. This technique permits to predict the system performance in different IEEE 802.15. 4a defined channels with high accuracy and reasonable complexity. Numerical results show that significant improvement in the BEP of impulse radio UWB system is obtained by adding a relay node. The analytical expressions are also validated by computer simulations which confirm the accuracy of the approximations used in obtaining the BEP.
Illusory contours and specific regions of human extrastriate cortex: evidence from rTMS

Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies showed that perception of illusory contours is associated with extrastriate cortex activation prevailing on the right side. 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is able to induce lasting inhibition of cortical activity. The objective of the study was to investigate the role of extrastriate cortex in illusory contour perception inducing 1 Hz rTMS interference in healthy subjects. Eight healthy subjects underwent 1 Hz rTMS (600 pulses) through a figure‐of‐eight coil over right and left occipital cortex (O1 and O2 of 10/20 EEG system); sham magnetic stimulation on the same sites and right motor cortex rTMS (in three subjects) were given as control. Subjects performed a computerized task requiring perception of illusory and real contours of Kanizsa squares in baseline and after rTMS. After stimulus presentation the subject made a forced‐choice decision about the regularity or irregularity of stimulus contour, by hitting as fast as possible one of two keys on the computer keyboard. Reaction times (RT) were measured. Right occipital stimulation significantly increased RT for illusory contour perception (vs. baseline, P < 0.05). No significant RT changes were observed in the other experimental conditions with respect to the baseline condition. It is concluded that 1Hz rTMS of right extrastriate cortex can disrupt perception of illusory contours and the effect appears to be side‐specific, being evident only after right occipital stimulation. This study supports the critical role of right extrastriate cortex in illusory contour perception.
von Willebrand Factor

The existence of a “von Willebrand factor” (vWF)’ was first suggested by Erik A. von Willebrand’s discovery, reported in 1926 ( l ) , Of a serious hereditary bleeding disorder among residents of the Aland Islands in the Gulf of Bothnia, Finland. The disorder was clearly different from classical hemophilia because it was inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. von Willebrand named the disease “pseudohemophilia,” but later authors have referred to it as von Willebrand disease (vWD). The nature of the defect in vWD was controversial for over 30 years. By 1957, however, transfusion studies indicated that the disease was caused by lack of a blood plasma factor (2). Within only the last decade the structures of the vWF protein and gene were determined, and many vWF structure-function relationships were elucidated. vWD is now known to be the most common inherited human bleeding disorder, and mutations causing several variants of vWD have been identified.
Thermal Damage Detection and Characterization in Porous Materials

Abstract : In this effort, we consider damage detection algorithms using thermal probes. The techniques proposed employ models derived from homogenization theory as the model solution in parameter estimation procedures for simulated data for heat flow in a porous medium. We consider data simulated from a model on a perforated domain with isotropic flow and data simulated from a model on a homogeneous domain with anisotropic flow. We report on ordinary least squares methods combined with the method of mappings to detect the presence of damage and to characterize the geometry of the damage.
Evidence for a cyclic guanosine monophosphate-dependent, carbon monoxide-mediated, signaling system in the regulation of TNF-alpha production by human pulmonary macrophages.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The second messenger cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP) seems to be implicated in the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) by activated macrophages. There is controversy regarding the potential of human macrophages to produce nitric oxide (NO). Since guanylate cyclase can be activated also by carbon monoxide (CO) and this gas may be formed endogenously, we examined the ability of human pulmonary macrophages to produce CO in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or LPS+interferon gamma (IFN-gamma). In addition, the source and the relative contribution of this molecule to the LPS-induced increase in cell cGMP content and TNF-alpha release were explored. DESIGN Interstitial macrophages were obtained from multiple organ donor lungs by enzymatic digestion. After 24-hour preculture, purified macrophages were cultured for 24 hours in the presence or absence of LPS, LPS+IFN-gamma, CO (250 and 500 mumol/L), sodium nitroprusside, 8-Br-cGMP, hemoglobin, methylene blue, zinc-protoporphyrin IX, hemin, S-adenosylmethionine, deferoxamine mesylate, or combinations. The cGMP content of the cells and TNF-alpha, CO, and NO release to the medium were determined. RESULTS In the presence of LPS, TNF-alpha production was not accompanied by any detectable increase in the NO release to the medium. However, an increase in medium CO concentration (mean +/- SEM) (5.81 +/- 0.20 vs 3.74 +/- 0.08 pmol/microgram protein; n = 11; P < .01) and cell cGMP content (0.273 +/- 0.021 vs 0.138 +/- 0.019 pmol/microgram protein; n = 10; P < .01) was observed. These changes were more pronounced in the presence of LPS+IFN-gamma. Release of TNF-alpha also was induced by both sodium nitroprusside and 8-Br-cGMP. In contrast, methylene blue, a guanylate cyclase inhibitor, inhibited LPS-, LPS+IFN-gamma-, and sodium nitroprusside-induced TNF-alpha production and cGMP increase; hemoglobin, which traps CO, had a similar effect. CONCLUSION Intracellular cGMP increase, secondary to an endogenous production of CO, participates in the release of TNF-alpha by activated human pulmonary macrophages.
Using Multiple Adaptive Regression Splines to Understand Trends in Inspection Data and Identify Optimal Inspection Rates

Inspections have been shown to be an effective means of detecting defects early on in the software development life cycle. However, they are not always successful or beneficial as they are affected by a number of technical and managerial factors. One important aspect is to understand what are the factors that affect inspection effectiveness (the rate of detected defects) in a given environment, based on project data. In this paper we look at management factors such as the effort assigned, the inspection rate, and so forth. We collected data on a number of analysis and code inspections, and performed a multivariate statistical analysis. Because the functional form of effectiveness models is a priori unknown, we use a novel exploratory analysis technique: Multiple Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS). We compare the MARS model with more classical regression models and show how it can help understand the complex trends and interactions in the data, without requiring the analyst to rely on strong assumptions. Results are reported and discussed in light of existing empirical results. 1. Introduction Inspections have been shown to be an important defect detection technology [9][13]. However, when one is faced with planning inspections, a number of decisions have to be made. For example, the following questions are considered relevant as they are deemed to have an impact on inspection effectiveness, that is the capacity of inspections to uncover defects: • What overall effort to devote to the inspection? • What should be the inspection rate? • How many participants to involve? • How should the material to be inspected be broken down? In order to answer such questions, which will be discussed in further details below, we need to develop models that relate defect detection effectiveness to variables such as effort, number of participants, or the amount of code inspected. To build such effectiveness models, data on inspections need to be collected and multivariate statistical
Inhibitors of mammalian G1 cyclin-dependent kinases.

Biologic machines need brakes, and the nature and fidelity of their operation cannot be unraveled without some prior understanding of how accelerators work. The discoveD] of mammalian G1 cyclins just 4 years ago and the identification of their associated cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) provided key insights soon thereafter as to how progression through the first gap phase (G~) of the mammalian cell cycle might be regulated positively. Within the past 18 months, we have begun to learn something about the negative regulators--cdk inhibitors--that constrain their action.
Self-Awareness and the Emotional Consequences of Self-Discrepancies By :

Several self theories explore the effects of discrepant self-beliefs on motivation and emotion. This research intersected two self theories: self-discrepancy theory and objective self-awareness theory. Self-discrepancy theory predicts that ideal and ought discrepancies cause different negative emotions; objective self-awareness theory predicts that high self-awareness will strengthen the relationship between self-discrepancies and emotions. People (N = 112) completed measures of self-discrepancies and emotions (dejection, agitation, positive affect, and negative affect). Selffocused attention was manipulated with a large mirror. When selfawareness was low, self-discrepancies had weak, nonsignificant relations to emotion. When self-awareness was high, however, self-discrepancies strongly predicted emotional experience. These effects were general—ideal and ought discrepancies affected emotions because oftheirsubstantial shared variance, not their unique variance. Implicationsfor theories of selfdiscrepancies and emotions are considered.
New Developments of Ti-Based Alloys for Biomedical Applications

Ti-based alloys are finding ever-increasing applications in biomaterials due to their excellent mechanical, physical and biological performance. Nowdays, low modulus β-type Ti-based alloys are still being developed. Meanwhile, porous Ti-based alloys are being developed as an alternative orthopedic implant material, as they can provide good biological fixation through bone tissue ingrowth into the porous network. This paper focuses on recent developments of biomedical Ti-based alloys. It can be divided into four main sections. The first section focuses on the fundamental requirements titanium biomaterial should fulfill and its market and application prospects. This section is followed by discussing basic phases, alloying elements and mechanical properties of low modulus β-type Ti-based alloys. Thermal treatment, grain size, texture and properties in Ti-based alloys and their limitations are dicussed in the third section. Finally, the fourth section reviews the influence of microstructural configurations on mechanical properties of porous Ti-based alloys and all known methods for fabricating porous Ti-based alloys. This section also reviews prospects and challenges of porous Ti-based alloys, emphasizing their current status, future opportunities and obstacles for expanded applications. Overall, efforts have been made to reveal the latest scenario of bulk and porous Ti-based materials for biomedical applications.
23.4% Saline Decreases Brain Tissue Volume in Severe Hepatic Encephalopathy as Assessed by a Quantitative CT Marker

Objective:Cerebral edema is common in severe hepatic encephalopathy and may be life threatening. Bolus 23.4% hypertonic saline improves surveillance neuromonitoring scores, although its mechanism of action is not clearly established. We investigated the hypothesis that bolus hypertonic saline decreases cerebral edema in severe hepatic encephalopathy utilizing a quantitative technique to measure brain and cerebrospinal fluid volume changes. Design:Retrospective analysis of serial CT scans, and clinical data for a case-control series were performed. Setting:ICUs of a tertiary care hospital. Patients:Patients with severe hepatic encephalopathy treated with 23.4% hypertonic saline and control patients who did not receive 23.4% hypertonic saline. Interventions:23.4% hypertonic saline bolus administration. Measurements and Main Results:We used clinically obtained CT scans to measure volumes of the ventricles, intracranial cerebrospinal fluid, and brain using a previously validated semiautomated technique (Analyze Direct, Overland Park, KS). Volumes before and after 23.4% hypertonic saline were compared with Wilcoxon signed rank test. Associations among total cerebrospinal fluid volume, ventricular volume, serum sodium, and Glasgow Coma Scale scores were assessed using Spearman rank correlation test. Eleven patients with 18 administrations of 23.4% hypertonic saline met inclusion criteria. Total cerebrospinal fluid (median, 47.6 mL [35.1–69.4 mL] to 61.9 mL [47.7–87.0 mL]; p < 0.001) and ventricular volumes (median, 8.0 mL [6.9–9.5 mL] to 9.2 mL [7.8–11.9 mL]; p = 0.002) increased and Glasgow Coma Scale scores improved (median, 4 [3–6] to 7 [6–9]; p = 0.008) after 23.4% hypertonic saline. In contrast, total cerebrospinal fluid and ventricular volumes decreased in untreated control patients. Serum sodium increase was associated with increase in total cerebrospinal fluid volume (r = 0.83, p < 0.001), and change in total cerebrospinal fluid volume was associated with ventricular volume change (r = 0.86; p < 0.001). Conclusions:Total cerebrospinal fluid and ventricular volumes increased after 23.4% hypertonic saline, consistent with a reduction in brain tissue volume. Total cerebrospinal fluid and ventricular volume change may be useful quantitative measures to assess cerebral edema in severe hepatic encephalopathy.
Impact of surgery for stress incontinence on morbidity: cohort study

Abstract Objectives: To describe the impact of surgery for stress incontinence on the severity of symptoms, other mental and physical symptoms, and overall health. To describe the incidence of postoperative complications. Design: Prospective cohort study; questionnaires completed by patients before and 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Questionnaires completed by surgeons both before and after surgery. Setting: 18 hospitals in the North Thames region. Subjects: 442 women treated surgically for stress incontinence between January 1993 and June 1994. 367 women returned the 3 month questionnaire; 364 returned the 6 month questionnaire; and 359 returned the 12 month questionnaire. 49 surgeons provided perioperative information on 285 of the 442 women and postoperative information on 278. Main outcome measures: Stress incontinence symptom severity index, other urinary symptoms, bowel function, mental health, complications, global measures. Results: Most women (288; 87%) reported an improvement in the severity of their stress incontinence, though only 92 (28%) were cured (continent). These improvements persisted for at least 12 months. The likelihood of improvement was similar regardless of whether urodynamic pressure studies had been conducted before surgery. Following surgery, women were less likely to suffer from urinary frequency, nocturia, postvoid fullness, dysuria, and urgency. While mental health improved for 194 (71%), a quarter of women reported deterioration. Only 37 (10%) were satisfied with postoperative pain control. A third experienced one or more complications while in hospital, most commonly difficulty urinating. This problem affected 1 in 11 women after discharge. A year after surgery two thirds of women reported feeling better (251; 72%), that the outcome met or exceeded their expectations (230; 66%), and that they would recommend the operation to a friend in a similar situation (239; 68%). Surgeons tended to be more optimistic about the effects of surgery; they were satisfied with the outcome in 176 (85%) cases and would again treat 245 (94%) of the women as they had done previously. Conclusions: Although surgery reduces the severity of stress incontinence it is not as effective as current textbooks suggest. Women considering surgery should be provided with more accurate information on the likelihood of an improvement in symptoms and the occurrence of complications, including postoperative pain. Urgency and urge incontinence should not be considered contraindications to surgery. The need for urodynamic assessment before surgery should be reappraised. Key messages Although surgery improves stress incontinence in most women (87%), only 28% are continent one year later The need for preoperative urodynamic testing should be reappraised Urgency and urge incontinence should not be considered contraindications to surgery Women considering surgery should receive more accurate information on the probability of an improvement in symptoms and possible complications There is a need for a rigorous, pragmatic, randomised trial of surgery for stress incontinence
Change detection in dynamic fitness landscapes with time-dependent constraints

Evolutionary algorithms operating in a dynamic environment (fitness landscape and constraints) need information about the moment of change to achieve proper optimization result. For solving the change point detection task we proposed a method based on population statistics. We show in numerical experiments that such an approach allows a successful identification of constraint and/or landscape changes.
Birth of a new gene on the Y chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster

Significance Mammalian Y chromosomes are believed to evolve mainly through gene inactivation and loss. Drosophila Y chromosomes seem to not obey this rule, as gene gains are the dominating force in their evolution. Here we describe flagrante delicto Y (FDY), a very young gene that shows how Y-linked genes were acquired. FDY originated 2 million years ago from a duplication of a contiguous autosomal segment of 11 kb containing five genes that inserted into the Y chromosome. Four of these autosome-to-Y gene copies became inactivated (“pseudogenes”), lost part of their sequences, and most likely will disappear in the next few million years. FDY, originally a female-biased gene, acquired testis expression and remained functional. Contrary to the pattern seen in mammalian sex chromosomes, where most Y-linked genes have X-linked homologs, the Drosophila X and Y chromosomes appear to be unrelated. Most of the Y-linked genes have autosomal paralogs, so autosome-to-Y transposition must be the main source of Drosophila Y-linked genes. Here we show how these genes were acquired. We found a previously unidentified gene (flagrante delicto Y, FDY) that originated from a recent duplication of the autosomal gene vig2 to the Y chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster. Four contiguous genes were duplicated along with vig2, but they became pseudogenes through the accumulation of deletions and transposable element insertions, whereas FDY remained functional, acquired testis-specific expression, and now accounts for ∼20% of the vig2-like mRNA in testis. FDY is absent in the closest relatives of D. melanogaster, and DNA sequence divergence indicates that the duplication to the Y chromosome occurred ∼2 million years ago. Thus, FDY provides a snapshot of the early stages of the establishment of a Y-linked gene and demonstrates how the Drosophila Y has been accumulating autosomal genes.
Control of grasping force by detecting stick/slip distribution at the curved surface of an elastic finger

A method for controlling the grasping force when an object is grasped by artificial elastic fingers is proposed. First, the relationship between the stick area and the internal strain distribution of the finger is calculated using FE (finite element) analysis. Based on this relationship, a method is proposed for controlling the grasping force by decreasing the increasing ratio of the tangential force when the stick area is decreasing. Finally, the grasping force is controlled using an actual elastic finger, which is made of silicone rubber and in which strain gages are incorporated. It is confirmed that objects can be grasped using adequate grasping force without complete slippage, even when the weight and the friction coefficient of the objects are unknown.
Bond Strength of Epoxy-Coated Reinforcing Bars

Epoxy-coated bars are used in nearly all types of structures where corrosion may cause deterioration. Bridge decks and parking garages are especially susceptible to salt-induced damage. For satisfactory structural performance, bond between concrete and steel is essential, and the effect of coatings that might decrease bond should be considered in designs. In this study, 21 beams with lap splices in a constant moment region were tested in nine groups and the bond strength of epoxy-coated bars was compared to that of uncoated bars. Variables were bar size, concrete strength, casting position, and coating thickness. In each test group, the only variable was the coating thickness.