Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Presentation of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: The Bigger the Kid, the Bigger the Curve

Background: It is our clinical suspicion that children with higher body mass index (BMIs) who are diagnosed with scoliosis tend to have larger curves on presentation. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of BMI on severity of curve at initial presentation of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive cohort study of consecutive patients age 10 or greater referred to a single large tertiary care center with concern for spinal asymmetry. Patients were separated into 3 BMI categories as measured on the presenting visit: normal weight—≥5th and <85th percentile, overweight—≥85th and <95th percentile, and obese—≥95th percentile. In addition to demographic information, data collected included BMI, curve magnitude, curve location, Risser stage, and where or by whom spinal asymmetry was noted. Results: A total of 150 patients, 50 in each the normal weight, overweight, and obese categories, were included in this study. Average curve at presentation for normal weight patients was 18.1 degrees, for overweight patients 23.9 degrees (P=0.02), and for obese patients 24.5 degrees (P=0.02). As compared with the normal weight group, odds ratio of presenting with a curve of 40 degrees or above was 10.8 for the overweight group (95% confidence interval, 1.3-88.5, P=0.03) and 12.2 for the obese group (95% confidence interval, 1.5-99.8, P=0.02). Assuming a cut-off of 45 degrees as surgical range, no normal weight patients presented in surgical range (0%), but 7/50 (14%, P=0.01) overweight and 8/50 (16%, P<0.01) obese patients did. Moreover, higher BMI patients were significantly more likely to present at a higher degree of skeletally maturity, with an average Risser of 1.8 for normal weight patients, 2.7 (P=0.01) for overweight patients, and 2.9 (P=0.01) for obese patients. Conclusions: Overweight and obese patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis present at significantly larger curve magnitudes and significantly higher degrees of skeletal maturity. Moreover, these patients were significantly more likely to present with very large curves and, in our study, all patients presenting with a surgical range curve were either overweight or obese. Level of Evidence: Level III—Retrospective case-control.
Can computers feel? Theory and design of an emotional system

Abstract Emotions can be regarded as the manifestations of a system that realises multiple concerns and operates in an uncertain environment. Taking the concern realisation function as a starting point, it is argued that the major phenomena of emotion follow from considerations of what properties a subsystem implementing that function should have. The major phenomena are: the existence of the feelings of pleasure and pain, the importance of cognitive or appraisal variables, the presence of innate, pre-programmed behaviours as well as of complex constructed plans for achieving emotion goals, and the occurrence of behavioural interruption, disturbance and impulse-like priority of emotional goals. The system properties underlying these phenomena are facilities for relevance detection of events with regard to the multiple concerns, availability of relevance signals that can be recognised by the action system, and facilities for control precedence, or flexible goal priority ordering and shift. A computer progr.
Selecting Heterogeneous Cores for Diversity

Mobile devices with heterogeneous processors are becoming mainstream. With a heterogeneous processor, the runtime scheduler can pick the best CPU core for a given task based on program characteristics, performance requirements, and power limitations. For a heterogeneous processor to be effective, it must contain a diverse set of cores to match a range of runtime requirements and program behaviors. Selecting a diverse set of cores is, however, a non-trivial problem. Power and performance are dependent on both program features and the microarchitectural features of cores, and a selection of cores must satisfy the competing demands of different types of programs. We present a method of core selection that chooses cores at a range of power-performance points. Our algorithm is based on the observation that it is not necessary for a core to consistently have high performance or low power; one type of core can fulfill different roles for different types of programs. Given a power budget, cores selected with our method provide an average speedup of 6% on EEMBC mobile benchmarks and a 24% speedup on SPEC 2006 integer benchmarks over the state-of-the-art core selection method.
Demand-wise shared protection network design with dual-failure restorability

The availability requirements placed on core communication networks have been rapidly increasing. As the value of the traffic served by these core networks has increased so has the impact of failure. Demand-wise shared protection (DSP) was developed to provide failure survivability in the network that was more efficient than concurrently routing two paths of traffic (1+1 APS), yet was more straightforward to manage than more complex schemes. The DSP model was adapted to ensure, in addition to 100% single failure survivability, a specified minimum level of dual-failure restorability. The effect of enforcing dual-failure restorability in DSP networks was evaluated in terms of cost and overall increases in availability. Counter-intuitively, it was found that in some cases, requiring some specified dual-failure restorability levels can result in decreased availability. DSP was effectively adapted to ensure dual-failure restorability, however, in order to capitalize on the capacity sharing aspects of the model, networks must be sufficiently well connected.
Mental load and work stress as two types of energy mobilization

Abstract A conceptual framework is presented in which mental load and stress are regarded as two distinct biobehavioural states in the work environment that differ in energy mobilization, mood and coping strategy. The framework combines two types of theory that are based on human performance research using laboratory tasks on the one hand and applied research in the work environment on the other. A high workload is regarded as an important but not a critical factor in the development of stress symptoms. Even under unfavourable conditions it is possible to work intensively and to be highly activated without feelings of strain or psychosomatic complaints. In contrast, working conditions that provide few possibilities for control and little social support or are associated with reduced well-being and increased health risks. The two states differ in activation, coping style and mood. A proper distinction is important not only for theory building but also for the reconstruction of the work environment. It may .
The properties of the stellar populations in ULIRGs – I. Sample, data and spectral synthesis modelling

We present deep long-slit optical spectra for a sample of 36 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), taken with the William Herschel Telescope on La Palma with the aim of investigating the star formation histories and testing evolutionary scenarios for such objects. Here we present the sample, the analysis techniques and a general overview of the properties of the stellar populations; a more detailed discussion will be presented in a forthcoming paper. Spectral synthesis modelling has been used in order to estimate the ages of the stellar populations found in the diffuse light sampled by the spectra in both the nuclear and extended regions of the target galaxies. We find that adequate fits can be obtained using combinations of young stellar populations (YSPs; t YSP ≤ 2 Gyr), with ages divided into two groups: very young stellar populations (VYSPs; t VYSP ≤ 100 Myr) and interrrcediate-young stellar populations (IYSPs; 0.1 2 Gyr) do not make a major contribution to the optical light in the majority of the apertures extracted. In fact they are essential for fitting the spectra in only 5 per cent (seven) of the extracted apertures. The estimated total masses for the YSPs (VYSPs + IYSPs) are in the range 0.18 × 10 10 ≤ M YSP < 50 x 10 10 M ⊙ . We have also estimated the bolometric luminosities associated with the stellar populations detected at optical wavelengths, finding that they fall in the range 0.07 x 10 12 < L bol < 2.2 × 10 12 L ⊙ . In addition, we find that reddening is significant at all locations in the galaxies. This result emphasizes the importance of accounting for reddening effects when modelling the stellar populations of star-forming galaxies.
Early prediction of response to intravenous iron supplementation by reticulocyte haemoglobin content and high-fluorescence reticulocyte count in haemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Optimal response to recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) in haemodialysis (HD) patients requires provision of sufficient available iron. However, a balance between iron requirements and supplements remains a challenge in clinical practice. Reticulocyte parameters, i.e. reticulocyte haemoglobin content (CHr) and reticulocytes in a high-fluorescence intensity region (HFR), have been shown to be accurate predictors of iron-deficient erythropoiesis as compared with traditional markers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to appraise the diagnostic power of these two parameters in the early prediction of response to intravenous iron (IVFE) medications in HD patients receiving rHuEpo. METHODS Sixty-five HD patients with a serum ferritin level of <500 microg/l and on rHuEpo therapy for >6 months were enrolled for IVFE supplementation (100 mg iron saccharate three times a week for 4 weeks, then 100 mg every 2 weeks for 5 months). Haemoglobin, haematocrit, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation, reticulocyte count, percentage of hypochromic red cells, CHr and HFR were measured before and following iron supplementation. Response was defined as a rise in haematocrit of >3% and/or a reduction in rHuEpo dose of >30% over the baseline values at the end of the study. RESULTS Forty-two patients had a dramatic response to IVFE therapy with a 13.5% increase in mean haematocrit and a 38% reduction in rHuEpo dose at the end of the study (P<0.001). This paralleled a statistically significant rise in CHr and HFR (P<0.001). Univariate analyses showed that ferritin (P<0.010) and CHr (P<0.001) at baseline, changes in CHr (DeltaCHr(2W), P<0.001) and HFR (DeltaHFR(2W), P<0.010) at 2 weeks, as well as changes in CHr (DeltaCHr(4W), P<0.001) and HFR (DeltaHFR(4W), P<0.001) at 4 weeks, strongly correlated with response to IVFE supplementation. Stepwise discriminant analysis disclosed that DeltaCHr(4W) in conjunction with DeltaHFR(4W) exhibited an r(2) value of 0.531 (P<0.001) to predict response to IVFE therapy. Analyses by receiver operating characteristic curves and logistic regression further revealed that DeltaCHr(4W) at a cut-off value of >1.2 pg and DeltaHFR(4W) of >500/microl were more specific to the status of iron-deficient erythropoiesis following IVFE medications. Combined use of the two cut-off values allowed for the highest accuracy in the early prediction of the response to IVFE therapy, with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 100%. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that changes in CHr and HFR at either 2 or 4 weeks are superior to the conventional erythrocyte and iron metabolism indices and may serve as reliable parameters to detect iron-deficient erythropoiesis in HD patients undergoing rHuEpo therapy. During aggressive IVFE treatment, early identification of non-responsiveness and subsequent discontinuation of treatment can avoid the inadvertent iron-related toxicity due to over-treatment.
The Definition and Maintenance of Self in Primary Teaching

Abstract A study by interview and observation of 99 graduate teachers in English infant and junior schools suggested that many of them had entered teaching with a strong sense of personal identity and a firm commitment to personal values. Few had, however, identified as ‘teachers'; the majority saw themselves as ‘persons‐in‐teaching’ and adopted strategies to defend their sense of self. Reference groups, in particular, are discussed, in terms of critical theory, as the cause and effect of individualistic values within the profession.
The Log-concavity Conjecture for the Duistermaat-heckman Measure Revisited

Karshon constructed the first counterexample to the log-concavity conjecture for the Duistermaat-Heckman measure: a Hamiltonian six manifold whose fixed points set is the disjoint union of two copies of T 4. In this article, for any closed symplectic four manifold N with b + > 1, we show that there is a Hamilton-ian circle manifold M fibred over N such that its Duistermaat-Heckman function is not log-concave. This allows us to construct simply connected Hamiltonian manifolds which have the Hard Lefschetz property and which have a non-log-concave Duistermaat-Heckman function. Along the same line, we also give examples of non-Kähler Hamiltonian manifolds which have a log-concave Duistermaat-Heckman function. On the other hand, we prove that if there is a torus action of complexity two such that all the symplectic reduced spaces taken at regular values satisfy the condition b + = 1, then its Duistermaat-Heckman function has to be log-concave. As a consequence, we prove the log-concavity conjecture for Hamiltonian circle actions on six manifolds such that the fixed points sets have no four dimensional components, or only have four dimensional pieces with b + = 1.
Discovering coherent biclusters from gene expression data using zero-suppressed binary decision diagrams

The biclustering method can be a very useful analysis tool when some genes have multiple functions and experimental conditions are diverse in gene expression measurement. This is because the biclustering approach, in contrast to the conventional clustering techniques, focuses on finding a subset of the genes and a subset of the experimental conditions that together exhibit coherent behavior. However, the biclustering problem is inherently intractable, and it is often computationally costly to find biclusters with high levels of coherence. In this work, we propose a novel biclustering algorithm that exploits the zero-suppressed binary decision diagrams (ZBDDs) data structure to cope with the computational challenges. Our method can find all biclusters that satisfy specific input conditions, and it is scalable to practical gene expression data. We also present experimental results confirming the effectiveness of our approach.
Morphometric and Histologic Substrates of Cingulate Integrity in Elders with Exceptional Memory Capacity

This human study is based on an established cohort of “SuperAgers,” 80+-year-old individuals with episodic memory function at a level equal to, or better than, individuals 20–30 years younger. A preliminary investigation using structural brain imaging revealed a region of anterior cingulate cortex that was thicker in SuperAgers compared with healthy 50- to 65-year-olds. Here, we investigated the in vivo structural features of cingulate cortex in a larger sample of SuperAgers and conducted a histologic analysis of this region in postmortem specimens. A region-of-interest MRI structural analysis found cingulate cortex to be thinner in cognitively average 80+ year olds (n = 21) than in the healthy middle-aged group (n = 18). A region of the anterior cingulate cortex in the right hemisphere displayed greater thickness in SuperAgers (n = 31) compared with cognitively average 80+ year olds and also to the much younger healthy 50–60 year olds (p < 0.01). Postmortem investigations were conducted in the cingulate cortex in five SuperAgers, five cognitively average elderly individuals, and five individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Compared with other subject groups, SuperAgers showed a lower frequency of Alzheimer-type neurofibrillary tangles (p < 0.05). There were no differences in total neuronal size or count between subject groups. Interestingly, relative to total neuronal packing density, there was a higher density of von Economo neurons (p < 0.05), particularly in anterior cingulate regions of SuperAgers. These findings suggest that reduced vulnerability to the age-related emergence of Alzheimer pathology and higher von Economo neuron density in anterior cingulate cortex may represent biological correlates of high memory capacity in advanced old age.
Korean 4‐ to 11‐year‐old student conceptions of heat and temperature

The aim of the present study is to shed light on the conceptions that young students have of heat and temperature, concepts that are both important in school science curricula and closely related to daily life. The subjects of the study were students from a rural district in South Korea and they ranged in age from 4 to 11 years. Interviews were conducted with each student on the basis of questions on temperature, thermal insulation, and heat equilibrium. After calculating the frequency and percentage of student responses and analyzing the rationale for their answers, it was found that younger students tended to view temperature as “size” or a “summation of numbers. ” This tendency gradually diminished in older students. Most students had alternative conceptions of thermal insulation regardless of age; however, reasoning differed according to age. Younger students displayed a greater tendency to view insulation as a material property, whereas older students showed a greater tendency toward rational heat and temperature conceptions. Most students did not have clear concepts of heat equilibrium regardless of age, but possessed numerous alternative conceptions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 284–302, 2007
De novo DNA methyltransferase is essential for self-renewal, but not for differentiation, in hematopoietic stem cells

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification essential for development. The DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b execute de novo DNA methylation in gastrulating embryos and differentiating germline cells. It has been assumed that these enzymes generally play a role in regulating cell differentiation. To test this hypothesis, we examined the role of Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b in adult stem cells. CD34−/low, c-Kit+, Sca-1+, lineage marker− (CD34− KSL) cells, a fraction of mouse bone marrow cells highly enriched in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), expressed both Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b. Using retroviral Cre gene transduction, we conditionally disrupted Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b, or both Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b (Dnmt3a/Dnmt3b) in CD34− KSL cells purified from mice in which the functional domains of these genes are flanked by two loxP sites. We found that Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b function as de novo DNA methyltransferases during differentiation of hematopoietic cells. Unexpectedly, in vitro colony assays and in vivo transplantation assays showed that both myeloid and lymphoid lineage differentiation potentials were maintained in Dnmt3a-, Dnmt3b-, and Dnmt3a/Dnmt3b-deficient HSCs. However, Dnmt3a/Dnmt3b-deficient HSCs, but not Dnmt3a- or Dnmt3b-deficient HSCs, were incapable of long-term reconstitution in transplantation assays. These findings establish a critical role for DNA methylation by Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b in HSC self-renewal.
Linear and non-linear precoding/decoding for MIMO systems using the fading correlation at the transmitter

A transceiver structure for MIMO systems that comprises linear/non-linear precoding/decoding is optimized according to the MMSE criterion under the assumption that only long-term channel state information (or LT-CSI, i.e., fading channel and noise correlation matrices) is available at the transmitter. The structure generalizes different techniques known from the literature, such as BLAST, linear precoding and decoding and Tomlinson-Harashima precoding. Performance comparison of these known techniques and the proposed scheme, carried out by means of simulations, shows that relevant benefits can be obtained by taking advantage of LT-CSI at the transmitter.
Gastric Atrophy Reversible or Irreversible after Helicobacter pylori Eradication – An Open Question

patients on and off drugs, inconsistent eradication therapies, numbers of biopsies and different biopsy sampling sites. In the meta-analysis presented in this issue of Digestion by Wang et al. [10] , the application of strict criteria has allowed to include 12 studies considered relevant and methodologically adequate extrapolated from over 2,000 citations dealing with this contentious issue. Important thereby is the exclusion of patients with intake of drugs other than for H. pylori eradication such as NSAIDs. The total number of patients considered in the metaanalysis is 2,658 and the key finding is that H. pylori eradication leads to a significant improvement of GA in the gastric corpus while it has no effect on antral atrophy or on IM at any location. At first glance the finding on the reversibility of GA in the gastric corpus appears the most relevant observation as it indicates a chance for H. pylori eradication to interrupt the potential evolution to gastric cancer even in an advanced stage of chronic gastritis. Theories related to GA and associated hypochlorhydria as well as to GA offering the homing to stem cells that give rise to malignant clones in the atrophic gastric mucosa are better substantiated in gastric carcinogenesis than a specific role of IM [11–13] . In the meta-analysis, however, the degree of GA is not mentioned and this is crucial as only extensive GA impacts on gastric function (i.e. hypochlorhydria). IM is considered to be a bystander and an indicator of the surGastric atrophy (GA) and intestinal metaplasia (IM) may eventually develop in the course of chronic gastritis. Whether GA and IM are preneoplastic lesions as defined by some [1, 2] or rather a preneoplastic condition suggested by others [3] is more of a semantic nature. Both, GA and IM are undisputed indicators of a further increased risk for gastric cancer as compared with chronic gastritis in the absence of these abnormalities. GA and IM have been described to represent an obligatory transitional step in the cascade of chronic gastritis progressing to intestinal type gastric cancer [4] . With the discovery of Helicobacter pylori, this infection has become the established starting point of chronic gastritis and the pathways involved in gastric carcinogenesis have become better focused since. GA and IM have maintained their allocation as essential intermediate steps in intestinaltype gastric cancer development and are therefore important alterations of the gastric mucosa usually defined in the context of risk gastritis. Chronic active gastritis induced by H. pylori is completely reversible and the gastric mucosa can be restored to normal by successful H. pylori eradication unless GA or IM have become apparent [5–7] . The question whether also GA and IM are reversible following H. pylori eradication has been a controversial issue ever since and many conflicting results have been reported in the literature [8, 9] . Reasons for this in addition to methodological aspects have been the inclusion of heterogeneous populations of Published online: January 28, 2011
Scientific Management, Bureau-Professionalism, New Managerialism: The Labour Process of State Social Work

An outline is provided of radical social work writers' use of Braverman's labour process thesis on scientific management to account for developments in state social work in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The advocacy of a scientific management model in radical social work texts is tested against the existence of a bureau-professional social work labour process in the 1970s/early 1980s. The nature of this bureau-professional labour process is explored and then used as a baseline from which to chart developments in state social work in the late 1980s/1990s towards a new managerialist labour process.