Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Osteochondral Lesion of the Talus

Background: Several studies have addressed the issue of the feasibility of arthroscopic surgery in older patients, usually by choosing an arbitrary age limit. Hypothesis: Patient age is not associated with poor clinical outcome after arthroscopic surgery for osteochondral lesion of the talus (OLT), and other patient variables are the major determinants of clinical success/failure. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Between 2001 and 2008, 173 ankles underwent arthroscopic marrow stimulation treatment for OLT and were stratified into 6 age groups (<20, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and ≥60 years). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the effect of age on clinical outcome. Results: There were no significant differences among the 6 age groups in the preoperative and postoperative visual analog scale (VAS) for pain or the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score. There was a significant increase in the duration of symptoms (P < .001) and a significant decrease in the incidence of trauma (P = .01) in the older group. Both the size of the osteochondral defect and the number of associated intra-articular lesions independently predicted a poor clinical outcome (P < .001). Conclusion: In contrast to some of the previous studies on this topic, we found that increased age was not an independent risk factor for poor clinical outcome after arthroscopic treatment for OLT. We did find that older patients were less likely to have a history of trauma and had a longer duration of symptoms, had smaller osteochondral defects, and had more associated intra-articular lesions.
Statistical modelling of the geometry of prostatic capillaries on the basis of stationary Strauss hard-core processes

In a recent study, the capillarization of normal prostatic tissue and prostatic carcinoma tissue was characterized by means of explorative methods of spatial statistics. In the present paper, an attempt was made to go beyond the explo-rative approach and to characterize the point process of the capillary profiles on sections by means of a parametric model. For this purpose, the flexible class of Gibbs processes was considered. Specifically, stationary Strauss hard-core processes were fitted to the observed point process data. The goodness of fit achieved by the model was checked by simulations with the Markov chain Monte Carlo method using the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. Model fitting and simulations were performed with the help of the spatstat package under R. The observed point patterns were in some cases compatible with realizations of stationary Strauss hard-core processes for all ranges of spatial interaction. However, deviations from the model were found for one or more domains of ranges in other cases. In the tumour tissue, a highly significant decrease of the interaction parameter of the Strauss hard-core process could be found as compared to the normal prostatic tissue. This finding is discussed in terms of a loss of the normal lobular architecture of the glands in the tumour tissue.
Ground Truth for Grammatical Error Correction Metrics

How do we know which grammatical error correction (GEC) system is best? A number of metrics have been proposed over the years, each motivated by weaknesses of previous metrics; however, the metrics themselves have not been compared to an empirical gold standard grounded in human judgments. We conducted the ﬁrst human evaluation of GEC system outputs, and show that the rankings produced by metrics such as MaxMatch and I-measure do not correlate well with this ground truth. As a step towards better metrics, we also propose GLEU, a simple variant of BLEU, modiﬁed to account for both the source and the reference, and show that it hews much more closely to human judgments.
PD-1 Blockade Augments Th1 and Th17 and Suppresses Th2 Responses in Peripheral Blood From Patients With Prostate and Advanced Melanoma Cancer

Negative costimulation on T cells is exploited by both prostate cancer and melanoma to evade antitumor immunity. Blocking such mechanisms restores antitumor immunity as was demonstrated by the improved survival of patients with metastatic melanoma after treatment with an antibody blocking the CTLA-4 inhibitory receptor (ipilimumab). Enhanced expression of another inhibitory immunoreceptor, programmed death-1 (PD-1), and its ligand, PD-L1, was found to correlate with a poor prognosis in prostate cancer and melanoma. PD-1-blocking antibodies are being developed to modulate antitumor immune responses. To support preclinical and clinical development of anti-PD-1 therapy, we sought to develop biomarker assays that can detect the effect of PD-1-blocking agents in whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In this study, we assessed the effect of PD-1 blockade in modulating super antigen (staphylococcus enterotoxin B)-induced and recall antigen (tetanus toxoid)-induced T-cell reactivity in vitro using whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with advanced melanoma, prostate cancer, and healthy controls. PD-1 blockade was found to shift antigen-induced cellular reactivity toward a proinflammatory Th1/Th17 response, as evidenced by enhanced production of interferon &ggr;, interleukin (IL)-2, tumor necrosis factor &agr;, IL-6, and IL-17 and reduced production of the Th2 cytokines IL-5 and IL-13. It is interesting to note that suppression of Th2 responsivity was seen with whole blood cells only from patients with cancer. Taken together, we identified novel biomarker assays that might be used to determine the functional consequences of PD-1 blockade in peripheral blood cells from patients with cancer. How these assays translate to the local antitumor response remains to be established in a clinical setting.
Development of new barrier materials using microfibrillated cellulose

This study takes place in a context of development of paper-based barrier packaging materials, using of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) that brings renewability, recyclability, and biodegradability. Two strategies have been investigated: the wet lamination of a MFC barrier layer on board, and the use of MFC as additive in a water-based barrier coating colour. The promising use of MFC for the formation of barrier layers has been demonstrated in both cases. The wet lamination of MFC on board led to good oxygen and grease barrier properties, using highly fibrillated MFC. The board-MFC complex presented a strong adhesion after drying, without requiring glue. In the case of barrier coating, in order to obtain a low viscosity suspensions leading to high barrier layers, the use of highly fibrillated MFC mixed with a fully-hydrolysed poly(vinyl alcohol (PVOH) of low degree of polymerisation has been preferred. The addition of MFC in PVOH demonstrated its potential for improving the drying behaviour of water-barrier barrier coating colours. The combined use of MFC and layered silicates evidenced a synergistic effect on their dispersion in a PVOH solution, leading to an improved water vapour barrier while avoiding the formation of aggregates that otherwise damage the oxygen barrier. The work contributed to demonstrate the potential of MFC to be used for the formation of barrier layers, paving the way for the development of more sustainable barrier packaging materials.
The internet of things

ed as devices to provide services at low-levels as network discovery services, metadata exchange services, and asynchronous publish and subscribe event in (Kranenburg et al. 2011; Sundmaeker et al. 2010); In (Peris-Lopez et al. 2006), a representational state transfer (REST) is defined to increase interoperability between Page 14 of 32 http://mc.manuscriptcentral. com/intr Internet Research 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 or Peer Rview loosely coupled services and distributed applications. In (Hernandez-Castro et al. 2013), the services layer introduced a service provisioning process (SPP) that can provide the interaction between applications and services. It is important to design an effective security strategy to protect services against attacks in the service layer. The security requirements in the service layer include: • Authorization, service authentication, group authentication, privacy protection, integrity, integrity, security of keys, non-repudiation, anti-replay, availability,
Iteration of Quadratic Maps on Coquaternions

This paper is concerned with the study of the iteration of the quadratic coquaternionic map fc(q) = q2 + c, where c is a fixed coquaternionic parameter. The fixed points and periodic points of period two are determined, revealing the existence of a type of sets of these points which do not occur in the classical complex case: sets of nonisolated points. This brings the need to consider a different concept of stability. The analysis of the stability, in this new sense, of the sets of fixed points and periodic points is performed and a discussion of certain type of bifurcations which occur, in the case of a real parameter c, is also presented.
Comparative Study of Different Methods for Soot Sensing and Filter Monitoring in Diesel Exhausts

Due to increasingly tighter emission limits for diesel and gasoline engines, especially concerning particulate matter emissions, particulate filters are becoming indispensable devices for exhaust gas after treatment. Thereby, for an efficient engine and filter control strategy and a cost-efficient filter design, reliable technologies to determine the soot load of the filters and to measure particulate matter concentrations in the exhaust gas during vehicle operation are highly needed. In this study, different approaches for soot sensing are compared. Measurements were conducted on a dynamometer diesel engine test bench with a diesel particulate filter (DPF). The DPF was monitored by a relatively new microwave-based approach. Simultaneously, a resistive type soot sensor and a Pegasor soot sensing device as a reference system measured the soot concentration exhaust upstream of the DPF. By changing engine parameters, different engine out soot emission rates were set. It was found that the microwave-based signal may not only indicate directly the filter loading, but by a time derivative, the engine out soot emission rate can be deduced. Furthermore, by integrating the measured particulate mass in the exhaust, the soot load of the filter can be determined. In summary, all systems coincide well within certain boundaries and the filter itself can act as a soot sensor.
Pleiotropy Analysis of Quantitative Traits at Gene Level by Multivariate Functional Linear Models

In genetics, pleiotropy describes the genetic effect of a single gene on multiple phenotypic traits. A common approach is to analyze the phenotypic traits separately using univariate analyses and combine the test results through multiple comparisons. This approach may lead to low power. Multivariate functional linear models are developed to connect genetic variant data to multiple quantitative traits adjusting for covariates for a unified analysis. Three types of approximate F‐distribution tests based on Pillai–Bartlett trace, Hotelling–Lawley trace, and Wilks's Lambda are introduced to test for association between multiple quantitative traits and multiple genetic variants in one genetic region. The approximate F‐distribution tests provide much more significant results than those of F‐tests of univariate analysis and optimal sequence kernel association test (SKAT‐O). Extensive simulations were performed to evaluate the false positive rates and power performance of the proposed models and tests. We show that the approximate F‐distribution tests control the type I error rates very well. Overall, simultaneous analysis of multiple traits can increase power performance compared to an individual test of each trait. The proposed methods were applied to analyze (1) four lipid traits in eight European cohorts, and (2) three biochemical traits in the Trinity Students Study. The approximate F‐distribution tests provide much more significant results than those of F‐tests of univariate analysis and SKAT‐O for the three biochemical traits. The approximate F‐distribution tests of the proposed functional linear models are more sensitive than those of the traditional multivariate linear models that in turn are more sensitive than SKAT‐O in the univariate case. The analysis of the four lipid traits and the three biochemical traits detects more association than SKAT‐O in the univariate case.
Predominance of Streptococcus suis ST1 and ST7 in human cases in China, and detection of a novel sequence type, ST658

Yang Zhoua,b,y, Xingxing Donga,y, Zhiwei Lia,y, Geng Zou, Li Lin, Xiaohong Wang, Huanchun Chen, Robin B. Gasser, and Jinquan Li College of Food Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China; College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China; Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China
No effects of short‐term exposure to mobile phone electromagnetic fields on human cognitive performance: A meta‐analysis

During recent years, a large number of studies on the effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by cellular mobile phones on human cognitive performance have been carried out. However, the results have been ambiguous. We carried out the current meta‐analysis in order to investigate the impact of electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones on human cognition. Seventeen studies were included in the meta‐analysis as they fulfill several requirements such as single‐ or double‐blind experimental study design, and documentation of means and standard deviations of dependent variables. The meta‐analysis was carried out as a group comparison between exposed and non‐exposed subjects. No significant effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phones were found. Cognitive abilities seem to be neither impaired nor facilitated. Results of the meta‐analysis suggest that a substantial short‐term impact of high frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones on cognitive performance can essentially be ruled out. Bioelectromagnetics 33:159–165, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Human Rhabdomyosarcoma Cell Lines for Rhabdomyosarcoma Research: Utility and Pitfalls

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood and adolescence. Despite intergroup clinical trials conducted in Europe and North America, outcomes for high risk patients with this disease have not significantly improved in the last several decades, and survival of metastatic or relapsed disease remains extremely poor. Accrual into new clinical trials is slow and difficult, so in vitro cell-line research and in vivo xenograft models present an attractive alternative for preclinical research for this cancer type. Currently, 30 commonly used human RMS cell lines exist, with differing origins, karyotypes, histologies, and methods of validation. Selecting an appropriate cell line for RMS research has important implications for outcomes. There are also potential pitfalls in using certain cell lines including contamination with murine stromal cells, cross-contamination between cell lines, discordance between the cell line and its associated original tumor, imposter cell lines, and nomenclature errors that result in the circulation of two or more presumed unique cell lines that are actually from the same origin. These pitfalls can be avoided by testing for species-specific isoenzymes, microarray analysis, assays for subtype-specific fusion products, and short tandem repeat analysis.
X-Ray Micro-Computed Tomography Observations of Local Particle Displacements in Porous Media

Recent progress in the development of X-ray micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) makes it possible to directly visualize and quantify various features of the microstructure of complex porous media including sedimentary rocks, in particular [1-5]. In various porous media processes such as chemical dissolution and mechanical compaction, the conditions may be appropriate to allow local particle detachment and displacement within the porous medium. It is noted that for flow-throughporous-media experiments, a lack of observation of fines production does not preclude considerable local mobilization of particles within the porous medium at the pore-scale. Particle mobilization may be triggered by inertial forces of flow itself or releasing by chemical reactions or other forces and then displacing by flow. The local mobilization of fines is a largely unexplored phenomenon at the pore scale due to difficulty in direct access to local particle displacement.
Progressive Neural Networks for Transfer Learning in Emotion Recognition

Many paralinguistic tasks are closely related and thus representations learned in one domain can be leveraged for another. In this paper, we investigate how knowledge can be transferred between three paralinguistic tasks: speaker, emotion, and gender recognition. Further, we extend this problem to cross-dataset tasks, asking how knowledge captured in one emotion dataset can be transferred to another. We focus on progressive neural networks and compare these networks to the conventional deep learning method of pre-training and fine-tuning. Progressive neural networks provide a way to transfer knowledge and avoid the forgetting effect present when pre-training neural networks on different tasks. Our experiments demonstrate that: (1) emotion recognition can benefit from using representations originally learned for different paralinguistic tasks and (2) transfer learning can effectively leverage additional datasets to improve the performance of emotion recognition systems.
Effects of dietary chromium supplementation on glucose tolerance and primary antibody response against peste des petits ruminants in dwarf Bengal goats ( Capra hircus).

An experiment was conducted to exploit the immune-modulation effect of trivalent chromium (Cr) for augmenting immunity against peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in dwarf black Bengal goats (Capra hircus). The goats (n = 6 per treatment group) either received a basal diet devoid of supplemental Cr (control) or were supplemented with 0.5 mg Cr as chromic chloride (+Cr) for 60 days. Live weight gain and feed conversion efficiency improved (P < 0.05) in the +Cr dietary group. Supplemental Cr did not affect the total number of monocytes, eosinophils and basophils (P > 0.1) although total leukocytes increased (P < 0.05) and the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes narrowed down (P < 0.05) in the +Cr dietary group. The effect of Cr supplementation on variables of the intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) was inconclusive. Compared to the control group, the basal concentration of glucose (P < 0.05) and insulin (P < 0.001) was higher, clearance rate was slower (P < 0.05) and serum half-life was greater (P < 0.05) in the +Cr dietary group during the IVGTT. Over the duration of the experiment, serum concentration of insulin increased (P < 0.001) and that of cortisol decreased (P < 0.01) in the +Cr group, which also showed a relatively higher primary antibody (Ab) response against PPR on days 10 (P < 0.01) and 20 (P < 0.05) post-vaccination. In conclusion, the experiment indicated that supplementation of Cr as CrCl3, in the diet of non-stressed goats, may improve primary Ab response against PPR and help confer an augmented immunity to the disease besides promoting growth and feed conversion.
The Structure and Growth of International Trade

The paper develops a model of proportionate growth to describe the dynamics of international trade flows. We show that a large number of the empirical regularities characterizing international trade -such as the fraction of zero trade flows across pairs of countries, the positive relationship between inten- sive and extensive margins, the high concentration of trade with respect to both products and destinations, the core-periphery structure of exchanges- are well explained by this simple stochastic setup. This helps us to distinguish among economically relevant regularities and those simply resulting from the mechanical interactions among agents. Furthermore, our model can be used to describe the process of `self-discovery' that lie at the foundations of suc- cessful export-led growth and is thought to play a crucial role in the process of economic development. Our model correctly predicts that large export flows are rare events, as pointed out in the empirical literature: yet, countries char- acterized by large `discovery' efforts are much more likely to draw a `big hit' due to the (very skewed) shape of the distribution of bilateral export flows.
Computed tomography guided fine needle aspiration cytology of mass lesions of lung: Our experience

Abstract Context: Computerized tomography (CT) guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of lung lesions has rapidly emerged as a less-invasive, cheap, rapid and fairly accurate diagnostic aid in lung lesions. Aims: The purpose of this present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CT-guided FNAC in the diagnosis of pulmonary mass lesions (both benign and malignant) and to determine the complication rate of this procedure.Settings and Design: We conducted an institution-based, prospective study on 127 patients who presented with pulmonary mass lesions. Materials and Methods: After proper consent was obtained, CT-guided transthoracic fine needle aspiration was done and their diagnoses were confirmed by appropriate methods. The results were analyzed statistically. Results: Out of 127 cases selected for the study, 59.8% were males while the rest were females. Cough was the most common symptom present in 71.2% cases, followed by weight loss (62.4%). 21.2% cases were cytologically benign. Adenocarcinoma (54.2%) was the commonest malignant tumor. FNAC provided at least 96% sensitivity and 100% specificity in diagnosing lung tumors. Among the benign lesions, specific diagnoses were obtained in 48.1% cases. Thus, altogether a specific diagnosis was obtained in 109 of 127 cases, i.e. 85.8%. No major complication was noted. Conclusions: CT-guided FNAC is an extremely valuable and fairly accurate diagnostic aid of intrathoracic mass lesions, with a reasonable rate of complication.
Drowning: Update 2009

Over the past four decades, we have learned considerably more about the pathophysiology and treatment of drowning. This, coupled with increased emphasis in improvement in water safety and resuscitation, has produced a threefold decrease in the number of deaths, indexed to population, from drowning in the United States yearly. This review presents the current status of our knowledge of the epidemiology, the pathophysiology of drowning and its treatment, updates the definitions of drowning and the drowning process, and makes suggestions for further improvement in water safety.
Alphabet soup

As I reviewed the articles for this Editor's Corner of Neurology®: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation (N2), I was reminded of the childhood treat alphabet soup. I am sure that many of our readers enjoyed, as I did, the challenge of the search for letters to form words that could be scooped up in a spoonful. The complexity of the immune system and its representation in a myriad of abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms appeared in that moment as a bowl of alphabet soup waiting to be organized and understood. The studies in this edition of N2, several of which are summarized below, move us closer to that goal.