Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ankle plantar flexor force production is an important determinant of the preferred walk-to-run transition speed

SUMMARY The mechanisms that govern the voluntary transition from walking to running as walking speed increases in human gait are not well understood. The objective of this study was to examine the hypothesis that plantar flexor muscle force production is greatly impaired at the preferred transition speed (PTS) due to intrinsic muscle properties and, thus, serves as a determinant for the walk-to-run transition. The plantar flexors have been shown to be important contributors to satisfying the mechanical energetic demands of walking and are the primary contributors to the observed ground reaction forces (GRFs) during the propulsion phase. Thus, if the plantar flexor force production begins to diminish near the PTS despite an increase in muscle activation, then a corresponding decrease in the GRFs during the propulsion phase would be expected. This expectation was supported. Both the peak anterior/posterior and vertical GRFs decreased during the propulsion phase at walking speeds near the PTS. A similar decrease was not observed during the braking phase. Further analysis using forward dynamics simulations of walking at increasing speeds and running at the PTS revealed that all lower extremity muscle forces increased with walking speed, except the ankle plantar flexors. Despite an increase in muscle activation with walking speed, the gastrocnemius muscle force decreased with increasing speed, and the soleus force decreased for walking speeds exceeding 80% PTS. These decreases in force production were attributed to the intrinsic force–length–velocity properties of muscle. In addition, the running simulation analysis revealed that the plantar flexor forces nearly doubled for similar activation levels when the gait switched to a run at the PTS due to improved contractile conditions. These results suggest the plantar flexors may serve as an important determinant for the walk-to-run transition and highlight the important role intrinsic muscle properties play in determining the specific neuromotor strategies used in human locomotion.
A Trainable Hearing Aid Algorithm Reflecting Individual Preferences for Degree of Noise-Suppression, Input Sound Level, and Listening Situation

Objectives In an effort to improve hearing aid users’ satisfaction, recent studies on trainable hearing aids have attempted to implement one or two environmental factors into training. However, it would be more beneficial to train the device based on the owner’s personal preferences in a more expanded environmental acoustic conditions. Our study aimed at developing a trainable hearing aid algorithm that can reflect the user’s individual preferences in a more extensive environmental acoustic conditions (ambient sound level, listening situation, and degree of noise suppression) and evaluated the perceptual benefit of the proposed algorithm. Methods Ten normal hearing subjects participated in this study. Each subjects trained the algorithm to their personal preference and the trained data was used to record test sounds in three different settings to be utilized to evaluate the perceptual benefit of the proposed algorithm by performing the Comparison Mean Opinion Score test. Results Statistical analysis revealed that of the 10 subjects, four showed significant differences in amplification constant settings between the noise-only and speech-in-noise situation (P<0.05) and one subject also showed significant difference between the speech-only and speech-in-noise situation (P<0.05). Additionally, every subject preferred different β settings for beamforming in all different input sound levels. Conclusion The positive findings from this study suggested that the proposed algorithm has potential to improve hearing aid users’ personal satisfaction under various ambient situations.
Decoding spoken words using local field potentials recorded from the cortical surface

Pathological conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or damage to the brainstem can leave patients severely paralyzed but fully aware, in a condition known as ‘locked-in syndrome’. Communication in this state is often reduced to selecting individual letters or words by arduous residual movements. More intuitive and rapid communication may be restored by directly interfacing with language areas of the cerebral cortex. We used a grid of closely spaced, nonpenetrating micro-electrodes to record local field potentials (LFPs) from the surface of face motor cortex and Wernicke's area. From these LFPs we were successful in classifying a small set of words on a trial-by-trial basis at levels well above chance. We found that the pattern of electrodes with the highest accuracy changed for each word, which supports the idea that closely spaced micro-electrodes are capable of capturing neural signals from independent neural processing assemblies. These results further support using cortical surface potentials (electrocorticography) in brain–computer interfaces. These results also show that LFPs recorded from the cortical surface (micro-electrocorticography) of language areas can be used to classify speech-related cortical rhythms and potentially restore communication to locked-in patients.
Increased urine phenylethylamine after methylphenidate treatment in children with ADHD

The urine levels of β‐phenylethylamine, 3‐methoxy‐4‐hydroxyphenyl glycol, homovanillic acid, and 5‐hydroxyindoleacetic acid were measured to clarify the neurochemical mechanism in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. β‐Phenylethylamine levels were significantly lower in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder individuals (n = 37) than in controls (n = 21). The 22 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were treated with methylphenidate, and they were further divided into methylphenidate responders (n = 18) and nonresponders (n = 4). β‐Phenylethylamine levels significantly increased after methylphenidate therapy in responders, whereas they did not increase in nonresponders.
Predicting Satisfiability at the Phase Transition

Uniform random 3-SAT at the solubility phase transition is one of the most widely studied and empirically hardest distributions of SAT instances. For 20 years, this distribution has been used extensively for evaluating and comparing algorithms. In this work, we demonstrate that simple rules can predict the solubility of these instances with surprisingly high accuracy. Specifically, we show how classification accuracies of about 70% can be obtained based on cheaply (polynomial-time) computable features on a wide range of instance sizes. We argue in two ways that classification accuracy does not decrease with instance size: first, we show that our models' predictive accuracy remains roughly constant across a wide range of problem sizes; second, we show that a classifier trained on small instances is sufficient to achieve very accurate predictions across the entire range of instance sizes currently solvable by complete methods. Finally, we demonstrate that a simple decision tree based on only two features, and again trained only on the smallest instances, achieves predictive accuracies close to those of our most complex model. We conjecture that this two-feature model outperforms random guessing asymptotically; due to the model's extreme simplicity, we believe that this conjecture is a worthwhile direction for future theoretical work.
Race and prevalence of human papillomavirus infection among men residing in Brazil, Mexico and the United States

Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes anal, penile and oropharyngeal cancers in men. Genital HPV prevalence in men appears to vary by world region with men residing in Asia having among the lowest prevalence. Unfortunately, there is little information on prevalence of HPV infection in men by race. The purpose of this study was to examine HPV prevalence by race across three countries. 3,909 men ages 18–70 years enrolled in an ongoing prospective cohort study of the natural history of HPV in men (The HIM Study) were included in the analysis. Participants completed risk factor questionnaires and samples were taken from the penile epithelium and scrotum for HPV detection. HPV testing of the combined DNA extract was conducted using PCR and genotyping. Asian/Pacific Islanders had the lowest HPV prevalence of 42.2% compared to Blacks (66.2%), and Whites (71.5%). The Asian/Pacific Islander race was strongly protective in univariate analysis (prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.59; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.48–0.74) and multivariate analysis for any HPV infection (PR = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.52–0.8). Stratified analysis by lifetime number of female partners also showed strong inverse associations with the Asian/Pacific Islander race. We consistently observed the lowest prevalence of HPV infection among Asian/Pacific Islanders with moderate inverse associations even after various adjustments for potential confounding factors. Unmeasured behavioral factors, sexual mixing with low risk women, and/or race‐specific differences in the frequency of germline variations among immune regulating genes may underlie these associations. Further studies among Asian populations that incorporate measures of immuno‐genetics are needed to understand this phenomenon.
The Genes Encoding Formamidopyrimidine and MutY DNA Glycosylases in Escherichia coli Are Transcribed as Part of Complex Operons

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli formamidopyrimidine (Fpg) DNA glycosylase and MutY DNA glycosylase are base excision repair proteins that work together to protect cells from the mutagenic effects of the commonly oxidized guanine product 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine. The genes encoding these proteins, fpg and mutY, are both cotranscribed as part of complex operons. fpg is the terminal gene in an operon with the gene order radC,rpmB, rpmG, and fpg. This operon has transcription initiation sites upstream of radC, in theradC coding region, and immediately upstream offpg. There is a strong attenuator in therpmG-fpg intergenic region and three transcription termination sites downstream of fpg. There is an additional site, in the radC-rpmB intergenic region, that corresponds either to a transcription initiation site or to an RNase E or RNase III cleavage site. mutY is the first gene in an operon with the gene order mutY, yggX, mltC, andnupG. This operon has transcription initiation sites upstream of mutY, in the mutY coding region, and immediately upstream of nupG. There also appear to be attenuators in the yggX-mltC and mltC-nupGintergenic regions. The order of genes in these operons has been conserved or partially conserved only in other closely related gram-negative bacteria, although it is not known whether the genes are cotranscribed in these other organisms.
Vocabulary development in Greek children: a cross-linguistic comparison using the Language Development Survey*

ABSTRACT This study investigated vocabulary size and vocabulary composition in Greek children aged 1 ; 6 to 2 ; 11 using a Greek adaptation of Rescorla's Language Development Survey (LDS; Rescorla, 1989). Participants were 273 toddlers coming from monolingual Greek-speaking families. Greek LDS data were compared with US LDS data obtained from the instrument's normative sample (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Vocabulary size increased markedly with age, but Greek toddlers appeared to get off to a slower start in early word learning than US children. The correlation between percentage word use scores in Greek and US samples was moderate in size, indicating considerable overlap but some differences. Common nouns were the largest category among the fifty most frequent words in both samples. Numbers of adjectives and verbs were comparable across languages, but people and closed-class words were more numerous in the Greek sample. Finally, Greek late talkers showed similar patterns of vocabulary composition to those observed in typically developing Greek children.
A Tale of Passion: Linking Job Passion and Cognitive Engagement to Employee Work Performance

We propose a model of job passion that links two types of passion, harmonious and obsessive passion, to employees' work performance, via the mediating mechanism of cognitive engagement (comprising attention and absorption). Results from a survey conducted with 509 employees from an insurance firm indicate that employees with harmonious passion performed better at work, and that this relationship was mediated primarily by cognitive absorption, that is, the intensity of focus and immersion experienced by the employees when working. However, even though obsessive passion was negatively related to cognitive attention (i.e. the amount of cognitive resources spent thinking about work), it did not have a significant relationship to work performance overall. We identify and discuss research and practical implications for job passion and performance management.
Early-onset sepsis in a neonatal intensive care unit in Beni Suef, Egypt: bacterial isolates and antibiotic resistance pattern

Purpose To identify the frequency of bacterial isolates in early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) and their antimicrobial resistance pattern. Methods A retrospective study of EONS was conducted at the Beni Suef University Hospital from September 2008 to September 2012. A case of EONS was defined as an infant who had clinical signs of infection or who was born to a mother with risk factors for infection, and in whom blood culture obtained within 72 hours of life grew a bacterial pathogen. Results Of 673 neonates screened, there were 138 positive blood cultures (20.5%) (confirmed EONS). Of the recovered isolates, 86.2% were gram-negative pathogens. Klebsiella pneumoniae (42.8%), Enterobacter cloacae (22.5%), and Escherichia coli (13.8%) were the commonest isolated organisms. The most common gram-positive microorganism was Staphylococcus aureus accounting for only 12 isolates (8.7%). All Klebsiella isolates and 93% of Enterobacter isolates were resistant to ampicillin. Gram-negative pathogens had the maximum overall sensitivity to imipenem, cefepime, and ciprofloxacin; whereas, gram-positive isolates were most susceptible to vancomycin, imipenem, and piperacillin. Conclusion K. pneumoniae was the predominant causative bacteria of EONS followed by E. cloacae and E. coli. There was a high resistance to ampicillin. Imipenem had the maximum overall activity against the causative bacteria. Continuous surveillance is needed to monitor the changing epidemiology of pathogens and antibiotic sensitivity.
Randomized Clinical Trial of Prevention of Hydrocephalus After Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Preterm Infants: Brain-Washing Versus Tapping Fluid

OBJECTIVE. Hydrocephalus is a serious complication of intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm infants, with adverse consequences from permanent ventriculoperitoneal shunt dependence. The development of hydrocephalus takes several weeks, but no clinical intervention has been shown to reduce shunt surgery in such infants. The aim of this study was to test a new treatment intended to prevent hydrocephalus and shunt dependence after intraventricular hemorrhage. METHODS. We randomly assigned 70 preterm infants who had gestational ages of 24 to 34 weeks and were progressively enlarging their cerebral ventricles after intraventricular hemorrhage to either (1) drainage, irrigation, and fibrinolytic therapy to wash out blood and cytokines or (2) tapping of cerebrospinal fluid by reservoir as required to control excessive expansion and signs of pressure (standard treatment). We evaluated outcomes at 6 months of age or hospital discharge (if later). RESULTS. Of 34 infants who were assigned to drainage, irrigation, and fibrinolytic therapy, 2 died and 13 underwent shunt surgery (dead or shunt: 44%). Of 36 infants who were assigned to standard therapy, 5 died and 14 underwent shunt surgery (dead or shunt: 50%). This difference was not significant. Twelve (35%) of 34 infants who received drainage, irrigation, and fibrinolytic therapy had secondary intraventricular hemorrhage compared with 3 (8%) of 36 in the standard group. Secondary intraventricular hemorrhage was associated with an increased risk for subsequent shunt surgery and more blood transfusions. CONCLUSIONS. Despite its logical basis and encouraging pilot data, drainage, irrigation, and fibrinolytic therapy did not reduce shunt surgery or death when tested in a multicenter, randomized trial. Secondary intraventricular hemorrhage is a major factor that counteracts any possible therapeutic effect from washing out old blood.
Analysis of Snail1 function and regulation by Twist1 in palatal fusion

Palatal fusion is a tightly controlled process which comprises multiple cellular events, including cell movement and differentiation. Midline epithelial seam (MES) degradation is essential to palatal fusion. In this study, we analyzed the function of Snail1 during the degradation of the MES. We also analyzed the mechanism regulating the expression of the Snail1 gene in palatal shelves. Palatal explants treated with Snail1 siRNA did not degrade the MES and E-cadherin was not repressed leading to failure of palatal fusion. Transforming growth factor beta 3 (Tgfβ3) regulated Snail1 mRNA, as Snail1 expression decreased in response to Tgfβ3 neutralizing antibody and a PI-3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor. Twist1, in collaboration with E2A factors, regulated the expression of Snail1. Twist1/E47 dimers bond to the Snail1 promoter to activate expression. Without E47, Twist1 repressed Snail1 expression. These results support the hypothesis that Tgfβ3 may signal through Twist1 and then Snail1 to downregulate E-cadherin expression during palatal fusion.
Signaling in Fibrosis: TGF-β, WNT, and YAP/TAZ Converge

Chronic organ injury leads to fibrosis and eventually organ failure. Fibrosis is characterized by excessive synthesis, remodeling, and contraction of extracellular matrix produced by myofibroblasts. Myofibroblasts are the key cells in the pathophysiology of fibrotic disorders and their differentiation can be triggered by multiple stimuli. To develop anti-fibrotic therapies, it is of paramount importance to understand the molecular basis of the signaling pathways contributing to the activation and maintenance of myofibroblasts. Several signal transduction pathways, such as transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, Wingless/Int (WNT), and more recently yes-associated protein 1 (YAP)/transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) signaling, have been linked to the pathophysiology of fibrosis. Activation of the TGF-β1-induced SMAD complex results in the upregulation of genes important for myofibroblast function. Similarly, WNT-stabilized β-catenin translocates to the nucleus and initiates transcription of its target genes. YAP and TAZ are two transcriptional co-activators from the Hippo signaling pathway that also rely on nuclear translocation for their functioning. These three signal transduction pathways have little molecular similarity but do share one principle: the cytosolic/nuclear regulation of its transcriptional activators. Past research on these pathways often focused on the isolated cascades without taking other signaling pathways into account. Recent developments show that parts of these pathways converge into an intricate network that governs the activation and maintenance of the myofibroblast phenotype. In this review, we discuss the current understanding on the signal integration between the TGF-β, WNT, and YAP/TAZ pathways in the development of organ fibrosis. Taking a network-wide view on signal transduction will provide a better understanding on the complex and versatile processes that underlie the pathophysiology of fibrotic disorders.
Silo: Predictable Message Latency in the Cloud

Many cloud applications can benefit from guaranteed latency for their network messages, however providing such predictability is hard, especially in multi-tenant datacenters. We identify three key requirements for such predictability: guaranteed network bandwidth, guaranteed packet delay and guaranteed burst allowance. We present Silo, a system that offers these guarantees in multi-tenant datacenters. Silo leverages the tight coupling between bandwidth and delay: controlling tenant bandwidth leads to deterministic bounds on network queuing delay. Silo builds upon network calculus to place tenant VMs with competing requirements such that they can coexist. A novel hypervisor-based policing mechanism achieves packet pacing at sub-microsecond granularity, ensuring tenants do not exceed their allowances. We have implemented a Silo prototype comprising a VM placement manager and a Windows filter driver. Silo does not require any changes to applications, guest OSes or network switches. We show that Silo can ensure predictable message latency for cloud applications while imposing low overhead.
Bmc International Health and Human Rights Reliability and Validity of the Student Perceptions of School Cohesion Scale in a Sample of Salvadoran Secondary School Students

Background: Despite a growing body of research from the United States and other industrialized countries on the inverse association between supportive social relationships in the school and youth risk behavior engagement, research on the measurement of supportive school social relationships in Central America is limited. We examined the psychometric properties of the Student Perceptions of School Cohesion (SPSC) scale, a 10-item scale that asks students to rate with a 5-point Likert-type response scale their perceptions of the school social environment, in a sample of public secondary school students (mean age = 15 years) living in central El Salvador.
Massively parallel 3D inversion of gravity and gravity gradiometry data

Reliance on desktop computers limits the scale of 3D inversion of gravity and gravity gradiometry surveys, making it impractical to achieve an appropriate level of resolution and detail for geological interpretation. To begin with, airborne surveys are characterised by very large data volumes. They typically contain hundreds to thousands of line kilometres of data with measurement locations every few metres. Often, surveys cover thousands of square kilometres in area with tens of thousands of line kilometres of data. Regional surveys may be even larger and denser as the result of merging multiple and/or historic surveys. Secondly, 3D modelling of large-scale surveys exceeds the capacity of desktop computing resources. And finally, gravity data are finite and noisy, and their inversion is ill posed. Regularisation must be introduced in order to recover the most geologically plausible solutions from the infinite number of mathematically equivalent solutions. Various strategies for 3D inversion have been previously proposed but few lend themselves to truly large-scale 3D inversion. In this paper, we describe how gravity and gravity gradiometry surveys can be inverted to 3D earth models of unprecedented scale (i.e., hundreds of millions of cells) within hours using cluster computers.