Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multisegment Foot Kinematic and Kinetic Compensations in Level and Uphill Walking Following Tibiotalar Arthrodesis

Background: Foot and ankle movement alterations following ankle arthrodesis are still not well understood, particularly those that might contribute to the documented increase in adjacent joint arthritis. Generalized tarsal hypermobility has long been postulated, but not confirmed in gait or functional movements. The purpose of this study was to more thoroughly evaluate compensation mechanisms used by arthrodesis patients during level and uphill gait through a variety of measurement modalities and a detailed breakdown of gait phases. Methods: Level ground and uphill gait of 14 unilateral tibiotalar arthrodesis patients and 14 matched controls was analyzed using motion capture, force, and pressure measurements in conjunction with a kinetic multisegment foot model. Results: The affected limb exhibited several marked differences compared to the controls and to the unaffected limb. In loading response, ankle eversion was reduced but without a reduction in tibial rotation. During the second rocker, ankle dorsiflexion was reduced, yet was still considerable, suggesting compensatory talar articulation (subtalar and talonavicular) motion since no differences were seen at the midtarsal joint. Also during the second rocker, subjects abnormally internally rotated the tibia while moving their center of pressure laterally. Third rocker plantarflexion motion, moments, and powers were substantially reduced on the affected side and to a lesser extent on the unaffected side. Conclusion: Sagittal plane hypermobility is probable during the second rocker in the talar articulations following tibiotalar fusion, but is unlikely in other midfoot joints. The normal coupling between frontal plane hindfoot motion and tibial rotation in early and mid stance was also clearly disrupted. These alterations reflect a complex compensatory movement pattern that undoubtedly affects the function of arthrodesis patients, likely alters the arthrokinematics of the talar joints (which may be a mechanism for arthritis development), and should be considered in future arthrodesis as well as arthroplasty research. Level of Evidence: Level III, comparative study.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Xylella fastidiosa CoDiRO Strain

ABSTRACT We determined the draft genome sequence of the Xylella fastidiosa CoDiRO strain, which has been isolated from olive plants in southern Italy (Apulia). It is associated with olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS) and characterized by extensive scorching and desiccation of leaves and twigs.
Brain Activation in Young and Older Adults During Implicit and Explicit Retrieval

Positron emission tomography was used to study regional cerebral blood flow (H215O method) in groups of young and older adults during implicit and explicit retrieval, following a procedure devised by Squire et al. (1992). At study, subjects were exposed to four lists of words. Following list presentation, subjects were presented with three-letter word stems under four conditions: (1) silent viewing, (2) completion of word stems that could not form words from the study list, with the instruction to provide the first word that came to mind (baseline), (3) completion of word stems, half of which could form words from the study list, with the instruction to provide the first word that came to mind (priming), and (4) completion of word stems, half of which could form words from the study list, with the instruction to use the stems as cues for recall of list words (memory). The behavioral data indicated an agerelated deficit in cued recall that was reduced in priming. Both age groups showed a similar decrease of blood flow in right posterior cortex during priming relative to baseline. During cued recall, bilateral increases of blood flow were observed in prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus for both age groups. The young adults showed selective increases of activity in left cerebellum and Wernicke's area, whereas the older adults showed a selective bilateral activation in the perirhinal region of the medial-temporal cortex during cued recall. The results suggest a simiiar biological basis of priming in both age groups: a decrease in the neural activity required to process a particular stimulus during a subsequent encounter compared with a previous one. In addition, the importance of prefrontal regions for conscious retrieval was substantiated and extended to late adulthood. Finally, the agedifferential activations observed during cued recall were discussed relative to prominent concepts in the current literature on cognitive aging (e.g., speed of processing, self-initiated operations, cross-modal recoding).
Health care financing in Ghana: health care providers, clients' perceptions and experiences in the Upper East Region of Ghana

The Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is to assure equitable and universal access for all residents of Ghana to an acceptable quality package of essential health care services without out-of pocket payment. The objective of this study is to examine the perceptions and experiences of health care providers and clients in the Upper East Region of Ghana regarding the NHIS. The study was crosssectional and primary data were collected through patient exit interviews, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. The NHIS was seen by all respondents of the study to be beneficial. It was a catalyst to an increase in the utilization of health care services for the insured and mobilized health resources for facilities. Insured clients perceived verbal abuses, long waiting times, not being physically assessed and discrimination in favour of the uninsured and the rich as some of the problems associated with NHIS. Providers think that the insured were abusing their services by frequenting the facilities, and sometimes pretending to be sick to collect drugs for their uninsured relatives. The biggest challenge was the delay in reimbursement of claims; as a result, providers were not able to purchase drugs, and non-drug supplies threatened the sustainability of the NHIS.
STAR-FORMING REGION Sh 2-233IR. I. DEEP NEAR-INFRARED OBSERVATIONS TOWARD THE EMBEDDED STELLAR CLUSTERS

We observed the Sh 2-233IR (S233IR) region with better sensitivity in the near-infrared than in previous studies of this region. By applying statistical subtraction of the background stars, we identified member sources and derived the age and mass of three distinguishable sub-groups in this region: Sh 2-233IR NE, Sh 2-233IR SW, and the “distributed stars” over the whole cloud. Star formation may occur sequentially with a relatively small age difference (∼0.2–0.3 Myr) between subclusters. We found that the slopes for the initial mass function (Γ ∼ −0.5) of two subclusters are flatter than those of Salpeter, which suggests that more massive stars were preferentially formed in those clusters compared to other Galactic star-forming regions. These subclusters may not result from the overall collapse of the whole cloud, but have formed by triggering before the previous star formation activities disturbed the natal molecular cloud. Additionally, high star formation efficiency (≳40%) of the subclusters may also suggest that stars form very efficiently in the center of the northeast.
The Impact of Rate Reduction and Increased Loudness on Fundamental Frequency Characteristics in Dysarthria

Objective: This study examined the extent to which articulatory rate reduction and increased loudness were associated with adjustments in utterance-level measures of fundamental frequency (F₀) variability for speakers with dysarthria and healthy controls that have been shown to impact on intelligibility in previously published studies. More generally, the current study sought to compare and contrast how a slower-than-normal rate and increased vocal loudness impact on a variety of utterance-level F₀ characteristics for speakers with dysarthria and healthy controls. Patients and Methods: Eleven speakers with Parkinson’s disease, 15 speakers with multiple sclerosis, and 14 healthy control speakers were audio recorded while reading a passage in habitual, loud, and slow conditions. Magnitude production was used to elicit variations in rate and loudness. Acoustic measures of duration, intensity and F₀ were obtained. Results and Conclusions: For all speaker groups, a slower-than-normal articulatory rate and increased vocal loudness had distinct effects on F₀ relative to the habitual condition, including a tendency for measures of F₀ variation to be greater in the loud condition and reduced in the slow condition. These results suggest implications for the treatment of dysarthria.
Apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage depletion decreased M1 macrophage accumulation and the incidence of cardiac rupture after myocardial infarction in mice

Background Cardiac rupture is an important cause of death in the acute phase after myocardial infarction (MI). Macrophages play a pivotal role in cardiac remodeling after MI. Apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage (AIM) is secreted specifically by macrophages and contributes to macrophage accumulation in inflamed tissue by maintaining survival and recruiting macrophages. In this study, we evaluated the role of AIM in macrophage accumulation in the infarcted myocardium and cardiac rupture after MI. Methods and results Wild-type (WT) and AIM‒/‒ mice underwent permanent left coronary artery ligation and were followed-up for 7 days. Macrophage accumulation and phenotypes (M1 pro-inflammatory macrophage or M2 anti-inflammatory macrophage) were evaluated by immunohistological analysis and RT-PCR. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity levels were measured by gelatin zymography. The survival rate was significantly higher (81.1% vs. 48.2%, P<0.05), and the cardiac rupture rate was significantly lower in AIM‒/‒ mice than in WT mice (10.8% vs. 31.5%, P<0.05). The number of M1 macrophages and the expression levels of M1 markers (iNOS and IL-6) in the infarcted myocardium were significantly lower in AIM‒/‒ mice than in WT mice. In contrast, there was no difference in the number of M2 macrophages and the expression of M2 markers (Arg-1, CD206 and TGF-β1) between the two groups. The ratio of apoptotic macrophages in the total macrophages was significantly higher in AIM‒/‒ mice than in WT mice, although MCP-1 expression did not differ between the two groups. MMP-2 and 9 activity levels in the infarcted myocardium were significantly lower in AIM‒/‒ mice than in WT mice. Conclusions These findings suggest that AIM depletion decreases the levels of M1 macrophages, which are a potent source of MMP-2 and 9, in the infarcted myocardium in the acute phase after MI by promoting macrophage apoptosis, and leads to a decrease in the incidence of cardiac rupture and improvements in survival rates.
US-guided percutaneous microwave ablation for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.

The aim of this study was to define the effectiveness and safety of ultrasound(US)-guided percutaneous microwave ablation(MWA) for benign thyroid nodules with one session treatment. A total 121 benign thyroid nodules in 100 euthyroid patients underwent MWA in one medical center between August 2014 and December 2015. MWA was performed with an internally cooled antenna under local anesthesia. The volume of the nodule, cosmetic score and symptom score were compared before and after the procedure. The volume reduction rate(VRR) was also evaluated. The side effects and complications were observed. As a result, microwave ablation was associated with a significant decrease in nodule volume{1.05±1.05mL (0.08~4.33mL)vs 8.56±4.21mL(4.05~22.66mL), p <0.001} at 12-month follow-up. The largest diameter was also decreased {1.36±0.53cm(0.60~3.73cm) vs 2.94±0.55cm(2.00~4.40cm) , p<0.001}. The symptom score and cosmetic score were decreased significantly after the procedure(1.71±0.68 vs 3.31±1.13, p<0.001; 1.16±0.37 vs 2.37±0.94, p<0.001). The VRR was 57.66±22.95%, . 70.23±20.07%, 85.97±14.04% at 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up after ablation , respectively. Two patients(2.0%) experienced hoarseness and recovered within 2 months. Two patients(2.0%) developed slight burn on cervical skin. One case(1%) developed Horner Syndrome, recovered within 2 months. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation developed significant volume reduction on benign thyroid nodules, with achieving improvement in symptom score and cosmetic grading. The treatment was well tolerated.
Pivot-based Metric Indexing

The general notion of a metric space encompasses a diverse range of data types and accompanying similarity measures. Hence, metric search plays an important role in a wide range of settings, including multimedia retrieval, data mining, and data integration. With the aim of accelerating metric search, a collection of pivot-based indexing techniques for metric data has been proposed, which reduces the number of potentially expensive similarity comparisons by exploiting the triangle inequality for pruning and validation. However, no comprehensive empirical study of those techniques exists. Existing studies each offers only a narrower coverage, and they use different pivot selection strategies that affect performance substantially and thus render cross-study comparisons difficult or impossible. We offer a survey of existing pivot-based indexing techniques, and report a comprehensive empirical comparison of their construction costs, update efficiency, storage sizes, and similarity search performance. As part of the study, we provide modifications for two existing indexing techniques to make them more competitive. The findings and insights obtained from the study reveal different strengths and weaknesses of different indexing techniques, and offer guidance on selecting an appropriate indexing technique for a given setting.
PATTERN OF HBsAg POSITIVITY IN SELECTED GROUPS AT KING KHALID GENERAL HOSPITAL - HAIL REGION, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is endemic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The acquisition of infection occurs early in life. The availability of safe and efficacious vaccines has led to the feasibility of an effective control of HBV infection. This study compares the pattern of HBsAg positivity among selected groups of patients with similar groups in other regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Objectives: This study is conducted to determine the prevalence of HBsAg positive subjects among selected groups of patients attending the main general hospital in the Hail region. Subjects and Methods: This retrospective study included 14029 subjects that were tested for HBsAg at King Khalid General Hospital, during the period from April 1994 to April 1996. Results and Discussion: The overall prevalence of HBsAg positive subjects was 3.5%. The prevalence for Saudis was about 3.2% for Saudis. Pakistanis had the highest prevalence of 11.8%. The prevalence was 3.02% for blood donors, and 2.1 % among pregnant women. No significant difference was found among different age groups. Hail region had a lower prevalence of HBsAg positive cases compared to that estimated by previous studies in the Kingdom, suggesting success in efforts applied by the Ministry of Health (110H) for prevention of Hepatitis B viral infection. Conclusion: We can conclude that the prevalence of HBsAg positive subjects is declining in the Hail region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This decline suggests the success of preventive efforts such as vaccination of newborns with the HBsAg vaccine. However, screening of pregnant women for HBsAg scents to be necessary.
The high affinity peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐gamma agonist RS5444 inhibits both initiation and progression of colon tumors in azoxymethane‐treated mice

We evaluated RS5444, a thiazolidinedione high affinity PPARγ agonist, for the ability to inhibit colon carcinogenesis in azoxymethane (AOM)‐treated mice. In our initial experiment, mice were treated with RS5444 during AOM treatment, and the drug was withdrawn 12 weeks after the last injection of AOM. RS5444 significantly inhibited aberrant crypt focus formation under these circumstances. Furthermore, exposure to RS5444 during the course of AOM treatment effectively blocked colon tumor formation after withdrawal of the agonist. PPARγ expression and nuclear localization were reduced in adenomas. RS5444 did not inhibit DNA synthesis in tumor cells, suggesting that PPARγ activity was impaired in adenomas. To test this hypothesis, pre‐existing adenomas were treated with RS5444 for 16 weeks. We observed a slight, albeit not statistically significant, reduction in tumor incidence in RS5444‐treated mice. However, histological examination revealed that tumors from RS5444‐treated mice were of significantly lower grade, as evaluated by the extent of dysplasia. Furthermore, carcinoma in situ was observed in about one‐third of control tumors, but was never observed in RS5444‐treated tumors. We conclude that RS5444 inhibits both initiation and progression of colon tumors in the AOM model of sporadic colon carcinogenesis. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Robust Vector Quantization by a Linear Mapping of a Block Code

In this paper we propose a novel technique for vector quantizer design where the reconstruction vectors are given by a linear mapping of a binary block code (LMBC). The LMBC framework provides a relation between the index bits and the reconstruction vectors through mapping properties. We define a framework, show its flexibility, and give optimality conditions. We consider source optimized vector quantization (VQ), where the objective is to directly obtain a VQ with inherent good channel robustness properties. Several instructive theoretical results and properties of the distortion experienced due to channel noise are demonstrated. These results are used to guide the design process. Both optimization algorithms and a block code selection procedure are devised. Experimental results for Gauss-Markov sources show that quantization performance close to an unconstrained VQ is obtained with a short block code which implies a constrained VQ. The resulting VQs have better channel noise robustness than conventional VQs designed with the generalized Lloyd algorithm (GLA) and splitting initialization, even when a post-processing index assignment algorithm is applied to the GLA-based VQ. We have, thus, demonstrated a unique method for direct design resulting in an inherent good index assignment combined with small losses in quantization performance.
An Architecture for Self-Awareness Experiments

There are many open challenges and current / future research directions for self-aware systems. We have shown that self-modeling systems address many of them, but we have not yet seen many replicable experiments that allow methods and results to be shared. In this paper, we describe an architecture for self-modeling systems, and how we expect to use it for experiments in self-awareness. These experiments support a system development and verification process that extends from system conception / definition time through run time operation.Self-Modeling, like Self-Awareness, is an approach to reach a goal, not an end in itself. The goal is survivability in difficult environments, and as much operational competence as possible. We think that run-time models are a minimum necessity for significant self-awareness, and our architecture makes significant use of them throughout.The theme for this paper: this is a beginning description of a reference architecture for a software controlled system that allows / encourages infrastructure analysis and performance prediction. It facilitates the evaluation of design choices at system definition time, so we can then specialize it to the expected run-time environment and specified run-time behavior constraints without losing the capability to "re-specialize" the architecture when the environmental conditions change.
A SURVEY OF MULTISPECTRAL IMAGE DENOISING METHODS FOR SATELLITE IMAGERY APPLICATIONS

In comparison with the standard RGB or gray-scale images, the usual multispectral images (MSI) are intended to convey high definition and an authentic representation for real world scenes to significantly enhance the performance measures of several other tasks involving with computer vision, segmentation of image, object extraction, and object tagging operations. While procuring images form satellite, the MSI are often prone to noises. Finding a good mathematical description of the learning-based denoising model is a difficult research question and many different researches accounted in the literature. Many have attempted its use with the application of neural network as a sparse learned dictionary of noisy patches. Furthermore, this approach allows several algorithm to optimize itself for the given task at hand using machine learning algorithm. However, in practices, a MSI image is always prone to corruption by various sources of noises while procuring the images. In this survey, we studied the past techniques attempted for the noise influenced MSI images. The survey presents the outline of past techniques and their respective advantages in comparison with each other.
The efficacy and safety of Dl-3n-butylphthalide on progressive cerebral infarction

Abstract Progressive cerebral infarction (PCI) is associated with high rates of mortality and disability. Many studies have shown that Dl-3n-butylphthalide (NBP) is effective against acute ischemic stroke. The administration of NBP can result in an increased number of capillaries in the ischemic region, promote the establishment of collateral circulation, protect the mitochondria, and narrow the infarction area, among other effects. In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of NBP for the treatment of PCI. Between March 2008 and May 2012, we performed a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study including 304 inpatients with PCI. These patients were randomly assigned to the test (152 cases) and control groups (152 cases). The test group received 200 mg of NBP soft capsules orally, 15 minutes before each meal, 3 times daily. The control group received 200 mg of placebo soft capsules orally, 15 minutes before each meal, 3 times daily. Treatment was administered during 21 days. The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was assessed before the treatment and on days 7, 14, 21, and 30 after treatment. The Barthel index (BI) was assessed on the same days and on day 90. In the test group, the NIHSS scores on days 7, 14, 21, and 30 were 14.75 ± 4.85, 11.62 ± 3.49, 8.87 ± 5.17, and 6.38 ± 4.93, respectively. In the control group, they were 16.08 ± 3.76, 13.28 ± 5.02, 11.05 ± 4.25, and 8.43 ± 5.41 (P < .05), respectively. The BI on days 7, 14, 21, 30, and 90 were 51.57 ± 15.11, 61.21 ± 16.39, 70.48 ± 18.21, 76.41 ± 19.02, and 81.10 ± 15.52 for the test group and 46.79 ± 18.42, 55.93 ± 19.12, 64.84 ± 17.67, 70.65 ± 18.54, and 76.54 ± 17.05 for the control group (P < .05), respectively. Adverse events were elevation of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase (P > .05). NBP was useful to improve the outcome of patients with PCI and decreased their disability for activities of daily living. NBP was an efficacious and safe treatment for PCI.
Identity, Place, and Bystander Intervention: Social Categories and Helping After Natural Disasters

The authors developed a Self-Categorization Theory (SCT) approach to bystander behavior. Participants were 100 undergraduates at an English university. The authors made either a European or a British identity salient. Participants then rated their likelihood of offering both financial and political help after natural disasters in Europe and South America. When European (but not British) identity was salient, participants were less likely to offer help for disasters in South America than Europe. They were also more likely to offer financial help after disasters in Europe when European non-British identity was salient. There were no differences in levels of emotional response to disasters by identity salience. Results indicate that social category relations rather than geographical proximity or emotional reaction are most important in increasing helping behavior after natural disasters.