Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamical optimal training for interval type-2 fuzzy neural network (T2FNN)

Type-2 fuzzy logic system (FLS) cascaded with neural network, called type-2 fuzzy neural network (T2FNN), is presented in this paper to handle uncertainty with dynamical optimal learning. A T2FNN consists of type-2 fuzzy linguistic process as the antecedent part and the two-layer interval neural networks as the consequent part. The dynamical optimal training algorithm for the two-layer consequent part of interval T2FNN is first developed. The stable and optimal left and right learning rates for the interval neural network, in the sense of maximum error reduction, can be derived for each iteration in the training process. It can is also shown that both learning rates cannot be both negative. Excellent results are obtained for the truck backing-up control, which yield more improved performance than those using type-1 FNN.
KIR and disease: a model system or system of models?

Summary: The discovery of an unexpected level of diversity among the killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors has led to a search for their role in human disease. Due to their polymorphism and also that of their human leukocyte antigen class I ligands, these studies are difficult to perform and complex to interpret. Nevertheless, as the number of data sets increase, consistent trends and themes are beginning to emerge in both viral and inflammatory disorders. In this review, we summarize the findings from a number of disease association studies and discuss these in the context of the activating and inhibitory roles of the members of this gene family.
Barriers to Physical Activity in a Population-based Sample of Children and Adolescents in Isfahan, Iran

Objectives: This study was conducted to explore the barriers to physical activity in a representative sample of Iranian children and adolescents. Methods: The study was conducted in 2007 in urban and rural areas of Isfahan district in Iran. In the qualitative part, we used the grounded theory approach, including semi-structured focus group discussions and indepth interviews. The quantitative part comprised 600 randomly selected students. Results: The qualitative study included 34 school students (16 girls), 20 parents (11 mothers) and 11 school staff. All students disclosed that studying was a priority. They pointed to lack of safe and easy-access place for physical activity and unsupportive family as the main barriers. Lack of self-confidence and low selfworth were the two other concepts developed in this context. Parents pointed to lack of safe and easy-access place for activity followed by the priority of studying. The concepts derived from interviews with school staff included unhealthy modeling of parents, priority of studying, and inadequate public knowledge about how to integrate physical activity in routine daily life. The quantitative survey comprised 600 students including 286 (47.8%) girls. Parents’ education level had inverse association with children’s physical activity level. Significant inverse associations of self-efficacy and physical activity levels were documented. Conclusions: Increasing the public knowledge about adopting physical activity habits in routine daily life, informing the families and students about the benefits of physical activity to improve learning, as well as providing safe places such as using the school facilities in non-school hours should be considered in planning effective preventive strategies and interventions.
Fully-passive devices for RFID smart sensing

This work presents three different fully-passive RFID devices with sensing capabilities. The first one, not new in literature, is based on a multi-ID approach while the other two are quite more complex platforms which embed data gathered from on-board and/or external sensors directly into the RFID EPC code. Satisfactory operating range, computing capability, memory accessibility, and cost are the main strengths making the three devices definitely suitable for a wide array of applications.
Risk of hematoma following needle electromyography of the paraspinal muscles

The purpose of this study was to establish the incidence of MRI‐detectable hematomas following paraspinal EMG. We provide a retrospective review of patients who underwent paraspinal EMG and subsequent concordant level spine MRI. A total of 370 charts (431 MRIs) met the inclusion criteria. No paraspinal hematomas were observed. These results should further the development of evidence‐based guidelines for patients who have greater‐than‐normal bleeding risk and support the notion that paraspinal EMG is a relatively safe procedure. Muscle Nerve 44: 439–440, 2011
On oscillatory pattern of malaria dynamics in a population with temporary immunity

We use a model to study the dynamics of malaria in the human and mosquito population to explain the stability patterns of malaria. The model results show that the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and occurs whenever the basic reproduction number, R0 is less than unity. We also note that when R0>1, the disease-free equilibrium is unstable and the endemic equilibrium is stable. Numerical simulations show that recoveries and temporary immunity keep the populations at oscillation patterns and eventually converge to a steady state.
Evolutionary History and Stress Regulation of Plant Receptor-Like Kinase/Pelle Genes1[W][OA]

Receptor-Like Kinase (RLK)/Pelle genes play roles ranging from growth regulation to defense response, and the dramatic expansion of this family has been postulated to be crucial for plant-specific adaptations. Despite this, little is known about the history of or the factors that contributed to the dramatic expansion of this gene family. In this study, we show that expansion coincided with the establishment of land plants and that RLK/Pelle subfamilies were established early in land plant evolution. The RLK/Pelle family expanded at a significantly higher rate than other kinases, due in large part to expansion of a few subfamilies by tandem duplication. Interestingly, these subfamilies tend to have members with known roles in defense response, suggesting that their rapid expansion was likely a consequence of adaptation to fast-evolving pathogens. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) expression data support the importance of RLK/Pelles in biotic stress response. We found that hundreds of RLK/Pelles are up-regulated by biotic stress. Furthermore, stress responsiveness is correlated with the degree of tandem duplication in RLK/Pelle subfamilies. Our findings suggest a link between stress response and tandem duplication and provide an explanation for why a large proportion of the RLK/Pelle gene family is found in tandem repeats. In addition, our findings provide a useful framework for potentially predicting RLK/Pelle stress functions based on knowledge of expansion pattern and duplication mechanism. Finally, we propose that the detection of highly variable molecular patterns associated with specific pathogens/parasites is the main reason for the up-regulation of hundreds of RLK/Pelles under biotic stress.
ACETYLATED FATTY ACID TOPICAL CREAM WITH MENTHOL REDUCES PAIN AND IMPROVES FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN INDIVIDUALS WITH ARTHRITIS

This investigation was an extension of a previous study conducted in our laboratory in which we showed that 1 month of treatment with a topical cream (Celadrint) consisting of cetylated fatty acids was effective for reducing pain and improving functional performance in individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee (Kraemer et al., Journal of Rheumatology, 2004). We wanted to verify that the addition of menthol to the compound would produce a similar percentage of improvement in therapeutic effects. We used a single treatment group with a pre-post experimental design to examine % treatment changes. Individuals diagnosed with OA of the knee (N = 10; age, 66.4 ± 11.5 years) and severe pain (e.g., OA, rheumatoid arthritis) of the elbow (N = 8; age, 59.1 ± 18.2 years) and wrist (N = 10; age, 60.3 ± 16.8 years) were tested for pain and functional performance before and after 1 week of treatment with a topical cream consisting of cetylated fatty acids and menthol applied twice per day. In individuals with knee OA, significant improvements in stair-climbing ability (about 12%), “up-and-go‘” performance (about 12%), balance and strength (about 16.5%), and range of motion (about 3.5%) were observed, as were reductions in pain. In individuals with severe pain of the elbow and wrist, significant improvements in dynamic (about 22 and 24.5%, respectively) and isometric (about 33 and 42%, respectively) local muscular endurance were observed, as was a reduction in pain. Neither group demonstrated significant changes in maximal grip strength or maximal force production. One week of treatment with a topical cream consisting of cetylated fatty acids and menthol was similarly effective for reducing pain and improving functional performance in individuals with arthritis of the knee, elbow, and wrist. The % changes were consistent with our prior work on the compound without menthol. Further work is needed to determine the impact of menthol in such a cream. Nevertheless, our data support the use of a topical cream consisting of cetylated fatty acids (with or without menthol) for enhancing the potential for exercise training in this population.
Improving Cancer Therapy by Doxorubicin and Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor: Insights from a Computerized Model of Human Granulopoiesis

Neutropenia is a significant dose-limiting toxicity of cancer chemotherapy, especially in dose-intensified regimens. It is widely treated by injections of Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor (G-CSF). However, optimal schedules of G-CSF administration are still not determined. In order to aid in identifying more efficacious and less neutropenic treatment protocols, we studied a detailed physiologically-based computer model of granulopoiesis, as affected by different treatment schedules of doxorubicin and/or Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor (G-CSF). We validated the model as evident from accurate prediction of clinical data on human granulopoiesis in healthy individuals and in doxorubicin-treated cancer patients, with or without G-CSF support. Based on our model, we suggest new G-CSF administration regimens. These regimens include reduced G-CSF doses, optimally timed post-chemotherapy. Application of these regimens can lead to minimization of G-CSF side effects, as well as more cost-effective and less myelotoxic protocols. Currently clinical trials are being designed in order to test these new treatment regimens.
Effects of interpersonal conflict on organisational performance in selected hotels in Kisiitown, Kenya

Maintaining a good working environment devoid of interpersonal conflict is critical for the survival of a company in a competitive environment such as the hospitality sector as it can greatly influence performance. Limited literature and studies related to interpersonal conflict exist in the hotel sector in Kenya, hence the need for this study. This study investigated the effect of interpersonal conflict on organizational performance of selected hotels in Kisii town. This was carried out by investigating the types, outcomes and strategies for managing interpersonal conflict. The study employed both descriptive survey and explanatory research designs. It targeted a population of 368 employees of purposively selected hotels. A sample size comprising 194 employees were selected using stratified random sampling. Questionnaires were used to collect data which was validated through a pilot test while reliability was measured using the Cronbach‟s Alpha. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that interpersonal conflict strategies, relationship conflict and task conflict significantly affects organisational performance respectively, while outcomes of interpersonal conflict does not significantly affect organisational performance . To improve the performance of hotels in Kisii town, emphasis should be put on improving strategies to cope with costs, followed by alleviation of task conflicts, relationship conflicts and finally outcomes of conflicts. Various useful recommendations are made for handling interpersonal conflict so that various situations can be effectively dealt with.
A benefit-cost analysis of the Harlem hospital injury prevention program

Each year, an estimated 20%–25% of children are injured seriously enough to require medical attention or miss school. Injury rates are especially high among urban and minority children. To address this elevated risk, the Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program (HHIPP) was implemented in the fall of 1988 in the Central Harlem Health District of New York City. Davidson et al. examined the impact of the HHIPP on severe injury rates and found that, after adjusting for annual and seasonal trends, the injury rate declined by 26%. This article builds on this impact evaluation with a benefit-cost evaluation from a health care spending perspective. We examined whether medical cost savings resulting from injuries prevented outweighed the program cost.
Novel semi-dry electrodes for brain–computer interface applications

Objectives. Modern applications of brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) based on electroencephalography rely heavily on the so-called wet electrodes (e.g. Ag/AgCl electrodes) which require gel application and skin preparation to operate properly. Recently, alternative ‘dry’ electrodes have been developed to increase ease of use, but they often suffer from higher electrode–skin impedance and signal instability. In the current paper, we have proposed a novel porous ceramic-based ‘semi-dry’ electrode. The key feature of the semi-dry electrodes is that their tips can slowly and continuously release a tiny amount of electrolyte liquid to the scalp, which provides an ionic conducting path for detecting neural signals. Approach. The performance of the proposed electrode was evaluated by simultaneous recording of the wet and semi-dry electrodes pairs in five classical BCI paradigms: eyes open/closed, the motor imagery BCI, the P300 speller, the N200 speller and the steady-state visually evoked potential-based BCI. Main results. The grand-averaged temporal cross-correlation was 0.95 ± 0.07 across the subjects and the nine recording positions, and these cross-correlations were stable throughout the whole experimental protocol. In the spectral domain, the semi-dry/wet coherence was greater than 0.80 at all frequencies and greater than 0.90 at frequencies above 10 Hz, with the exception of a dip around 50 Hz (i.e. the powerline noise). More importantly, the BCI classification accuracies were also comparable between the two types of electrodes. Significance. Overall, these results indicate that the proposed semi-dry electrode can effectively capture the electrophysiological responses and is a feasible alternative to the conventional dry electrode in BCI applications.
Stress analysis of two methods of ceramic inlay preparation by finite element.

OBJECTIVE Ceramic inlays are bonded to tooth structure with resin cements. During the resin cement setting, shrinkage stress develops at the interfaces. During tooth preparation, the undercut areas formed due to the different patterns of caries progression can either be blocked out before taking impression with suitable cement such as glass ionomer cement, or before making the final restoration in the laboratory. Then, the relieved space will be filled with luting cement in clinic. The aim of this study was to compare these two methods of undercut filling in term of stress distribution in the ceramic inlay. MATERIALS AND METHODS An axisymmetric finite element analysis was performed to study the stress distribution during inlay cementing. The solid model was generated from a longitudinal section of maxillary premolar in which a class I cavity with 60 degree undercut at the preparation wall and 20 degree divergence of the vertical walls was prepared. A thermal model was used to simulate the polymerization shrinkage of the resin cement. Finite element analysis was carried out in ANSYS environment. RESULTS Filling the undercut by glass ionomer cement decreased the stress concentration at the ceramic/cement interface. The dominant normal stress at the tooth cement interface in absence of glass ionomer cement was tensile with maximum of 30 Mpa. Using glass ionomer, cement developed stresses with different compressive and tensile signs. With increasing the thickness of resin cement (100 µm, 150 µm, 200 µm), the stress increased. CONCLUSION Cements with minimum shrinkage and as thin layer as possible should be used. Filling the undercut with glass ionomer cement decreases the stress. Other experimental and clinical studies must follow this research.
Citric Acid Content in Meal of Certain Cereals arid Leguminous Plants.: A Contribution to the Question of Exogenous Citric Acid.

Summary. As a link in the systematic examination of citric acid balance in the animal organism, the citric acid content is determined in flour from wheat, rye, barley, oats and maize and from various leguminous plants. Citric acid was found in all the flour and seed powder examined, less in the cereals, more in the leguminous plants. Cereals grown in the dark showed a considerable increase in citric acid after some days which, however, decreased with continued growth of the plant. During germination the relatively highest amount of citric acid was found in the shoot.
Use of a high frequency transducer with real time B-mode ultrasound scanning to identify early pregnancy in cows

The reproductive tracts of 22 Friesian dairy cows were examined from seven to 35 days after insemination using a real time B-mode ultrasound scanner with a 7.5 MHz transducer. The earliest detection of pregnancy was at nine days when a vesicle was imaged within the lumen of the uterine horn. The early conceptus was seen at day 13 within the vesicle and these structures were followed ultrasonically until day 35. There was a sudden enlargement of the vesicle at day 19 and a heart beat was detected in the embryo at day 22. The allantois was imaged at day 23 and the amnion by day 29. The embryonic outline was clearly defined by day 33 when the body cavities could be discerned. This ability to determine pregnancy at an early stage should prove to be a useful technique in investigating the problems associated with early embryonic death in cattle.
Liver Function Tests in Diabetic Patients

Nine different liver function tests (LFT) were assessed in 175 unselected diabetic outpatients stabilized on diet, insulin, or oral hypoglycemic drugs. In another group of 72 diabetic inpatients having diagnostic liver biopsy, relationships between LFT and histologic changes in the liver were investigated. Abnormalities in at least one of the tests were noted in 57% of the outpatients, and two tests gave pathologic results in 27%. The non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients more often had abnormal LFT results than did the insulin-dependent diabetic patients. Serum chenodeoxycholic acid concentrations were increased in 27%, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (gGT) activities in 19%, and alanine aminotransferase (Alt) activities in 17% of the outpatients, but the increases were rarely more than twice the upper limit of normal. In multivariate analysis, outpatients who were overweight, showed poor diabetes control during a short duration of diabetes controlled by treatment with diet or oral agents, and had a mature age at onset of diabetes displayed the most significant clinical explanatory variables associated with abnormal Alt. In the inpatients, the percentages of abnormal Alt and gGT results were augmented, along with increasing severity of histologic changes, but the mean values of Alt and gGT did not differ significantly between the various histologic groups. In addition, the diabetic patients with nonspecific inflammatory changes or increase in liver fibrosis often showed normal or only minor elevations in these test values.
The O2 sensitivity of the transcription factor FNR is controlled by Ser24 modulating the kinetics of [4Fe-4S] to [2Fe-2S] conversion

Fumarate and nitrate reduction regulatory (FNR) proteins are bacterial transcription factors that coordinate the switch between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. In the absence of O2, FNR binds a [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster (ligated by Cys-20, 23, 29, 122) promoting the formation of a transcriptionally active dimer. In the presence of O2, FNR is converted into a monomeric, non-DNA-binding form containing a [2Fe-2S]2+ cluster. The reaction of the [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster with O2 has been shown to proceed via a 2-step process, an O2-dependent 1-electron oxidation to yield a [3Fe-4S]+ intermediate with release of 1 Fe2+ ion, followed by spontaneous rearrangement to the [2Fe-2S]2+ form with release of 1 Fe3+ and 2 S2− ions. Here, we show that replacement of Ser-24 by Arg, His, Phe, Trp, or Tyr enhances aerobic activity of FNR in vivo. The FNR-S24F protein incorporates a [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster with spectroscopic properties similar to those of FNR. However, the substitution enhances the stability of the [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster in the presence of O2. Kinetic analysis shows that both steps 1 and 2 are slower for FNR-S24F than for FNR. A molecular model suggests that step 1 of the FNR-S24F iron–sulfur cluster reaction with O2 is inhibited by shielding of the iron ligand Cys-23, suggesting that Cys-23 or the cluster iron bound to it is a primary site of O2 interaction. These data lead to a simple model of the FNR switch with physiological implications for the ability of FNR proteins to operate over different ranges of in vivo O2 concentrations.
A descriptive analysis of religious involvement among older adults in Japan

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to conduct a descriptive analysis of multiple dimensions of religious belief and practice among older people in Japan with data from a nationwide sample. Six dimensions were evaluated: religious affiliation, involvement in formal religious organisations, private religious practices, the functions of prayer, belief in punishment by supernatural forces, and beliefs about the afterlife. In addition to describing these dimensions for the sample as a whole, tests were performed to see if they varied by age, sex, marital status, education and for those living in rural or urban areas. The findings suggest that even though older people in Japan are not highly involved in formal religious institutions, they engage frequently in private religious practices, and that while many older people in Japan do not endorse some religious beliefs (e.g. about the quality of the afterlife), there is strong adherence to others (e.g. beliefs about punishment by supernatural forces). It was found that older women are more deeply involved in religion than older men, and that levels of religious involvement appear to be higher in rural than in urban areas. Less pronounced differences were found with respect to age, but compared to the ‘young-old’, the ‘oldest-old’ aged 75 or more years were more deeply involved in those aspects of religion that take place outside formal institutions.