Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Older Adults Experiences of Learning to Use Tablet Computers: A Mixed Methods Study

Background: We wanted to understand older adults’ experiences of learning how to use a tablet computer in the context of an intervention trial, including what they found helpful or unhelpful about the tablet training, to guide future intervention studies. Methods: Mixed methods study using questionnaire and focus group approaches. Forty-three participants aged between 65 and 76 years old from the “Tablet for Healthy Ageing” study (comprising 22 in the intervention group and 21 controls) completed a post-intervention tablet experience questionnaire. Those who completed the tablet training intervention were invited to share their experiences of engaging with new technology in post-intervention focus groups. We conducted three separate focus groups with 14 healthy older adults (10 females). Results: Questionnaire data suggested that the overall experience of the 22 participants who participated in the tablet training intervention was positive. The majority of participants said that it was likely or very likely they would use a tablet in the future. The focus group themes that emerged were related to the perception of tablet training, the experience of using tablets, and suggestions for future studies. Participants mentioned that their confidence was increased, that they enjoyed being part of a social group and downloading applications, but they also felt challenged at times. Advantages of using tablets included the ability to keep in touch with family and friends, a motivation to contribute to the community, and the potential for tablets to improve mental abilities and overall health and wellbeing. Participants made suggestions that would enable tablet usage, including improvement of features, and suggestions that would improve future tablet training studies, including smaller classes. Conclusion: Our findings have implications for the development of interventions utilizing new technologies that might promote the health and wellbeing of older adults.
On the Minimal Supervision for Training Any Binary Classifier from Only Unlabeled Data

Empirical risk minimization (ERM), with proper loss function and regularization, is the common practice of supervised classification. In this paper, we study training arbitrary (from linear to deep) binary classifier from only unlabeled (U) data by ERM. We prove that it is impossible to estimate the risk of an arbitrary binary classifier in an unbiased manner given a single set of U data, but it becomes possible given two sets of U data with different class priors. These two facts answer a fundamental question---what the minimal supervision is for training any binary classifier from only U data. Following these findings, we propose an ERM-based learning method from two sets of U data, and then prove it is consistent. Experiments demonstrate the proposed method could train deep models and outperform state-of-the-art methods for learning from two sets of U data.
Physical properties and solubility studies of Nifedipine-PEG 1450/HPMCAS-HF solid dispersions

Abstract Low-order high-energy nifedipine (NIF) solid dispersions (SDs) were generated by melt solvent amorphization with polyethylene glycol (PEG) 1450 and hypromellose acetate succinate (HPMCAS-HF) to increase NIF solubility while achieving acceptable physical stability. HPMCAS-HF was used as a crystallization inhibitor. Individual formulation components, their physical mixtures (PMs), and SDs were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, powder X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). NIF solubility and percent crystallinity (PC) were determined at the initial time and after 5 days stored at 25 °C and 60% RH. FTIR indicated that hydrogen bonding was involved with the amorphization process. FTIR showed that NIF:HPMCAS-HF intermolecular interactions were weaker than NIF:PEG 1450 interactions. NIF:PEG 1450 SD solubilities were significantly higher than their PM counterparts (p < 0.0001). The solubilities of NIF:PEG 1450:HPMCAS-HF SDs were significantly higher than their corresponding NIF:PEG 1450 SDs (p < 0.0001-0.043). All the SD solubilities showed a statistically significant decrease (p < 0.0001) after storage for 5 days. SDs PC were statistically lower than their comparable PMs (p < 0.0001). The PCs of SDs with HPMCAS-HF were significantly lower than SDs not containing only PEG 1450. All SDs exhibited a significant increase in PC (p < 0.0001–0.0089) on storage. Thermogravimetric analysis results showed that HPMCAS-HF bound water at higher temperatures than PEG 1450 (p < 0.0001–0.0039). HPMCAS-HF slowed the crystallization process of SDs, although it did not completely inhibit NIF crystal growth. Graphical Abstract
Distribution of Lignin, Hemicellulose, and Arabinogalactan Protein in Hemp Phloem Fibers

Abstract The distribution of lignin, 8-5′ and 8-8′ linked lignin substructure, and noncellulosic polysaccharides in hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) phloem fibers were explored based on histochemical and immunological methods. Ultraviolet absorption and potassium permanganate staining were observed mainly in the compound middle lamella (CML) and S1 layers, and rarely in the G-layer of phloem fibers, suggesting that lignin concentration is high at the CML and S1 layers, and very low at the G-layer of hemp fibers. Acriflavine staining, uniform KM1 labeling (8-5′ linked lignin substructure), and no KM2 labeling (8-8′ linked structure) were observed in the G-layer, suggesting that there is a small amount of lignin-like compound with 8-5′ linked structure in the G-layer. In addition, some fiber cells showed a multilayered structure. Uniform arabinogalactan protein (AGP) labeling was observed on the S1 layers and G-layers using JIM14, but little appeared in the CML of hemp fibers, indicating that these layers of the phloem fibers contain AGP. Immunogold labeling of xylan (LM11) and glucomannan (LM21) showed that xylan and glucomannan were mainly present in the S1 layers and the G-layers, respectively. In some phloem fibers, LM21 immunofluorescence labeling showed multilayered structure, suggesting the heterogeneous distribution of glucomannan.
Adaptation after vastus lateralis denervation in rats demonstrates neural regulation of joint stresses and strains

In order to produce movements, muscles must act through joints. The translation from muscle force to limb movement is mediated by internal joint structures that permit movement in some directions but constrain it in others. Although muscle forces acting against constrained directions will not affect limb movements, such forces can cause excess stresses and strains in joint structures, leading to pain or injury. In this study, we hypothesized that the central nervous system (CNS) chooses muscle activations to avoid excessive joint stresses and strains. We evaluated this hypothesis by examining adaptation strategies after selective paralysis of a muscle acting at the rat’s knee. We show that the CNS compromises between restoration of task performance and regulation of joint stresses and strains. These results have significant implications to our understanding of the neural control of movements, suggesting that common theories emphasizing task performance are insufficient to explain muscle activations during behaviors.
Oxidative Stress in the Blood Labyrinthine Barrier in the Macula Utricle of Meniere’s Disease Patients

The blood labyrinthine barrier (BLB) is critical in the maintenance of inner ear ionic and fluid homeostasis. Recent studies using imaging and histopathology demonstrate loss of integrity of the BLB in the affected inner ear of Meniere’s disease (MD) patients. We hypothesized that oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of BLB degeneration, and to date there are no studies of oxidative stress proteins in the human BLB. We investigated the ultrastructural and immunohistochemical changes of the BLB in the vestibular endorgan, the macula utricle, from patients with MD (n = 10), acoustic neuroma (AN) (n = 6) and normative autopsy specimens (n = 3) with no inner ear disease. Each subject had a well-documented clinical history and audiovestibular testing. Utricular maculae were studied using light and transmission electron microscopy and double labeling immunofluorescence. Vascular endothelial cells (VECs) were identified using isolectin B4 (IB4) and glucose-transporter-1 (GLUT-1). Pericytes were identified using alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA) and phalloidin. IB4 staining of VECS was consistently seen in both AN and normative. In contrast, IB4 was nearly undetectable in all MD specimens, consistent with the significant VEC damage confirmed on transmission electron microscopy. GLUT-1 was present in MD, AN, and normative. αSMA and phalloidin were expressed consistently in the BLB pericytes in normative, AN specimen, and Meniere’s specimens. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and nitrotyrosine were used as markers of oxidative stress. The VECs of the BLB in Meniere’s had significantly higher levels of expression of iNOS and nitrotyrosine compared with normative and AN specimen. eNOS-IF staining showed similar patterns in normative and Meniere’s specimens. Microarray-based gene expression profiling confirmed upregulation of iNOS mRNA from the macula utricle of Meniere’s patients compared with AN. Nitrotyrosine, a marker recognized as a hallmark of inflammation, especially when seen in association with an upregulation of iNOS, was detected in the epithelial and stromal cells in addition to VECs in MD. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural degenerative changes of the VEC suggest that these cells are the primary targets of oxidative stress, and pericyte pathology including degeneration and migration, likely also plays a role in the loss of integrity of the BLB and triggering of inflammatory pathways in MD. These studies advance our scientific understanding of oxidative stress in the human inner ear BLB and otopathology.
Graph reduction by local variation

How can we reduce the size of a graph without significantly altering its basic properties? We approach the graph reduction problem from the perspective of restricted similarity, a modification of a well-known measure for graph approximation. Our choice is motivated by the observation that restricted similarity implies strong spectral guarantees and can be used to prove statements about certain unsupervised learning problems. The paper then focuses on coarsening, a popular type of graph reduction. We derive sufficient conditions for a small graph to approximate a larger one in the sense of restricted similarity. Our theoretical findings give rise to a novel quasi-linear algorithm. Compared to both standard and advanced graph reduction methods, the proposed algorithm finds coarse graphs of improved quality -often by a large margin- without sacrificing speed.
Explicit and implicit memory for music in healthy older adults and patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACT Introduction: Previous studies have found that music paired with lyrics at encoding may improve the memory performance of patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To further explore memory for different types of musical stimuli, the current study examined both implicit and explicit memory for music with and without lyrics compared to spoken lyrics. Method: In this mixed design, patients with probable mild AD (n = 15) and healthy older adults (n = 13) listened to auditory clips (song, instrumental, or spoken lyrics varied across three sessions) and then had their memory tested. Implicit memory was measured by the mere exposure effect. Explicit recognition memory was measured using a confidence-judgment receiver operating characteristic (ROC) paradigm, which allowed examination of the separate contributions made by familiarity and recollection. Results: A significant implicit memory mere exposure effect was found for both groups in the instrumental and song but not the spoken condition. Both groups had the best explicit memory performance in the spoken condition, followed by song, and then instrumental conditions. Healthy older adults demonstrated more recollection than patients with AD in the song and spoken conditions, but both groups performed similarly in the instrumental condition. Patients with AD demonstrated more familiarity in the instrumental and song conditions than in the spoken condition. Conclusions: The results have implications for memory interventions for patients with mild AD. The implicit memory findings suggest that patients with AD may still show a preference for information familiar to them. The explicit memory results support prior findings that patients with AD rely heavily on familiarity, but also suggest that there may be limitations on the benefits that music can provide to recognition memory performance.
Maternal and Neonatal Metabolic Outcomes of Vitamin D Supplementation in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: Many scientists have revealed the association between vitamin D deficiency and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The purpose of this review was to evaluate the impact of vitamin D supplementation on maternal and neonatal health measures in GDM. Methods: A comprehensive systematic literature search in the electronic databases including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, Web of Sciences, EMBASE, Google Scholar, Clininaltrial.gov, and ProQuest as well as SID, Magiran, Irandoc, and Iranmedex for Persian literature review carried out up to January 2018. All RCTs and quasi-experimental studies that compared vitamin D supplementation with placebo or without supplementation on GDM women were included in this review. Results: Five randomized controlled trials involving 310 women were included in the meta-analysis. There were significant differences in fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG; mean difference [MD] –12.54, 95% CI –15.03 to –10.05; 3 trials, 223 participants); total cholesterol (TC; MD –24.77, 95% CI –32.57 to –16.98; 3 trials, 223 participants); low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (MD –18.92, 95% CI –24.97 to –12.88; 3 trials, 223 participants); high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (MD, 3.87, 95% CI 1.20–6.55; 3 trials, 223 participants); high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP; MD –1.35, 95% CI –2.41 to –0.28; 2 trials, 126 participants); and Newborns’ hyperbilirubinemia (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13–0.80; 2 trials, 129 participants). Conclusions: Supplementation of GDM women with vitamin D may lead to an improvement in FPG, TC, LDL, HDL, hs-CRP serum levels as well as in newborns’ hyperbilirubinemia.
Hallucinating Dense Optical Flow from Sparse Lidar for Autonomous Vehicles

In this paper we propose a novel approach to estimate dense optical flow from sparse lidar data acquired on an autonomous vehicle. This is intended to be used as a drop-in replacement of any image-based optical flow system when images are not reliable due to e.g. adverse weather conditions or at night. In order to infer high resolution 2D flows from discrete range data we devise a three-block architecture of multiscale filters that combines multiple intermediate objectives, both in the lidar and image domain. To train this network we introduce a dataset with approximately 20K lidar samples of the Kitti dataset which we have augmented with a pseudo ground-truth image-based optical flow computed using FlowNet2. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on Kitti, and show that despite using the low-resolution and sparse measurements of the lidar, we can regress dense optical flow maps which are at par with those estimated with image-based methods.
Suicidality and clinical correlates in Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) with HIV infection

ABSTRACT Little is known about suicidality in Chinese men who has sex with men (MSM) infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This study investigated suicidality and its clinical correlates in Chinese MSM with HIV infection. Suicidality, demographic and clinical characteristics were assessed in 410 MSM with HIV infection consecutively recruited from a public HIV clinic in China. The prevalence of suicidality was 10.7% in Chinese HIV-infected MSM. Compared with those without suicidality, MSM with suicidality were more likely to be younger, unmarried and unemployed, and have more frequent insomnia, lower CD4 lymphocyte counts, and higher GAD-7 and CSE-D total scores. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that suicidality was independently associated with unemployment (p = 0.03, OR = 0.3, 95% CI = 0.1–0.9), age (p < 0.01, OR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.8–0.9), CD4 lymphocyte counts (p = 0.02, OR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.9–1.0), and the GAD-7 total score (p < 0.001, OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.1–1.5). Suicidality is common in Chinese MSM with HIV infection. There is an urgent need to develop comprehensive suicide prevention program and mental health services for this population.
The Outcome of Salter Innominate Osteotomy for Developmental Hip Dysplasia before and after 3 Years Old.

Background Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is one of the most important and challenging conditions in the field of pediatric orthopedics; if not diagnosed and treated in time, it would lead to remarkable morbidity. Methods of treatment based on the patient's age can vary. The aim of this study is to compare the outcomes of Salter osteotomy surgery in two groups of patients under and over three years old. Methods In this retrospective study, medical records of patients who had undergone innominate Salter osteotomy, within the past ten years, due to non-pathological DDH were collected. Mean follow up of all patients is 70.28 months (min=25, max=118). Results eventy patients were selected including 85 operated hips. Radiological satisfaction based on modified Severin score system rate was 86% and 85% for lower three years old group and second group, respectively. In clinical assessment, it was found that results in 82% of the patients under 3 years old and 82.9% of patients older than three years old were satisfactory. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups based on Modified MacKay criterion. Conclusion Results in both groups of patients under and over 3 years old were found satisfactory. Difference in patient satisfaction rates based on clinical and radiological outcomes was not statistically significant between the two groups. It should also be noted that complications such as redislocation and deep wound infection would cause poor clinical and radiological outcomes.
LUCSS: Language-based User-customized Colourization of Scene Sketches

We introduce LUCSS, a language-based system for interactive col- orization of scene sketches, based on their semantic understanding. LUCSS is built upon deep neural networks trained via a large-scale repository of scene sketches and cartoon-style color images with text descriptions. It con- sists of three sequential modules. First, given a scene sketch, the segmenta- tion module automatically partitions an input sketch into individual object instances. Next, the captioning module generates the text description with spatial relationships based on the instance-level segmentation results. Fi- nally, the interactive colorization module allows users to edit the caption and produce colored images based on the altered caption. Our experiments show the effectiveness of our approach and the desirability of its compo- nents to alternative choices.
Genome Wide Association Mapping of Grain and Straw Biomass Traits in the Rice Bengal and Assam Aus Panel (BAAP) Grown Under Alternate Wetting and Drying and Permanently Flooded Irrigation

Growing demand for staple crops like rice will need to be achieved predominately through agricultural intensification and more efficient use of inputs. To meet this demand it is essential that the genetic diversity within rice is fully utilized. The aus subpopulation is considered an underappreciated resource within that diversity. A new rice panel, the Bengal and Assam Aus Panel (BAAP) of 266 aus accessions was generated with ∼2 million informative SNPs obtained using skim sequencing at ∼4× depth. The BAAP was grown in the field in Bangladesh in the ‘boro’ season under both continuously flooded and Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) irrigation during 2013 and 2014 in Mymensingh and during 2014 in Madhupur. Heading date, grain mass, straw biomass and harvest index were measured. The majority (94%) of BAAP accessions flowered within a relatively small window of 10 days. The AWD irrigation treatment generally caused an increase in grain mass, but no significant genotype by treatment interactions were detected for this trait. Shoot biomass was the only trait that showed evidence of genotype by treatment interaction. The average LD (Linkage Disequilibrium) decay across the genome was 243 Kbp. Genome wide association mapping revealed 115 quantitative trait loci (QTLs). There was little evidence of QTLs specific to the irrigation treatment, and only a few QTLs co-localized with known genes. However, some QTLs were detected across multiple sites and years. These QTLs should be targets for breeding, and include a region around 2.2 Mbp on chromosome 1, a large region in the middle of chromosome 7 and two regions on chromosome 11 (∼10 Mbp and ∼29 Mbp). The BAAP appears to be a valuable addition to the growing collection of GWA mapping populations of rice.
Best Practices for Handling and Administration of Expressed Human Milk and Donor Human Milk for Hospitalized Preterm Infants

The importance of human milk for the preterm infant is well established (1–3). However, the feeding of human milk to preterm infants is typically much more complicated than the mere act of breastfeeding (3, 4). The limited oral feeding skills of many preterm infants often results in human milk being administered via an enteral feeding tube (4). In addition, fortification is commonly required to promote optimal growth and development—particularly in the smallest of preterm infants (2, 4, 5). Consequently, a mother's own milk must be pumped, labeled, transported to the hospital, stored, tracked for appropriate expiration dates and times, thawed (if previously frozen), fortified, and administered to the infant with care taken at each step of the process to avoid microbial contamination, misadministration (the wrong milk for the wrong patient), fortification errors, and waste (1–5). Furthermore, the use of pasteurized donor human milk (DHM) for preterm infants when a mother's own milk is not available has been endorsed by many organizations (1). Therefore, appropriate procurement, storage, thawing (if received frozen), fortification, labeling, and administration must occur with the same considerations of preventing contamination and fortification errors while ensuring the correctly prepared final product reaches the correct patient (1). Many professional organizations have published best practices to provide hospitals with guidelines for the safe and accurate handling and preparation of expressed human milk (EHM) and DHM feedings for preterm infants (1–5). These best practices emphasize the importance of preparation location, trained staff, proper identification of human milk to prevent misadministration, and strategies to prevent fortification errors (1–6). The purpose of this mini-review article is to summarize current published best practices for the handling of human milk for preterm infants within the hospital setting (1–6). Emphasis will focus on the use of aseptic technique with proper sanitation and holding times/temperatures to limit microbial growth; use of technology to prevent misadministration of human milk and fortification errors as well as for tracking of expiration dates/times and lot numbers; and workflow strategies to promote safety while improving efficiencies (1–7).