Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Response to ECT in depressive subtypes and mixed state

Methods 130 patients (17 with major depressive disorder (UP), 67 with major depressive episode in bipolar disorder type II (BP II), 46 with major depressive episode in bipolar disorder type I (BP I) and 50 with mixed state (MS) according to the DSM-IV criteria) were included in the study and treated with bilateral ECT, on a twice-a-week schedule. The patients were assessed before (baseline) and one week after the ECT course (final score), using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Clinical Global Impressions scale (CGI).
Optimal virtual sensing for active noise control in a rigid-walled acoustic duct

The performance of local active noise control systems is generally limited by the small sizes of the zones of quiet created at the error sensors. This is often exacerbated by the fact that the error sensors cannot always be located close to an observer’s ears. Virtual sensing is a method that can move the zone of quiet away from the physical location of the transducers to a desired location, such as an observer’s ear. In this article, analytical expressions are derived for optimal virtual sensing in a rigid-walled acoustic duct with arbitrary termination conditions. The expressions are derived for tonal excitations, and are obtained by employing a traveling wave model of a rigid-walled acoustic duct. It is shown that the optimal solution for the virtual sensing microphone weights is independent of the source location and microphone locations. It is also shown that, theoretically, it is possible to obtain infinite reductions at the virtual location. The analytical expressions are compared with forward diff.
Co-evolution of project documentation and popularity within github

Github is a very popular collaborative software-development platform that provides typical source-code management and issue tracking features augmented by strong social-networking features such as following developers and watching projects. These features help ``spread the word'' about individuals and projects, building the reputation of the former and increasing the popularity of the latter. In this paper, we investigate the relation between project popularity and regular, consistent documentation updates. We found strong indicators that consistently popular projects exhibited consistent documentation effort and that this effort tended to attract more documentation collaborators. We also found that frameworks required more documentation effort than libraries to achieve similar adoption success, especially in the initial phase.
Maximal aerobic power of Japanese active and sedentary adult females of different ages (20 to 62 years).

ABSTRACT.One hundred and two sedentary and fortysix active adult Japanese females, whose ages ranged from 20-62 years, were tested for maximal oxygen intake (Vo2 max) on a bicycle ergometer. The active females participated in a regular physical conditioning program. For the sedentary females, the m
On the Nature of Teaching and Teacher Education

The effort over the past 150 years to create an effective and respected system for preparing teachers in the United States has not been easy. A large body of research on the history of teacher-education reform is a tale of persistent mediocrity and resistance to change. The author’s aim in this article is not to revisit this sad story, but to examine an old and enduring problem that has long blocked the path to a truly professional education for teachers, that teaching is an enormously difficult job that looks easy. The author explores the roots of the gap between the reality and the perception of learning to teach by first spelling out some of the characteristics of teaching that make it such a difficult form of professional practice. He then examines key elements in the nature of teaching that make the process of becoming a teacher seem so uncomplicated.
NLOS mitigation with biased Kalman filters for range estimation in UWB systems

In this paper, a non-line of sight (NLOS) error identification and mitigation technique utilizing modified biased Kalman filter in ultra-wideband (UWB) systems is proposed. NLOS error is considered one of the major error sources in range estimation and wireless location systems. To improve time-based location accuracy in UWB location systems, an NLOS identification and mitigation technique is derived. Kalman filters (KFs) are used for smoothing range data and mitigating the NLOS errors. We combine the modified biased Kalman filter and a sliding window to identify and mitigate different degree of NLOS errors. The simulation results show that the change of NLOS/LOS status can be identified accordingly and the NLOS errors can be mitigated effectively by modified biased Kalman filter. The technique achieves high accuracy in range estimation for UWB positioning and tracking.
Adaptive Bitstream Prioritization for Dual TCP / UDP Streaming of HD Video

Flexible Dual-TCP/UDP Streaming Protocol with Bitstream Prioritization (FDSP-BP) is a new method for streaming H.264-encoded High-definition (HD) video over wireless networks. This paper presents a novel technique to adaptively modify the Bitstream prioritization (BP) parameter based on network conditions. This technique selects the maximum BP value that satisfies the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) rebuffering and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packet loss rate constraints for each substream. This is achieved by passively estimating the UDP packet loss ratio and TCP rebuffering time on the sender side based on parameters, such as TCP Roundtrip Time (RTT), queue dispersal rate, peak delay, etc. Our simulation results show that FDSP with Adaptive-BP is able to significantly outperform FDSPBP with static BP values and pure-TCP in terms of rebuffering time, and FDSP-BP with fixed BP values and pure-UDP in terms of packet loss. The end result is a better overall viewing experience during network congestion. Keywords–Bitstream Prioritization; HD Video Streaming; TCP; UDP.
On Student Use and Perception of Video Tutorials in an Undergraduate Operations Research Course within an Engineering Curriculum

We consider student use and perception of video tutorials that were produced to serve as virtual office hours for an undergraduate Operations Research (OR) course. The video tutorials complemented the traditional classroom experience by offering different example applications, presentations of solution methods, and examples for different cases of an OR problem (e.g., maximize versus minimize objective). In order to understand student use and perception of these video tutorials, data was collected about the view counts of the videos and through a survey of the students. We analyze the effectiveness of the video tutorials as a learning aid by measuring student use, student perception of the tutorials with respect to their learning experience, and the perceived advantages of the video tutorials.
[The efficacy of low- and high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid applications after arthroscopic debridement in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee].

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the efficacy of viscosupplementation with low- or high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid (HA) preparations following arthroscopic debridement (AD) in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. METHODS The study included 45 patients (19 men, 26 women; mean age 53 years; range 41 to 66 years) with Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2-3 osteoarthritis of the knee. Following AD, the patients were randomized to three groups to receive three intra-articular injections of 2 ml hylan G-F 20 (Synvisc, n=16), five intra-articular injections of 2 ml sodium hyaluronate (Hyalgan, n=14), and no injections (controls, n=15). Injections were administered at one-week intervals. All the patients were evaluated with pain, stiffness, and functional capacity scores of the WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities) osteoarthritis index before and 6 and 12 months after AD. RESULTS Two patients and three patients complained of transient pain in Synvisc and Hyalgan groups, respectively. WOMAC scores showed significant decreases in all the groups at 6 and 12 months. There were no significant differences between the three groups with respect to improvement in WOMAC scores at 6 months. However, compared to the control group, differences between pre- and posttreatment scores at 12 months were significantly greater in the Synvisc (p=0.004) and Hyalgan (p=0.003) groups, with no significant difference between the two HA groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSION Our findings show that AD is beneficial in osteoarthritis of the knee in patients with appropriate indications, viscosupplementation increases the efficacy of treatment, and that low- and high-molecular-weight HA preparations have similar efficacy.
Association of Butyrylcholinesterase-K Allele and Apolipoprotein E ɛ4 Allele with Cognitive Decline in Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND A common polymorphism of the butyrylcholinesterase gene, the K-variant (BCHE-K) is associated with reduced butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) activity. Insufficient studies exist regarding the frequency and role of BCHE-K in dementias. OBJECTIVE To determine the association of BCHE-K and APOEɛ4 with diagnosis and rate of cognitive decline in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. METHODS Genomic DNA from 368 subjects (108 AD, 174 DLB, and 86 controls) from two routine clinical cohort studies in Norway; DemVest and TrønderBrain, were genotyped for BCHE-K and APOEɛ4. The mild dementia DemVest subjects received annual Mini-Mental State Examination assessments for five years. RESULTS BCHE-K frequency was lower in DLB (33.9% ; p < 0.01) than in control subjects (51.2%), and was numerically lower in AD as well (38.9% ; p = 0.11). More rapid cognitive decline was associated with the APOEɛ4 genotype, but not with the BCHE-K genotype. In an exploratory analysis of patients who completed all five follow-up visits, there was greater cognitive decline in BCHE-K carriers in the presence of the APOEɛ4 allele than in the absence of these polymorphisms. CONCLUSION BCHE-K is associated with a reduced risk for AD and DLB whereas APOEɛ4 is associated with more rapid cognitive decline. The greater cognitive decline in individuals with both APOEɛ4 and BCHE-K alleles require prospective confirmation in well-controlled trials.
Problem-Based Learning: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Physical Assessment in Advanced Practice Nursing Curriculum

Advanced physical assessment is a vital part of any advanced practice nursing curriculum and is typically one of the first courses taken. The teaching methods used vary greatly among schools of nursing. The more commonly used traditional approach begins by learning a complete head to toe physical examination followed by diagnosis and management courses in subsequent semesters. This article will describe an innovative strategy used in a family nurse practitioner program in the USA that focused on beginning the course with the episodic examination, and moving to a complete physical later in the semester. The focused episodic history and physical was conducted on 12 of the most commonly occurring chief complaints in primary care, helping prepare students to become clinically competent more quickly. The methods of implementation will be described as well as the attitudes of the effectiveness of the strategy based upon participant satisfaction. Recommendations for implementation will be discussed.
Evidence for the existence of the hexose monophosphate pathway for glucose metabolism in the normal and denervated skeletal muscle of rats.

It is generally believed that skeletal muscle uses, almost exclusively, the Embden-Meyerhof glycolytic pathway for glucose metabolism. This view is based on the finding that the activities of the enzymes glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase in muscle are very low (Glock & McLean, 1954), and on experiments, performed mainly on the diaphragm with the use of radioactive labelled compounds, that have failed to show appreciable activity of the hexose monophosphate pathway (Bloom, Stetten & Stetten, 1953; Agranoff, Brady & Colodzin, 1954; Bloom, 1955; Cahill, Hastings, Ashmore & Zottu; 1958). There is a considerable increase in the activity of the enzymes of the hexose monophosphate pathway in atrophic muscles (Rossi & Zatti, 1960; Zatti, Rossi & Tartarini, 1963; McCaman, 1961). The experiments reported in the present paper were designed to answer two questions: (1) Is it possible to define experimental conditions in which the occurrence of the hexose monophosphate pathway could be detected in skeletal muscle? (2) In the event of such an activity being detected, would it be possible to assess the relative importance of the two pathways of carbohydrate metabolism in atrophic muscle? The results given below indicate that in the normal muscle the mechanism of ["4C]carbon dioxide production from [1_14C]glucose may, to some degree, be different from that producing [14C]carbon dioxide from [6-14C]glucose, and suggest that, under the conditions employed here, the contribution of the hexose monophosphate pathway in muscles may be appreciable. It has not been possible, however, to show any differences in the activity of this pathway between normal and atrophic muscles. METHODS
Does physician dispensing increase drug expenditures ?

We analyze whether the possibility for physicians to dispense drugs increases health care expenditures due to the incentives created by the markup on drugs sold. Using comprehensive physician-level data from Switzerland, we exploit the fact that there is regional variation in the dispensing regime to estimate policy effects. The empirical strategy consists of doubly-robust estimation which combines inverse-probability weighting with regression. Our main finding suggests that if dispensing is permitted, physicians produce significantly higher drug costs in the order of 30% per patient.
Clinical comparison between conventional suture and vaporization with carbon dioxide laser in rat's skin.

OBJECTIVE This study compares wound healing efficiency on a rat's skin when the incision was closed with a conventional suture versus vaporized with a CO2 laser. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, 24 rats were used, and two longitudinal incisions were made with a conventional scalpel in the dorsum of each rat. The left incision was sutured with nylon thread, and the right incision was closed by vaporization with a defocused CO2 laser in continuous mode with an 8-watt power density. Clinical photographs were taken immediately after the procedure, 24 h later, and after 3, 7, 14, and 21 days, documenting the healing of the incision. RESULTS The results showed that there was an initial delay in wound repair in the vaporized incision as compared to the scalpel incision, but after 21 days, both incisions showed the same clinical characteristics. However, the vaporized incision showed no trauma of the tissue, as opposed to the sutured incision, and no hemorrhagic complications. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the CO2 laser can eventually replace the use of sutures.
THE ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF DELIVERING CULTURALLY CONGRUENT NURSING AND HEALTH CARE

This article discusses the ethical parameters of giving culturally congruent care to individual patients by health care professionals. Leininger? s Cultural Care Diversity and Universality theory (Leininger, 1995) is used to demonstrate the importance of culture in a person? s life and Husted? s and Husted? s (1995) bioethical theory is used to create a mind-set of ethical interaction and to direct the analysis of a bioethical dilemma involving cultural differences between persons of the same culture, a depressed Mexican-American woman and her husband. The differences between transculturalism and multiculturalism are explored. We defend the position that a patient? s culture is only a useful tool in caring for a patient if the individual person is made the primary focus of care.
Multiscale Convolutional Neural Networks for Hand Detection

Unconstrained hand detection in still images plays an important role in many hand-related vision problems, for example, hand tracking, gesture analysis, human action recognition and human-machine interaction, and sign language recognition. Although hand detection has been extensively studied for decades, it is still a challenging task with many problems to be tackled. The contributing factors for this complexity include heavy occlusion, low resolution, varying illumination conditions, different hand gestures, and the complex interactions between hands and objects or other hands. In this paper, we propose a multiscale deep learning model for unconstrained hand detection in still images. Deep learning models, and deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in particular, have achieved state-of-the-art performances in many vision benchmarks. Developed from the region-based CNN (R-CNN) model, we propose a hand detection scheme based on candidate regions generated by a generic region proposal algorithm, followed by multiscale information fusion from the popular VGG16 model. Two benchmark datasets were applied to validate the proposed method, namely, the Oxford Hand Detection Dataset and the VIVA Hand Detection Challenge. We achieved state-of-the-art results on the Oxford Hand Detection Dataset and had satisfactory performance in the VIVA Hand Detection Challenge.
Ruminal disappearance of PAHs in contaminated grass using the nylon bag technique

Airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are deposited on agricultural grasses. In turn, PAHs enter the food chain through animals eating grasses. However, the risk of food contamination, e.g. of milk, is unknown because mechanisms ruling the fate of PAHs during digestion by cows are not understood, especially in the rumen. Here, we studied the disappearance rate of phenanthrene, pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene, n-alkanes, and dry matter from contaminated grass samples in the rumen, the first compartment of the ruminant digestive tract. Three cows fitted with a rumen cannula were used for this study and the grass samples were incubated in sacco for 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h. The results show that the disappearance rate of PAHs was fast and higher than that of n-alkanes. On average, 83% of PAHs disappeared after 1 h of incubation. Phenanthrene showed a disappearance rate higher than 90%. The findings suggest a fast desorption of PAHs from the surface of the grass leaves. The digestive hydrolysis of the grass is not required to release PAHs, contrary to other fractions. As a consequence, the bioavailability of PAHs is not limited by the grass.
Detection of Two Bartonella tamiae-Like Sequences in Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) Using 16S-23S Intergenic Spacer Region-Specific Primers

Abstract Four hundred and sixty-six questing Amblyomma americanum (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae) from Carolina County, VA, and 98 questing A. americanum from Chatham County, NC, were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the Bartonella 16S-23S intergenic spacer region. Two amplicons, ≈270–280 bp, were detected in two ticks from Virginia. Based upon PCR and sequencing, an adult male and adult female tick harbored DNA sequences closely related to Bartonella tamiae (DQ395180). Bartonella DNA was not detected in A. americanum from North Carolina. Potential transmission of Bartonella spp. by A. americanum should be the focus of future experimental studies.
Cerebrospinal Fluid IL-21 Levels in Neuromyelitis Optica and Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS) are inflammatory demyelinating diseases of human central nervous system (CNS) with complex pathogenesis. IL-21/IL-21R regulates activation, proliferation and survival of both T cells and B cells, which are involved in the pathogenesis of NMO and MS. High levels of serum IL-21 were observed in NMO patients. However, concentration of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) IL-21 in MS and NMO patients still remain unknown. Object: To detect the CSF concentration of IL-21 in NMO and MS patients and to evaluate its relationship with disease activity, particularly concerned about its impact on humoral immunity. Methods: CSF IL-21 was detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in NMO patients (n=21), MS patients (n=20) and controls (n=16). Results: CSF concentration of the IL-21 was noticeably elevated in NMO (p=0.012) and borderline significantly increased in MS (p=0.115). In addition, this occurrence was associated with humoral immune activity as shown by a correlation between IL-21 and complement in NMO cohort (p=0.023) and high IL-21 levels in autoantibody-positive subgroup (p=0.027). Conclusions: The concentration of CSF IL-21 was noticeably elevated and might have a positive correlation with humoral immune activity in NMO.
Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation for Subacute Low Back Pain: Graded Activity or Workplace Intervention or Both?: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Study design. Population-based randomized controlled trial. Objective. To assess the effectiveness of workplace intervention and graded activity, separately and combined, for multidisciplinary rehabilitation of low back pain (LBP). Summary of Background Data. Effective components for multidisciplinary rehabilitation of LBP are not yet established. Methods. Participants sick-listed 2 to 6 weeks due to nonspecific LBP were randomized to workplace intervention (n = 96) or usual care (n = 100). Workplace intervention consisted of workplace assessment, work modifications, and case management involving all stakeholders. Participants still sick-listed at 8 weeks were randomized for graded activity (n = 55) or usual care (n = 57). Graded activity comprised biweekly 1-hour exercise sessions based on operant-conditioning principles. Outcomes were lasting return to work, pain intensity and functional status, assessed at baseline, and at 12, 26, and 52 weeks after the start of sick leave. Results. Time until return to work for workers with workplace intervention was 77 versus 104 days (median) for workers without this intervention (P = 0.02). Workplace intervention was effective on return to work (hazard ratio = 1.7; 95% CI, 1.2–2.3; P = 0.002). Graded activity had a negative effect on return to work (hazard ratio = 0.4; 95% CI, 0.3–0.6; P < 0.001) and functional status. Combined intervention had no effect. Conclusion. Workplace intervention is advised for multidisciplinary rehabilitation of subacute LBP. Graded activity or combined intervention is not advised.
Mid-level-Representation Based Lexicon for Vehicle Make and Model Recognition

In this paper, we present a novel framework for representation of images as a combination of multiple mid-level feature descriptor representation based group of visual words. The mid-level feature representation is computed on discriminative patches of the image to build a lexicon, the visual words of which are used to represent the shape within that image. The proposed image representation method has been applied to the application of vehicles make and model recognition. Each make, model class is represented as an over complete sub-lexicon of mid-level feature representation. The classification of vehicles is performed by comparing the visual words of probe image with the learned lexicon of training data using Euclidean distance. The proposed framework offers the advantage of accurate recognition in the presence of significant background clutter. The experiments have shown that the proposed representation successfully captures the fine-grained inter and intra-class discrimination to recognize the model and make of the vehicle without any strict requirement of precise region of interest segmentation. Another important contribution of the paper is a comprehensive dataset of cars depicting images collected in the wild.