Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The association between radiographic knee osteoarthritis and knee symptoms, function and quality of life 10–15 years after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Background There are conflicting results in the literature regarding the association between radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) and symptoms and function in subjects with previous anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Aim To investigate the associations between radiographic tibiofemoral knee OA and knee pain, symptoms, function and knee-related quality of life (QOL) 10–15 years after ACL reconstruction. Study design Cross-sectional study. Material and methods 258 subjects were consecutively included at the time of ACL reconstruction and followed up prospectively. The authors included the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score to evaluate knee pain, other symptoms (symptoms), activities of daily living and sport and recreation (Sport/Rec) and QOL. The subjects underwent standing radiographs 10–15 years after the ACL reconstruction. The radiographs were graded with the Kellgren and Lawrence (K&L) classification (grade 0–4). Results 210 subjects (81%) consented to participate in the 10–15-year follow-up. Radiographic knee OA (K&L ≥grade 2) was detected in 71%, and 24% showed moderate or severe radiographic knee OA (K&L grades 3 and 4). No significant associations were detected between radiographic knee OA (K&L grade ≥2) and pain, function or QOL, respectively, but subjects with radiographic knee OA showed significantly increased symptoms. Severe radiographic knee OA (K&L grade 4) was significantly associated with more pain, symptoms, impaired Sport/Rec and reduced QOL. Conclusion Subjects with radiographic knee OA showed significantly more symptoms than those without OA, and subjects with severe radiographic knee OA had significantly more pain, impaired function and reduced quality of life than those without radiographic knee OA 10–15 years after ACL reconstruction.
Mode of action and properties of xylanase and β‐Xylosidase from Neurospora crassa

Extracellular β‐xylosidase (1,4‐β‐D‐xylan xylohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.37) from culture filtrates of Neurospora crassa was purified to homogeneity by preparative isoelectric focusing followed by gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight of the purified xylosidase was 83,000 D and the Km on p‐nitrophenyl‐β‐D‐xyloside was 0.047mM. The homogeneous xylanase (1,4‐β‐D‐xylan xylanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.8) and β‐xylosidase showed differences in their mode of action towards xylooligosaccharides. The degree of hydrolysis of D‐xylan by xylanase of N. crassa was 18%. Supplementation of β‐xylosidase from the same organism resulted in 48% hydrolysis. The synergistic effect was more pronounced, with the hydrolysis of 68%, when a homogeneous preparation of β‐xylosidase from Sclerotium rolfsii was added to the saccharification system.
Boundary Conditions for Paleolithic Social Systems: A Simulation Approach

Abstract Pleistocene societies are viewed in this paper as manifestations of band society from which Paleolithic archaeologists can generate hypotheses about this cultural system and against which they can evaluate the validity of general cultural explanations. A general model is posited toward the isolation of Paleolithic societies in the archaeological record. Their numerical size is predicted from Monte Carlo simulations of model populations, and ways are discussed in which distinguishable equilibrium states of such societies can be predicted in time and space. Under the assumption of maximal constraints, simulations are used to predict the size and longevity of social units. The frequency of settlements produced during an equilibrium state of a society is simulated and the utility of survey for activity areas outside the settlements is demonstrated. The models developed in this paper are intended to stimulate deductive research in Paleolithic archaeology.
Imbalances in k-colorations

1. INTRODUCTION The following problem is due to Paul Erdijs tll. Color the edges of a complete graph K on n vertices red and blue. What n is the largest t such that we may always find a complete subgraph in which I# red edges-# blue edges1 Lt? We need a more precise and more general formulation. For any set V, define Vk = {W :, w&V, Iwl = k). (1) Note that V2 is the complete graph generated by V. Vk is called the complete k-graph generated by V. The elements of Vk are i~ll~dn~-~~~~~enW~yC~l~~pthe k-edges. A coloring of a set A, 'k : Ak-+ (+l,-1). The values +l,-1 may be thought of as Red and Blue. The sub-script k indicates a function on k-edges and will be dropped when there is no confusion. The function g k induces another function, also denoted by gk, on the subsets of A given by Set gk@) =
Sequence and secondary structure of the rDNA second internal transcribed spacer in the sibling species Culex pipiens L. and Cx. quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae)

The primary and secondary structure of the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of two members of the Cx. pipiens complex, Cx. pipiens and Cx. quinquefasciafus, were examined in order to better understand the relationships between these two sibling mosquito species. The length of the sequenced rDNA fragments was 512 bp (Cx. pipiens) and 513 bp (Cx. quinquefasciatus), including the ITS2 regions and flanking 5.8S‐28S coding regions. The ITS2 sequences of Cx. pipiens and Cx. quinquefasciatus were 297 and 298 bp in length respectively and showed a 97% identity. In fact, they had identical G + C content (58%) and the only differences observed are six mismatches (three transitionslthree transversions), six single‐base and one triple‐base deletions/insertions. The observed ITS2 secondary structures of Cx. pipiens and Cx. quinquefasciafus were very similar. Furthermore, the ITS2 sequences of specimens belonging to three populations of Cx. pipiens from Italy and four populations of Cx. quinquefasciatus (three from Africa and one from North America) were enalysed in order to detect the presence of potential species‐specific diagnostic restriction sites.
Real-valued (Medical) Time Series Generation with Recurrent Conditional GANs

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have shown remarkable success as a framework for training models to produce realistic-looking data. In this work, we propose a Recurrent GAN (RGAN) and Recurrent Conditional GAN (RCGAN) to produce realistic real-valued multi-dimensional time series, with an emphasis on their application to medical data. RGANs make use of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) in the generator and the discriminator. In the case of RCGANs, both of these RNNs are conditioned on auxiliary information. We demonstrate our models in a set of toy datasets, where we show visually and quantitatively (using sample likelihood and maximum mean discrepancy) that they can successfully generate realistic time-series. We also describe novel evaluation methods for GANs, where we generate a synthetic labelled training dataset, and evaluate on a real test set the performance of a model trained on the synthetic data, and vice-versa. We illustrate with these metrics that RCGANs can generate time-series data useful for supervised training, with only minor degradation in performance on real test data. This is demonstrated on digit classification from ‘serialised’ MNIST and by training an early warning system on a medical dataset of 17,000 patients from an intensive care unit. We further discuss and analyse the privacy concerns that may arise when using RCGANs to generate realistic synthetic medical time series data, and demonstrate results from differentially private training of the RCGAN.
A Palliative Cancer Care Flexible Education Program for Australian Community Pharmacists

Objective. To implement and evaluate a flexible palliative care education program for Australian community pharmacists. Design. After identifying pharmacists' education needs, the program content and format were developed. This included identifying expert writers to create modules, assigning education and palliative care specialists to review content, and designing Web hosting of materials. The program was comprised of 11 modules and 79 activities. Assessment. An average of 28 responses was posted for each of the 20 noticeboard activities. Of the 60 pharmacists who began the program, 15 contributed to the discussion group, with an average of 3 posts each. Participants' responses to an online questionnaire indicated the program addressed their education needs and improved their knowledge and confidence in providing palliative cancer care. Conclusion. A program that pharmacists could access at a time and place convenient to them via the Internet was developed. Pharmacists indicated the program positively impacted their practice.
Promoting the Intention of Students to Continue Their Participation in E-learning Systems: The Role of the Communication Environment

Purpose – Online forums are increasingly deployed as important e‐learning tools for facilitating student learning in classrooms. However, building an online forum does not guarantee participation by students. The purpose of this paper is to advance our knowledge of facilitating student participation in this context by studying the role of communication environment.Design/methodology/approach – The model was tested using data collected from a survey administered in a university in Hong Kong.Findings – Results revealed that psychological safety communication climate influenced the intention of students to continue their participation both directly and indirectly through perceived responsiveness and self‐efficacy.Originality/value – This study builds on social cognitive theory and extends the existing understanding of participation in e‐learning by highlighting the roles of psychological safety communication climate and perceived responsiveness, two communication environment factors critical to student learn.
Programmable 28nm coprocessor for HEVC/H.265 in-loop filters

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) in-loop filtering includes the deblocking filter (DF) and the sample adaptive offset filter which consume about 20% of the total HEVC de coding time. In this paper a very energy efficient programmable multicore coprocessor for HEVC in-loop filtering is proposed. The coprosessor is placed and routed using leading edge 28nm technology to show that it can be clocked at 1.2 GHz while power consumption is only 207mW including memories. The design is able to filter 101 1080p intra frames per second. The cores can be reprogrammed using a high level language which enables use the high performance coprocessor also for other signal processing algorithms. The proposed coprocessor offers a new alternative between fixed accelerators and general purpose processors for mobile devices in terms of energy efficiency and programmability.
Rheological properties and bread quality of frozen yeast-dough with added wheat fiber.

BACKGROUND The rheological characteristics of frozen dough are of great importance in bread-making quality. The effect of addition of commercial wheat aleurone and bran on rheological properties and final bread quality of frozen dough was studied. Wheat aleurone (A) and bran (B) containing 240 g kg-1 and 200 g kg-1 arabinoxylan (AX), respectively, were incorporated into refined wheat flour at 150 g kg-1 substitution level (composite A and B, respectively). Dough samples of composite A and B in addition to two reference dough samples, refined flour (ref A) and whole wheat flour (ref B) were stored at -18°C for 9 weeks. RESULT Frozen stored composite dough samples contained higher amounts of bound water, less freezable water and exhibited fewer modifications in gluten network during frozen storage based on data from differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Bread made from composite frozen dough had higher loaf volume compared to ref A or ref B throughout the storage period. CONCLUSION The incorporation of wheat fiber into refined wheat flour produced dough with minimum alterations in its rheological properties during 9 weeks of frozen storage compared to refined and 100% wheat flour dough samples. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.
Experience-driven Networking: A Deep Reinforcement Learning based Approach

Modern communication networks have become very complicated and highly dynamic, which makes them hard to model, predict and control. In this paper, we develop a novel experience-driven approach that can learn to well control a communication network from its own experience rather than an accurate mathematical model, just as a human learns a new skill (such as driving, swimming, etc). Specifically, we, for the first time, propose to leverage emerging Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) for enabling model-free control in communication networks; and present a novel and highly effective DRL-based control framework, DRL-TE, for a fundamental networking problem: Traffic Engineering (TE). The proposed framework maximizes a widely-used utility function by jointly learning network environment and its dynamics, and making decisions under the guidance of powerful Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). We propose two new techniques, TE-aware exploration and actor-critic-based prioritized experience replay, to optimize the general DRL framework particularly for TE. To validate and evaluate the proposed framework, we implemented it in ns-3, and tested it comprehensively with both representative and randomly generated network topologies. Extensive packet-level simulation results show that 1) compared to several widely-used baseline methods, DRL-TE significantly reduces end-to-end delay and consistently improves the network utility, while offering better or comparable throughput; 2) DRL-TE is robust to network changes; and 3) DRL-TE consistently outperforms a state-of-the-art DRL method (for continuous control), Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), which, however, does not offer satisfying performance.
Differential Item Functioning (DIF) and Subsequent Bias in Group Comparisons using a Composite Measurement Scale: A Simulation Study.

OBJECTIVE To determine the conditions in which the estimation of a difference between groups for a construct evaluated using a composite measurement scale is biased if the presence of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) is not taken into account. METHODS Datasets were generated using the Partial Credit Model to simulate 642 realistic scenarios. The effect of seven factors on the bias on the estimated difference between groups was evaluated using ANOVA: sample size, true difference between groups, number of items in the scale, proportion of items showing DIF, DIF-size for these items, position of these items location parameters along the latent trait, and uniform/non-uniform DIF. RESULTS For uniform DIF, only the DIF-size and the proportion of items showing DIF (and their interaction term) had meaningful effects. The effect of non-uniform DIF was negligible. CONCLUSION The measurement bias resulting from DIF was quantified in various realistic conditions of composite measurement scale use.
Stable and functional expression of the calcium channel alpha 1 subunit from smooth muscle in somatic cell lines.

Voltage‐activated calcium channels are membrane spanning proteins that allow the controlled entry of Ca2+ into the cytoplasm of cells. The principal channel forming subunit of an L‐type calcium channel is the alpha 1 subunit. Transfection of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with complementary DNA encoding the calcium channel alpha 1 subunit from smooth muscle led to the expression of functional calcium channels which bind calcium channel blockers and show the voltage‐dependent activation and slow inactivation and unitary current conductance characteristic of calcium channels in smooth muscle. The currents mediated by these channels are sensitive towards dihydropyridine‐type blockers and agonists indicating that the calcium channel blocker receptor sites were present in functional form. The smooth muscle alpha 1 subunit cDNA alone is sufficient for stable expression of functional calcium channels with the expected kinetic and pharmacological properties in mammalian somatic cells.
Declining prevalence of coronary artery disease in incident dialysis patients over the past two decades.

AIM The medical management of patients with chronic kidney disease(CKD) has changed within the past 20 years. We speculate that this change has resulted in a decrease in the prevalence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in patients with CKD. The aim of the present study was to analyze changes in the prevalence of coronary artery disease(CAD) in patients newly started on hemodialysis, as well as trends in clinical factors and medications over the past two decades. METHODS This single-center cross-sectional study examined data for 315 consecutive patients starting hemodialysis(age, 64±12 years; men, 73%; diabetic nephropathy, 57%) between January 1993 and December 2010. All patients were routinely screened for CAD within three months of starting hemodialysis, regardless of whether ischemic heart disease was suspected. The patients were categorized into six groups based on the date of the initial dialysis session in order to compare the historical prevalence of unidentified CAD(uCAD) in association with the clinical factors. In addition, we performed a subgroup analysis among 222 patients without known cardiac disease. RESULTS The prevalence of uCAD gradually declined from 69% to 25% over 18 years(p＜0.001 for trend). The mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) concentration increased(p＜0.001 for trend), while the median C-reactive protein(CRP) level decreased over time. In parallel with these trends, the proportion of statin users significantly increased over time(p＜0.001 for trend). The use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents(ESAs) and renin angiotensin aldosterone system inhibitors(RAS-Is) also increased during the same period(both p＜0.001 for trend). A univariate logistic regression analysis identified a significant association between the prevalence of uCAD and the use of ESAs(OR: 0.565, p=0.016) or RAS-Is(OR: 0.501, p=0.004). In addition, a lower BMI, lower HDL-Clevel and higher CRP level were found to be closely associated with uCAD, independent of confounding variables. The findings for the new dialysis patients without cardiac disease were similar. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of uCAD in patients with end-stage kidney disease has remarkably decreased over the past two decades. Major improvements in the medical management of CKD may modify the prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis.
Victims’ use of professional services in a Dutch sexual assault centre

Background Prior research endorsed the establishment of sexual assault centres in the Netherlands because of the potential benefit for victims’ mental recovery. In 2012, the first Dutch sexual assault centre was founded at the University Medical Center Utrecht. The aim of the centre is to provide 24/7 coordinated and integrated services (i.e., medical, forensic, and psychological) in one location. Objective The purpose of the present study was to describe demographic, background, and assault characteristics of victims seen at the centre within one week post-assault, and their use of post-assault services in order to improve current services. Method From January 2012 to September 2013, prospective data of 108 patients were collected. To describe the population included, frequency counts and proportions were generated for categorical variables. Results The mean age was 21.3 years (SD=9.8). Most victims were female (91.7%). A large proportion of victims reported background characteristics known to increase the risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and revictimisation such as prior sexual abuse (32.4%), pre-existing use of mental health services (45.4%), and not living with both biological parents (61.7%). Most patients (88.9%) consulted the centre within 72 hours post-assault. The uptake of services was high: 82.4% received emergency medical care, 61.7% underwent a forensic–medical exam, 34% reported to the police, and 82.4% utilised psychological services. Conclusion To prevent revictimisation and PTSD, current psychological services could be improved with immediate trauma-focused treatments. Current forensic services may be improved with the use of standard top to toe forensic–medical examinations for both children and adults.
BK virus-transformed inbred hamster brain cells. I. Status of the viral DNA and the association of BK virus early antigens with purified plasma membranes

Inbred LSH hamster brain cells were transformed in vitro by the GS strain of BK virus (BKV), and transplantable tumors classified as undifferentiated glioblastomas were induced in the syngeneic host. The viral status in the transformed cells, designated LSH-BR-BK, was established. About 46 genome equivalents per cell of viral DNA was detected, with the majority of sequences in a free form. The transformed cells expressed large quantities of tumor (T) antigen as well as surface (S) antigen as demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence. Sixty-three percent of tumor-bearing hamsters produced high-titer antibodies against T, whereas 3 of 14 (21%) hamsters also produced antibodies against the BKV-specific S antigen. Furthermore, the relatedness of BKV early gene products, including T, S, and tumor-specific transplantation antigen, was established by the production of a rabbit antiserum against highly purified plasma membranes of LSH-BR-BK cells and by the induction of a BKV-specific tumor-specific transplantation antigen response by these plasma membranes in the syngeneic host.
Skin findings in autoimmune and nonautoimmune thyroid disease with respect to thyroid functional status and healthy controls.

BACKGROUND/AIM Thyroid disorders are associated with a wide variety of skin disorders that respond to treatment of hormone imbalance in most cases and thus are of vital importance to dermatologists. This study aimed to evaluate skin findings associated with autoimmune and nonautoimmune thyroid disease with respect to thyroid functional status and healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 300 consecutive patients with either autoimmune (n = 173) or nonautoimmune (n = 127) thyroid disease and 100 healthy control subjects were included in this cross-sectional study. Data on patient demographics, thyroid function tests, and skin findings were recorded for patient and control groups. RESULTS Compared to control subjects, patients had higher proportions in populations with alopecia (P < 0.001), nail thinning (P = 0.02), brittle nails (P = 0.001), pruritus (P < 0.001), diffuse hyperhidrosis (P = 0.01), flushing (P = 0.001), and xerosis (P < 0.001). Onycholysis (P = 0.02), yellow skin (P = 0.04), periorbital edema (P = 0.03), psoriasis (P = 0.001), and palmoplantar hyperkeratosis (P = 0.007) were significantly more common in patients with autoimmune than nonautoimmune thyroid disease. A significantly higher percentage of patients with autoimmune rather than nonautoimmune thyroid disease had overall skin findings (P = 0.03) among the hyperthyroid patients.Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the presence of skin findings in a majority of thyroid patients significantly differs for certain cutaneous manifestations with respect to controls, autoimmune etiology, and thyroid functional status.