Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improvement of gait by chronic, high doses of methylphenidate in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease

Background: Therapeutic management of gait disorders in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) can sometimes be disappointing, since dopaminergic drug treatments and subthalamic nucleus (STN) stimulation are more effective for limb-related parkinsonian signs than for gait disorders. Gait disorders could also be partly related to norepinephrine system impairment, and the pharmacological modulation of both dopamine and norepinephrine pathways could potentially improve the symptomatology. Aim: To assess the clinical value of chronic, high doses of methylphenidate (MPD) in patients with PD having gait disorders, despite their use of optimal dopaminergic doses and STN stimulation parameters. Methods: Efficacy was blindly assessed on video for 17 patients in the absence of l-dopa and again after acute administration of the drug, both before and after a 3-month course of MPD, using a Stand–Walk–Sit (SWS) Test, the Tinetti Scale, the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part III score and the Dyskinesia Rating Scale. Results: An improvement was observed in the number of steps and time in the SWS Test, the number of freezing episodes, the Tinetti Scale score and the UPDRS part III score in the absence of l-dopa after 3 months of taking MPD. The l-dopa-induced improvement in these various scores was also stronger after the 3-month course of MPD than before. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale score fell dramatically in all patients. No significant induction of adverse effects was found. Interpretation: Chronic, high doses of MPD improved gait and motor symptoms in the absence of l-dopa and increased the intensity of response of these symptoms to l-dopa in a population with advanced PD.
Extraction of Temporal Gait Parameters using a Reduced Number of Wearable Accelerometers

Wearable inertial systems often require many sensing units in order to reach an accurate extraction of temporal gait parameters. Reconciling easy and fast handling in daily clinical use and accurate extraction of a substantial number of relevant gait parameters is a challenge. This paper describes the implementation of a new accelerometer-based method that accurately and precisely detects gait events/parameters from acceleration signals measured from only two accelerometers attached on the heels of the subject’s usual shoes. The first step of the proposed method uses a gait segmentation based on the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) that provides only a rough estimation of motionless periods defining relevant local acceleration signals. The second step uses the CWT and a novel piecewise-linear fitting technique to accurately extract, from these local acceleration signals, gait events, each labelled as heel strike (HS), toe strike (TS), heel-off (HO), toe-off (TO), or heel clearance (HC). A stride-by-stride validation of these extracted gait events was carried out by comparing the results with reference data provided by a kinematic 3D analysis system (used as gold standard) and a video camera. The temporal accuracy ± precision of the gait events were for HS: 7.2 ms ± 22.1 ms, TS: 0.7 ms ± 19.0 ms, HO: −3.4 ms ± 27.4 ms, TO: 2.2 ms ± 15.7 ms, and HC: 3.2 ms ± 17.9 ms. In addition, the occurrence times of right/left stance, swing, and stride phases were estimated with a mean error of −6 ms ± 15 ms, −5 ms ± 17 ms, and −6 ms ± 17 ms, respectively. The accuracy and precision achieved by the extraction algorithm for healthy subjects, the simplification of the hardware (through the reduction of the number of accelerometer units required), and the validation results obtained, convince us that the proposed accelerometer-based system could be extended for assessing pathological gait (e.g., for patients with Parkinson’s disease).
Control of the HIV Infection Dynamics with a Reduced Second Order Model

The HIV infection is a dynamic process that can be modeled mathematically. By means of changing the drug effect in the model, the primary goal of this paper is to show how to drive any initial state into an equilibrium called the nonprogressor, where the infected patient does not develop symptoms of AIDS. The goal is achieved by a new method of treatment. This method is based on an approximation of higher order dynamics by a reduced order model. For the approximation, we divide the HIV infection model into two subsystems and modify one of the subsystems to emulate the whole system. With the modification, we relieve the load to deal with the high order model, such as state observation and parameter estimation. The effectiveness of the new treatment is demonstrated by computer simulations.
Algorithms for passive dynamical modeling and passive circuit realizations

The design of modern electronic systems is based on extensive numerical simulations, aimed at predicting the overall system performance and compliance since early design stages. Such simulations rely on accurate dynamical models. Linear passive components are described by their frequency response in the form of admittance, impedance or scattering parameters which are obtained by physical measurements or electromagnetic field simulations. Numerical dynamical models for these components are constructed by a fitting to frequency response samples. In order to guarantee stable system level simulations, the dynamical models of the passive components need to preserve the passivity property (or inability to generate power), in addition to being causal and stable. A direct formulation results into a non-convex nonlinear optimization problem which is difficult to solve. In this thesis, we propose multiple algorithms that fit linear passive multiport dynamical models to given frequency response samples. The algorithms are based on convex relaxations of the original non-convex problem. The proposed techniques improve accuracy and computational complexity compared to the existing approaches. Compared to sub-optimal schemes based on singular value or Hamiltonian eigenvalue perturbation, we are able to guarantee convergence to the optimal solution within the given relaxation. Compared to convex formulations based on direct Bounded-Real (or Positive-Real) Lemma constraints, we are able to reduce both memory and time requirements by orders of magnitude. We show how these models can be extended to include geometrical and design parameters. We have applied our passive modeling algorithms and developed new strategies to realize passive multiport circuits to decouple multichannel radio frequency (RF) arrays, specifically for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications. In a coupled parallel transmit array, because of the coupling, the power delivered to a channel is partially distributed to other channels and is dissipated in the circulators. This dissipated power causes a significant reduction in the power efficiency of the overall system. In this work, we propose an automated eigen-decomposition based approach to designing a passive decoupling matrix interfaced between the RF amplifiers and the 3 coils. The decoupling matrix, implemented via hybrid couplers and reactive elements, is optimized to ensure that all forward power is delivered to the load. The results show that our decoupling matrix achieves nearly ideal decoupling. The methods presented in this work scale to any arbitrary number of channels and can be readily applied to other coupled systems such as antenna arrays. Thesis Supervisor: Luca Daniel Title: Emanuel E. Landsman Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
Classification ofMR Brain Tissues Using Fuzzy Estimation

A detailed analysis procedure is described for segmenting T1-weighted volumetric MR brain into different tissue types based on fuzzy classification. The main aim in this study is to compensate for the blurring effect on tissue boundaries due to partial volume effects. The method used in this paper is described as follows. First, the intracranial volume (ICV) is separated from the scalp and skull with a deformable contour model. The model requires a set of control points (CPs) to start with which roughly delineate the volume of interest on several slices. The starting CPs are regenerated by using the cubic spline interpolation to produce the same number of evenly spaced CPs and then sorted so that they are roughly adjacent to each other in the third dimensions. Splines are then generated between each set of connecting CPs in the third dimension. Finally, new CPs are then constructed by normalizing the energy values to move the CPs to the desired regions. Second, in order to deal with the problem of the partial volume effect, an algorithm for fuzzy segmentation is presented which has integrated fuzzy spatial affinity with statistical distributions of image intensities for each of the three tissues - WM, GM and CSF. This algorithm is tested on well-established simulated MR brain volumes to generate an extensive quantitative comparison with different noise levels and different slice thicknesses ranging from 1 mm to 5 mm. Finally, the results of this algorithm on clinical MR brain images are demonstrated.
Mapping pathways of allosteric communication in GroEL by analysis of correlated mutations

An interesting example of an allosteric protein is the chaperonin GroEL. It undergoes adenosine 5′‐triphosphate‐induced conformational changes that are reflected in binding of adenosine 5′‐triphosphate with positive cooperativity within rings and negative cooperativity between rings. Herein, correlated mutations in chaperonins are analyzed to unravel routes of allosteric communication in GroEL and in its complex with its co‐chaperonin GroES. It is shown that analysis of correlated mutations in the chaperonin family can provide information about pathways of allosteric communication within GroEL and between GroEL and GroES. The results are discussed in the context of available structural, genetic, and biochemical data concerning short‐ and long‐range interactions in the GroE system. Proteins 2002;48:611–617. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mental Disorders in Five-Year-Old Children With or Without Developmental Delay: Focus on ADHD

Epidemiological studies of children and adolescents with intellectual disability have found 30 to 50% exhibiting clinically significant behavior problems. Few studies, however, have assessed young children, included a cognitively typical comparison group, assessed for specific disorders, and/or studied family correlates of diagnosis. We assessed 236 5-year-old children—95 with developmental delay (DD) and 141 with typical development—for clinical diagnoses using a structured interview. Every disorder assessed was more prevalent in the DD group. The percent of children meeting criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) most highly differentiated the two groups (ratio = 3.21:1). There was high stability from externalizing behavior problems at age 3 to ADHD diagnoses at age 5 in both groups. In regression analyses, parenting stress at child age 3 related to later ADHD diagnosis in both groups and maternal scaffolding (sensitive teaching) also predicted ADHD in the DD group.
Leuprolide acetate depot and hormonal add-back in endometriosis: a 12-month study.

Hornstein et al published a multicenter study on endometriosis patients treated with leuprolide acetate depot and various hormonal add-back protocols. It seems to me that any type of add-back hormone defeats the purpose of giving leuprolide. In fact, group D patients showed poor improvement in symptoms, causing a high incidence of premature termination of participation. Table 6 shows that the median number of participation days was the highest in group A (leuprolide acetate with placebo) and lower in add-back hormonal therapy groups. The difference might not be statistically significant, but it certainly is of clinical importance. Correspondingly, the “lack of improvement” was seen often in hormonal add-back therapy and in only one patient in the placebo group. Endometriosis is a serious disease. Isn’t the patient better off with short-term (3–6 months) therapy without additional hormones rather than extended treatment with a combination of leuprolide and add-back hormones lasting for 1 year or longer? The economics of these two schedules are obvious. The study showed that leuprolide can be used for 12 months, but what is sorely missing is information on how long the patients remained free of endometriosis symptoms after the treatment was discontinued.
On local analysis of distributed optimization

We study distributed non-convex optimization on a time-varying multiagent network. Each node has access to its own smooth local cost function, and the collective goal is to minimize the sum of these functions. The perturbed push-sum algorithm used for convex distributed optimization in [17] is considered and further studied in [8]. We generalize the result obtained in [8] to the case of non-convex functions. Under some additional assumptions on the gradients we prove the convergence of the distributed push-sum algorithm to the set of critical points of the objective function. Moreover, by utilizing perturbations on the update process, we show the almost sure convergence of the perturbed dynamics to a local minimum of the global objective function.
Government Asset Sales , Economic Nationalism , and Acquirer Performance

We investigate acquirer returns using a comprehensive sample of government asset sale announcements in 123 countries around the world in 1984-2009. Overall, we find positive abnormal returns to acquirers of state-owned assets. Returns are greater when the acquirer is domestic, when the sale occurs in a developing nation, and when the acquirer itself is not a former stateowned enterprise. Buyers of bailed-out firms exhibit average abnormal returns of 3.16%, compared to 0.70% for all other government sales. Our results suggest that the market favors acquirers that benefit from divesting governments driven by economic nationalism rather than sale revenue maximization.
The Lateral Dorsal Cutaneous Branch of the Sural Nerve

Background: Fractures of the proximal fifth metatarsal are one of the most common forefoot injuries encountered by orthopaedic surgeons in sports medicine. The percutaneous surgical approach to Jones fracture fixation and corresponding anatomy has received little attention in the literature to date. Purpose: To describe in detail the location of the lateral dorsal cutaneous nerve (LDCN) and its branches relative to the base of the fifth metatarsal and to the standard lateral approach. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Ten fresh-frozen cadaveric foot specimens were used for this study. Specimens were dissected at the lateral aspect of the foot over the proximal fifth metatarsal, and the LDCN and its branches were identified. The distance of the LDCN to the superior border of the peroneus brevis tendon (PBT) was measured relative to standard reference points in all specimens, and the presence of an anastomotic branch was noted. A set of vertical and horizontal reference lines were also constructed to determine whether the LDCN or its branches would be compromised by a standard lateral approach. Results: The LDCN was superficial (ie, lateral) and inferior to the superior border of the PBT in all specimens and at all reference points. A bifurcation of the LDCN was present in 8 specimens, located an average of 18 mm posterior and 11 mm dorsal to the base of the fifth metatarsal. The dorsolateral branch and dorsomedial branch of the LDCN each intersected with the base of the fifth metatarsal horizontal line and vertical line, respectively, indicating potential compromise of the nerve with a standard lateral surgical approach. Conclusion: The standard lateral approach to the base of the fifth metatarsal carries a higher risk for surgical injury to the LDCN. A “high and inside” approach that remains superior to the superior border of the PBT is anatomically safe and may decrease the chance of intraoperative nerve injury and irritation postoperatively.
Repetition Blindness for Faces: A Comparison of Face Identity, Expression, and Gender Judgments

Repetition blindness (RB) refers to the impairment in reporting two identical targets within a rapid serial visual presentation stream. While numerous studies have demonstrated RB for words and picture of objects, very few studies have examined RB for faces. This study extended this research by examining RB when the two faces were complete repeats (same emotion and identity), identity repeats (same individual, different emotion), and emotion repeats (different individual, same emotion) for identity, gender, and expression judgment tasks. Complete RB and identity RB effects were evident for all three judgment tasks. Emotion RB was only evident for the expression and gender judgments. Complete RB effects were larger than emotion or identity RB effects across all judgment tasks. For the expression judgments, there was more emotion than identity RB. The identity RB effect was larger than the emotion RB effect for the gender judgments. Cross task comparisons revealed larger complete RB effects for the expression and gender judgments than the identity decisions. There was a larger emotion RB effect for the expression than gender judgments and the identity RB effect was larger for the gender than for the identity and expression judgments. These results indicate that while faces are subject to RB, this is affected by the type of repeated information and relevance of the facial characteristic to the judgment decision. This study provides further support for the operation of separate processing mechanisms for face gender, emotion, and identity information within models of face recognition.
Acylation State of the Phosphatidylinositol Mannosides from Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Guérin and Ability to Induce Granuloma and Recruit Natural Killer T Cells*

Previous studies have found that, when injected into mice, glycolipidic fractions of mycobacterial cell walls containing phosphatidylinositol mannosides (PIM) induced a granuloma and recruitment of Natural Killer T cells in the lesions. The dimannoside (PIM2) and the hexamannoside (PIM6) PIM were isolated from Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette Guérin and shown to act alike, but the activity was found to be dependent on the presence of the lipidic part. The chemical structure of PIM was then re-evaluated, focusing on the characterization of their lipidic part, defining mono- to tetra-acylated PIM2. The structure of these acyl forms was elucidated using a sophisticated combination of chemical degradations and analytical tools including electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry, electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry, and two-dimensional NMR. Finally, the acyl forms were purified by hydrophobic interaction chromatography and tested for their capacity to induce the granuloma and Natural Killer T cell recruitment. We found that there is an absolute requirement for the molecules to possess at least one fatty acyl chain, but the number, location, and size of the acyl chains was without effect. Moreover, increasing the complexity of the carbohydrate moiety did not lead to significant differences in the biological responses.
Antigenicity of Clostridium botulinum type-E formol toxoid.

Tryptic activation of prototoxin of Clostridium botulinum type E increased the lethal toxicity by 250-fold, but no compatible increase in the antitoxin-combining power resulted. The formol toxoid derived from prototoxin and that from trypsin-activated 12S toxin were the same in the antigenic specificity, but prototoxin toxoid stimulated formation of a larger amount of antitoxin in guinea pigs and rabbits. The prototoxin toxoid stimulated formation of the antitoxin to satisfactorily high levels in human volunteers without causing unfavorable reactions.
Anemia as an independent prognostic factor for survival in patients with cancer

I t has come to our attention that the calculation of the Ovarian Tumor Index (OTI) we described previously is confusing due the ovarian volume variable. After calculation of the ovarian volume [(a b c) pi/6], it should be weighted by dividing 50 (mL/50). The volume weighting of mL/50 was not included in Table 4 or Table 5 in our previous study, explained in the text, nor presented in Table 6. This omission does not affect the data interpretation but it does change the calculation of the OTI. To simplify the somewhat tedious calculations and clarify the ovarian volume measurement (mL/50), we developed a website that automatically calculates the OTI. Field specific data for each variable may be entered for the automatic calculation of the OTI. Assignment of the relative probability of malignancy is reported based on the retrospective analysis of the patient population. The information entered will not be available for our analysis, nor will data be stored in any manner; this service is offered only to simplify the calculation of the OTI. The website is available from URL: http://www. utsouthwestern.edu/oti
Influences of a DRD2 polymorphism on updating of long‐term memory representations and caudate BOLD activity: Magnification in aging

A number of genetic polymorphisms are related to individual differences in cognitive performance. Striatal dopamine (DA) functions, associated with cognitive performance, are linked to the TaqIA polymorphism of the DRD2/ANKK1 gene. In humans, presence of an A1 allele of the DRD2/ANKK1‐TaqIA polymorphism is related to reduced density of striatal DA D2 receptors. The resource‐modulation hypothesis assumes that aging‐related losses of neurochemical and structural brain resources modulate the extent to which genetic variations affect cognitive functioning. Here, we tested this hypothesis using functional MRI during long‐term memory (LTM) updating in younger and older carriers and noncarriers of the A1‐allele of the TaqIa polymorphism. We demonstrate that older A1‐carriers have worse memory performance, specifically during LTM updating, compared to noncarriers. Moreover, A1‐carriers exhibited less blood oxygen level‐dependent (BOLD) activation in left caudate nucleus, a region critical to updating. This effect was only seen in older adults, suggesting magnification of genetic effects on functional brain activity in aging. Further, a positive relationship between caudate BOLD activation and updating performance among non‐A1 carriers indicated that caudate activation was behaviorally relevant. These results demonstrate a link between the DRD2/ANKK1‐TaqIA polymorphism and neurocognitive deficits related to LTM updating, and provide novel evidence that this effect is magnified in aging. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1325–1334, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Real time detection of a measles outbreak using the exponentially weighted moving average: does it work?

BACKGROUND There are few published studies that use real data testing to examine the performance of outbreak detection methods. The aim of this study was to determine the performance of the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) in real time detection of a local outbreak in Mashhad City, eastern Iran. METHODS The EWMA algorithms (both EWMA1 with lambda = 0.3 and EWMA2 with lambda = 0.6) were applied to daily counts of suspected cases of measles to detect real outbreak which has occurred in the city of Mashhad during 2010. The performances of the EWMA algorithms were evaluated using a real data testing approach and reported by correlation analysis. RESULTS Mashhad outbreak was detected with a delay of about 2 to 7 days using EWMA algorithms as outbreak detection method. Moreover, the utility of EWMA2 algorithm in real time detection of the outbreak was better than EWMA1 algorithm. CONCLUSION Applying the EWMA algorithm as an outbreak detection method might not be useful in timely detection of the local outbreaks.