Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Results of physical inspection before races and race-related characteristics and their association with musculoskeletal injuries in Thoroughbreds during races.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the relative risk of injury among horses deemed to be at increased risk of injury on the basis of prerace physical inspection findings and to examine the association of injury during races with race-related characteristics. DESIGN Cohort study. ANIMALS 2,187 Thoroughbred horses that started 3,227 races in Kentucky. PROCEDURE All race starts for which a horse was deemed to be at increased risk of injury on the basis of prerace physical inspection findings and a random sample of race starts for which horses were not deemed at increased risk of injury were included in the study. Findings of prerace physical inspection, race-related characteristics, and outcome of the race (race results and whether the horse incurred an injury) were recorded for each race start. Race starts in which a horse incurred an injury during a race were compared with race starts in which injuries were not incurred to identify factors associated with injury during races. RESULTS Abnormality of the suspensory ligament of the forelimbs detected during prerace physical inspection, racetrack, class of race (claiming race < or = $25,000 vs other classes), and distance of race (< 7 furlongs vs other distances) were significantly associated with increased risk of injury. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Prerace physical inspection findings, particularly abnormalities of the suspensory ligament, may be used to identify horses at increased risk of injury during races. Rate of injury differed among racetracks, and horses in certain types of races (lower-priced claiming races and races of shorter distance) may be at increased risk of injury during races.
Individual MPPT of photovoltaic arrays with use of single-phase three-level diode-clamped inverter

This paper presents the results of the investigation of the control method for realization of individual MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) of photovoltaic (PV) arrays in the grid-connected PV system with a single-phase three-level diode-clamped inverter. For a system with two PV arrays the idea of control is proposed to regulate the current of each PV array independently to operate in its MPP under partial shading conditions. The method is verified using FPGA-based real-time simulations with the use of a discrete model of the power system. Such a simulation enables testing the control implemented in a dedicated hardware, such as FPGA.
Characterization of Nocardia farcinica, a Filamentous Bacterium Isolated from Foaming Activated Sludge Samples

The identification and characterization of filamentous bacteria and their association with specific plant operating conditions and influent characteristics has been hampered because of morphological variations and differences between process configurations. A study was conducted to isolate and characterize the predominant filamentous bacteria observed in a foaming activated sludge treatment plant. The predominant foam‐forming filament was isolated and characterized using microscopic, biochemical and molecular techniques. The phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene confirmed that it was Nocardia farcinica, a typical filamentous foam‐foaming pathogenic bacterium which is not widely reported outside of South Africa. The bacterium used a variety of substrates for its growth and showed greater affinity to larger and slowly biodegradable compounds. The N. farcinica grew well at temperatures ranging from 12 to 30 °C in R2A medium and with a pH ranging from 5.5 to 8.0 and an NaCl concentration of 1 to 5%. This range of conditions shows that N. farcinica can withstand extreme conditions, which results in its proliferation in foaming samples.
The impact of the classroom environment on defining function in school-based practice.

OBJECTIVE Whether the environment is stressed in function-dysfunction decisions appears to depend on where in the hierarchy of components of complex tasks and of role skills the evaluating therapist is focused. This study examined the intervention planning decisions of occupational therapists who used the Model of Student Role Adaptation, which emphasizes the complex tasks involved in the student role. The purpose of the study was to determine whether these therapists were responding to environmental demands in planning their interventions. METHOD Special education teachers selected tasks that they believed were the most essential for student functioning within their classroom environments. These selections were compared with the goals and objectives developed by occupational therapists who serve children in these settings. RESULTS Chi square analysis indicated a significant relationship between tasks designated by the teacher participants as environmental demands and those included in occupational therapy intervention planning. CONCLUSION The results suggest that the occupational therapist participants were responding to the environmental demands of the classroom when constructing their intervention plans.
A recurrent neural network based Schaeffer gesture recognition system

Schaeffer language is considered an effective method to help autistic children overcome communicative disorders. Speech and language therapy results in an improvement in communication skills and understanding of language productions. In this work, a Schaeffer language recognition system is presented with the purpose of teaching children with autism disorder the correct way to communicate using gestures in combination with speech reproduction. The purpose is to accelerate the learning process and increase children interest using a technological approach. A Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model has been implemented for this purpose reporting a 93.13% classification success rate over a subset of 25 Schaeffer gestures. A comparison with vanilla RNNs and GRU-based models has been also carried out. Pose-based features such as angles and euclidean distances have been extracted from our gesture dataset by processing raw skeletal data from a Kinect v2 sensor.
Phylogeny of Poaceae subfamily Pooideae based on chloroplast ndhF gene sequences.

Forty-eight representatives of 12 tribes attributed to the subfamily Pooideae s.l. of grasses (Monocots) have been studied by sequencing the more variable 3' end of the chloroplast ndhF gene. Six representatives from 5 different tribes of Poaceae (Oryzeae, Streptogyneae, Bambuseae, Arundineae, Phareae) and from Joinvilleaceae were used as outgroups. Phylogenetic analyses of the data render a monophyletic Pooideae clade and provide an evolutionary hypothesis for all its tribes (Poeae, Aveneae, Bromeae, Triticeae, Brachypodieae, Meliceae, Stipeae, Lygeae, Nardeae, Diarrheneae, Brachyelytreae, Phaenospermatae). The subfamily is composed of two subsets of tribes, a basal group that includes six old lineages or satellite tribes, in which Brachyelytreae is the first diverging branch followed by the Lygeae/Nardeae clade, and a group of six more recently evolved tribes (Pooideae s.s.), in which the divergence of Diarrheneae antedates that of Brachypodieae, sister group to the "core pooids. " The character changes found within the sequenced nucleotide positions of the ndhF gene also have proven to be informative at lower hierarchical levels (genus and species) for some tribes.
treatment outcomes

The authors examined the effect of hospitalization on cognitive and behavioral symptoms in delirious elderly patients with and without dementia. Forty-four (13%) of the patients admitted to a Veterans Affairs Medical Center geropsychiatric unit were diagnosed with delirium and were administered the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Rating Scale for Side Effects, and the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory. The total sample significantly improved on all measures. When patients with delirium were divided into subgroups with and without dementia, both subgroups improved similarly Patients discharged to more restrictive environments improved significantly on the BPRS only. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1997; 10:7-10).
Patient and public involvement: models and muddles.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This paper explores the range of models of involvement which are drawn upon in an empirical study and which are invoked in the literature and policy. The results and discussion of the study help to excavate and explore the muddle of conceptualisations of involvement and how this leads to difficulties for practitioners, patients and managers in implementing the relevant policy. BACKGROUND Patient and public involvement has developed an important profile internationally within health and social care policy. However, its importance as a rhetorical device has not been accompanied by adequate developments in how it is operationalised. DESIGN Cross-sectional study, with an intervention conducted at three sites, and non-intervention measures taken at two control sites. METHODS This paper draws on an empirical study of involvement. Focus groups were conducted with a lung cancer team and people affected by cancer at five health boards across Scotland. Chief executives of each of these five health boards also took part in individual interviews. Participants were asked to describe their ideas of what involvement is and their application of it. RESULTS A range of ways of conceptualising involvement were apparent. Few of these moved beyond the use of patient satisfaction questionnaires. At times, troubling understandings were articulated, for example, using public meetings to communicate decisions about service closures to the public. CONCLUSION The slow escalation of involvement is in part because of the myriad ways in which it is conceptualised and discussed. Thus, we conclude that one of the greatest barriers to truly integrating patient involvement into health services, policy and research is the conceptual muddle with which involvement is articulated, understood and actioned. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE. Clinicians need to be supported to seek clarity in the use and operationalisation of involvement if the agenda is to be truly adopted and strengthened.
A Pragmatic Look at Some Compressive Sensing Architectures With Saturation and Quantization

The paper aims to highlight relative strengths and weaknesses of some of the recently proposed architectures for hardware implementation of analog-to-information converters based on Compressive Sensing. To do so, the most common architectures are analyzed when saturation of some building blocks is taken into account, and when measurements are subject to quantization to produce a digital stream. Furthermore, the signal reconstruction is performed by established and novel algorithms (one based on linear programming and the other based on iterative guessing of the support of the target signal), as well as their specialization to the particular architecture producing the measurements. Performance is assessed both as the probability of correct support reconstruction and as the final reconstruction error. Our results help highlighting pros and cons of various architectures and giving quantitative answers to some typical design-oriented questions. Among these, we show: 1) that the (Random Modulation Pre-Integration) RMPI architecture and its recently proposed adjustments are probably the most versatile approach though not always the most economic to implement; 2) that when 1-bit quantization is sought, dynamically mixing quantization and integration in a randomized ΔΣ architecture help bringing the performance much closer to that of multi-bit approaches; 3) for each architecture, the trade-off between number of measurements and number of bits per measurements (given a fixed bit-budget); and 4) pros and cons of the use of Gaussian versus binary random variables for signal acquisition.
Census and consensus in bacterial ecosystems: the LuxR-LuxI family of quorum-sensing transcriptional regulators.

The importance of accurate demographic information is reflected in the United States Constitution, Article 1, which provides for a decennial census of this country's human population. Bacteria also conduct a census of their population and do so more frequently, more efficiently, and as far we know, with little if any of the political contentiousness caused by human demographers. Many examples have been found of particular bacterial genes, operons, or regulons that are expressed preferentially at high cell densities. Many of these are regulated by proteins related to the LuxR and LuxI proteins of Vibrio fischeri, and by a diffusible pheromone called an autoinducer. LuxR and LuxI and their cognate autoinducer (3-oxohexanoyl homoserine lactone, designated VAI-1) provide an important model to describe the functions of this family of proteins. LuxR is a VAI-1 receptor and a VAI-1-dependent transcriptional activator, and LuxI directs the synthesis of VAI-1. VAI-1 diffuses across the bacterial envelope, and intracellular concentrations of it are therefore strongly increased by nearby VAI-1-producing bacteria. Similar systems regulate pathogenesis factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Erwinia spp. , as well as T1 plasmid conjugal transfer in Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and many other genes in numerous genera of gram-negative bacteria. Genetic analyses of these systems have revealed a high degree of functional conservation, while also uncovering features that are unique to each.
Synchronous plasma membrane electrochemical potential oscillations during yeast colony development and aging

Microorganisms that survive in natural environments form organized multicellular communities, biofilms and colonies with specific properties. During stress and nutrient limitation, slow growing and senescent cells in such communities retain vital processes by maintaining plasma membrane integrity and retaining the ability to generate transmembrane electrochemical gradients. We report the use of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae colonial model to show that population growth in a multicellular community depends on nutrient diffusion and that resting cells start to accumulate from the beginning of the second acidic phase of colony development. Despite differentiation of colony members, synchronous transmembrane potential oscillation was detected in the organized colony. The electrochemical membrane potential periodically oscillated at frequencies between those for circadian to infradian rhythms during colony aging and transiently decreased at time points previously linked with rebuilding of yeast metabolism. Despite extensive decreases in the intracellular ATP concentration and in the amount and activity of the plasma membrane proton pump during nutrient limited growth and colony aging, the transmembrane electrochemical potential appeared to be maintained above a level critical for population survival.
Self-efficacy and innovation effectiveness in the online game industry

Through innovation, firms can reform relatively conservative and inflexible operational procedures, thus improving service quality to fulfil customer needs. However, few studies have investigated how team members’ motivations are transformed into innovation performance by using multilevel research. By collecting data from 418 employees in 38 research and development teams, this study uses hierarchical linear modelling and hierarchical regression analyses to investigate the influences of efficacy beliefs on innovation effectiveness in the service industry at the team (group efficacy) and individual (self-efficacy) levels. The findings show that at the individual level, self-efficacy positively affected knowledge-sharing behaviour. At the team level, team entrepreneurship mediated the relationship between group efficacy and innovation effectiveness, and team knowledge sharing moderated the relationship between team entrepreneurship and innovation effectiveness. At the interaction of individual and team levels, group efficacy influenced knowledge-sharing behaviour. The results may provide valuable information for both academics and practitioners seeking to increase group efficacy beliefs and enhance innovation effectiveness for customer loyalty.
INHIBITION OF CELL DIVISION BUT NOT NUCLEAR DIVISION BY 1‐ O ‐OCTADECYL‐2‐ O ‐METHYL‐ Sn ‐GLYCERO‐3‐PHOSPHOCHOLINE

1‐ O ‐Octadecyl‐2‐ O ‐methyl‐glycero‐3‐phosphocholine (ET‐18‐OCH3) selectively inhibits the growth of cancer cells. Here we show that in some cell types ET‐18‐OCH3and liposome‐associated ET‐18‐OCH3inhibit cell division without concurrent inhibition of nuclear division, leading to multinucleate cell formation, and cell death through apoptosis. Cell cycle analysis revealed that ET‐18‐OCH3‐treated U‐937 cells continued to move through the cell cycle, but many cells were not able to divide and instead accumulated as tetraploid cells or octaploid cells in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle. Inhibition of cytokinesis has been shown to be paralleled by activation of U‐937 cells, including upregulation of some cell‐surface markers, acquisition of phagocytic activity, and secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α (Pushkareva et al., 2000). Furthermore, treatment of cells with ET‐18‐OCH3results in the accumulation of apoptotic cells in time‐ and dose‐dependent manner. It is possible that inhibition of cytokinesis may be related to cytoskeletal effects.
Differential Modulation of Transcriptional Activity of Estrogen Receptors by Direct Protein-Protein Interactions with the T Cell Factor Family of Transcription Factors*

Two major signaling pathways, those triggered by estrogen (E2) and by the Wnt family, interact in the breast to cause growth and differentiation. The estrogen receptors ERα and ERβ are activated by binding E2 and act as ligand-dependent transcription factors. The effector for the Wnt family is the Tcf family of transcription factors. Both sets of transcription factors recognize discrete but different nucleotide sequences in the promoters of their target genes. By using transient transfections of reporter constructs for the osteopontin and thymidine kinase promoters in rat mammary cells, we show that Tcf-4 antagonizes and Tcf-1 stimulates the effects of activated ER/E2. For mutants of the former promoter, the stimulatory effects of ERα/E2 can be made to be dependent on Tcf-1, and for the latter promoter the effects of the T cell factors (TCFs) are dependent on ER/E2. Direct interaction between ERs and Tcfs either at the Tcf/ERα-binding site on the DNA or in the absence of DNA is established by gel retardation assays or by coimmunoprecipitation/biosensor methods, respectively. These results show that the two sets of transcription factors can interact directly, the interaction between ERs and Tcf-4 being antagonistic and that between ERs and Tcf-1 being synergistic on the activity of the promoters employed. Since Tcf-4 is the major Tcf family member in the breast, it is suggested that the antagonistic interaction is normally dominant in vivo in this tissue.
Exchange Rate, Economic Growth and Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Asian Economies: Fresh Evidence from Long Run Estimation and Variance Decomposition Approach

This paper investigates the potential relationship between exchange rates, economic growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) for emerging Asian economies. We tested a long run relationship through the ARDL bounds testing approach and the robust regression function which incorporated financial development, capital, openness and trade balance as the additional variables of our model. The findings confirm that exchange rate depreciation affects the volume of FDI and promotes growth in the long run. Economic development and inflows are also associated with exchange rates. The causality test also suggested a long run interdependent link between these three macroeconomic factors. The results of the variance decomposition method suggest that the findings are robust and reliable.
Accurate Closed-Form Approximations for the Error Rate and Outage of Equal Gain Combining Diversity in Nakagami Fading Channels

In this paper, accurate closed-form approximations for the distribution and density of a sum of Nakagami random variables are presented. The proposed approximations are then used to analyze the probability of error of a L-branch predetection equal gain combiner with different fading parameters. Coherent and noncoherent binary signaling as well as coherent M-ary signaling are considered. In addition, a closed-form expression for the outage probability of these systems is derived. These closed-form expressions permit rapid evaluation of the performance of equal gain combining diversity systems without resorting to numerical integration as required by previous solutions.
Liposomal Bupivacaine: Extended Duration Nerve Blockade Using Large Unilamellar Vesicles that Exhibit a Proton Gradient

Background There is a clinical requirement for longer-acting local anesthetics, particularly for the management of postoperative and chronic pain. In this regard, liposomes have been suggested to represent a potentially useful vehicle for sustained drug release after local administration. In the current study, the authors used a transmembrane pH gradient to efficiently encapsulate bupivacaine within large unilamellar vesicles. They report on the kinetics of drug uptake and release and the duration of nerve blockade. Methods The rate and extent of bupivacaine uptake into large unilamellar vesicles that exhibit a pH gradient (interior acidic) were determined and compared to drug association with control liposomes that did not exhibit a proton gradient. In subsequent studies, researchers examined the kinetics of bupivacaine release from these liposome systems in vitro. Using the guinea pig cutaneous wheal model, the rate of clearance of the liposome carrier was monitored after intradermal administration, using a radiolabelled lipid marker, and the duration of nerve blockade produced by free and liposomal bupivacaine was compared. Results Bupivacaine was rapidly and efficiently accumulated within liposomes that exhibited a pH gradient (interior acidic) with trapping efficiencies of 64-82% of total drug, depending on the initial bupivacaine:phospholipid ratio. Little uptake was seen, however, for control vesicles that did not exhibit a transmembrane proton gradient. Using an in vitro model of drug clearance, liposomally encapsulated bupivacaine was found to be slowly released for a longer period of time compared with either the free drug or bupivacaine associated with control (no pH gradient liposomes). In the guinea pig cutaneous wheal model, more than 85% of the liposomal carrier was found to remain at the site of administration for 2 days. The sustained drug release afforded by liposomes that exhibited a pH gradient resulted in an increase in the duration of nerve blockade of as much as threefold compared with either the free drug or bupivacaine in the presence of control (no pH gradient) liposomes. Recovery of half maximal response (R2.5) after administration of 0.75% free bupivacaine, for example, was approximately 2 h, whereas the same dose of bupivacaine in pH gradient liposomes exhibited a R2.5 of approximately 6.5 h. Conclusions Large unilamellar vesicles that exhibit a pH gradient can efficiently encapsulate bupivacaine and subsequently provide a sustained-release system that greatly increases the duration of neural blockade.