Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Pain Attributed to Plantar Fasciitis with Botulinum Toxin A: A Short-Term, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Study

Babcock MS, Foster L, Pasquina P, Jabbari B: Treatment of pain attributed to plantar fasciitis with botulinum toxin A: A short-term, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Am J Phys Med Rebabil 2005;84:649–654. Objective: To investigate the effect of botulinum toxin A on associated pain and functional impairment of refractory plantar fasciitis. Design: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 27 patients (43 feet) with plantar fasciitis. Block randomization was performed using computer software. In patients with bilateral symptoms of comparable severity, botulinum toxin A was injected in one foot and saline in the other foot. The treatment group received a total of 70 units of botulinum toxin A divided into two sites per foot. One of the two sites was the tender area in the medial aspect of the heel close to the calcaneal tuberosity (40 units), and the other was in the arch of the foot between an inch anterior to the heel and middle of the foot (30 units). The placebo group received the same volume of normal saline. Main outcome measures included: Pain Visual Analog Scale, Maryland Foot Score, Pain Relief Visual Analog Scale, and pressure algometry response. Patients were assessed before injection, at 3 wks, and at 8 wks. Results: The study revealed statistically significant changes in the treatment group. Compared with placebo injections, the botulinum toxin A group improved in all measures: Pain Visual Analog Scale (P < 0.005), Maryland Foot Score (P = 0.001), Pain Relief Visual Analog Scale (P < 0.0005), and pressure algometry response (P = 0.003). No side effects were noted. Conclusions: Botulinum toxin A injection for plantar fasciitis yields significant improvements in pain relief and overall foot function at both 3 and 8 wks after treatment.
Use of Onyx for Transarterial Balloon-Assisted Embolization of Traumatic Carotid Cavernous Fistulas: A Report of 23 Cases

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: TCCFs are a common complication following craniofacial trauma and are usually treated by coils or detachable balloons. The use of the liquid embolic agent Onyx as the sole agent for the treatment of TCCFs has been rarely reported. Herein, we summarized the preliminary experience and effectiveness of treating TCCFs with Onyx in 23 patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From the 36 type A CCFs treated in our department between September 2005 and March 2011, a total of 23 posttraumatic direct CCFs were treated by using Onyx only via transarterial approach. RESULTS: Immediate postprocedural angiograms demonstrated complete occlusion in all patients. All the patients underwent a single procedure except 1 with bilateral TCCFs. Up to 24-month clinical and 3-month angiographic follow-ups revealed an ongoing complete occlusion without any complications. CONCLUSIONS: In this series, the use of Onyx for the transarterial embolization of TCCFs was feasible and effective. Associated adverse events were rare.
High Directivity Microstrip Coupler Using Variable Width Structure

A method to improve the directivity of the microstrip coupler is presented. The width of the coupler is modified for phase velocity compensation which results in high directivity. Using this procedure, a 15 dB coupler is designed and simulated at 0.9 GHz using SONNET software. A high directivity of 46 dB is obtained. The validity of the design concept is verified and compared with conventional coupler by simulations.
Automatic Sign Language Analysis: A Survey and the Future beyond Lexical Meaning

Research in automatic analysis of sign language has largely focused on recognizing the lexical (or citation) form of sign gestures as they appear in continuous signing, and developing algorithms that scale well to large vocabularies. However, successful recognition of lexical signs is not sufficient for a full understanding of sign language communication. Nonmanual signals and grammatical processes which result in systematic variations in sign appearance are integral aspects of this communication but have received comparatively little attention in the literature. In this survey, we examine data acquisition, feature extraction and classification methods employed for the analysis of sign language gestures. These are discussed with respect to issues such as modeling transitions between signs in continuous signing, modeling inflectional processes, signer independence, and adaptation. We further examine works that attempt to analyze nonmanual signals and discuss issues related to integrating these with (hand) sign gestures. We also discuss the overall progress toward a true test of sign recognition systems--dealing with natural signing by native signers. We suggest some future directions for this research and also point to contributions it can make to other fields of research. Web-based supplemental materials (appendicies) which contain several illustrative examples and videos of signing can be found at www.computer. org/publications/dlib.
On Incorporating Differentiated Network Service into GridSim

Grid computing technologies are increasingly being used to aggregate computing resources that are geographically distributed across different locations. Commercial networks are being used to connect these resources, and thus serve as a fundamental component of grid computing. Since these grid resources are connected over a shared infrastructure, it is essential that we consider their effect during simulation. In this paper, we discuss how new additions to the GridSim simulation toolkit can be used to explore network effects in grids. We also investigate techniques to incorporate differentiated service, background traffic and collecting information from the network during runtime in GridSim. As a result, these features enable GridSim to realistically model grid computing
Acoustic blur kernel with sliding window for blind estimation of reverberation time

Reverberation time, or T60, is a key parameter used for characterizing acoustic spaces. Blind T60 estimation is useful for many applications including speech intelligibility estimation, acoustic scene analysis and dereverberation. In our previous work, a single-channel blind T60 estimator was proposed employing spectral analysis in the modulation frequency domain. It was shown that the estimation accuracy is crucially affected by the window lengths used for transformation to the modulation domain. In this work, we propose the use of a sliding window length that is dynamically updated depending on the length of the detected decay region. Experimental results demonstrated that in the presence of noise, estimation accuracy was improved over our previous work for T60 up to 700 ms. When compared against two alternative algorithms from the literature, the proposed approach demonstrated higher accuracy for T60 between 500 ms and 1 s. Finally, the proposed approach was shown to be more computationally efficient compared to two of the three alternative algorithms.
An empirical investigation of IT project success in developing countries

The high rate of unsuccessful IT projects has been examined by many researchers world-wide in order to identify IT project critical success factors (CSFs). Using a framework from previous literature, this research examines four organizational factors (Top management support, project team competencies, communication management, and project management) that affect IT projects success in Saudi Arabian public organizations and compares the outcomes with findings in Malaysian multinational companies. Furthermore, organizational culture as a moderator has been deployed in the model to examine its impact on the relationships between CSFs and IT project success. A quantitative approach using a survey questionnaire method was used to collect the data. The questionnaires were distributed to CIOs in Saudi Arabian public organizations. PLS-SEM was used to analyze the collected data and test the relevant hypotheses. The outcomes showed that there were some similarities and differences between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. In both countries, IT project success was influenced by project management; however, it was not influenced by project team competency. Furthermore, the outcomes showed that IT project success in Saudi Arabia was influenced by top management support while it is influenced by communication management in Malaysia. Finally, it was found that organizational culture moderates the relationships between top management support and project management and IT project success in Saudi Arabia, while the organizational culture moderates the relationships between communication management and project management and IT project success in Malaysia.
Arc Consistency for General Constraint Networks: Preliminary Results

486,344. Roller bearings. BENEDEK, E. K. March 15, 1937, No. 7567. [Class 12 (i)] A high-speed heavyload needle roller bearing comprises two races 7, 8, with needle rollers 31, the individual rollers being spaced apart by a lubricant film and the total clearance between the rollers of a set lying between the limits of one to three needle roller diameters whereby an efficient circulation of lubricant is obtained. As shown, for a multiple row bearing, one of the races has annular oil channels 6 and the other lubricant ducts 9. Rings 10 separate the rows of rollers. The needle rollers may be conical. The invention may be applied to single and double thrust bearings. In a modification needle rollers 3, Fig. 12, carried in a rectangular cage 16 are arranged between members 14, 15, having relative oscillatory or rotary motion. The total clearance between the rollers and the cage lies between one to three roller diameters. A rectilinear-motion bearing is constructed similarly. Specification 410,968 is referred to.
An ultrasonic technology for production of antibacterial nanomaterials and their coating on textiles

Summary A method for the production of antibacterial ZnO nanoparticles has been developed. The technique combines passing an electric current with simultaneous application of ultrasonic waves. By using high-power ultrasound a cavitation zone is created between two zinc electrodes. This leads to the possibility to create a spatial electrical discharge in water. Creation of such discharge leads to the depletion of the electrodes and the formation of ZnO nanoparticles, which demonstrate antibacterial properties. At the end of this reaction the suspension of ZnO nanoparticles is transported to a specially developed ultrasonic reactor, in which the nanoparticles are deposited on the textile. The nanoparticles are embedded into the fibres by the cavitation jets, which are formed by asymmetrically collapsing bubbles in the presence of a solid surface and are directed towards the surface of textile at very high velocities. Fabrics coated with ZnO nanoparticles by using the developed method showed good antibacterial activity against E. coli.
Chemoprevention of azoxymethane-induced colonic carcinogenesis by supplemental dietary ursodeoxycholic acid.

The present studies were conducted at the Universities of Chicago and Arizona to examine and compare the effects of supplemental dietary ursodeoxycholic acid to cholic acid, a known tumor promoter, and to piroxicam, a known chemopreventive agent, in the azoxymethane (AOM) model of experimental colonic carcinogenesis. Male Fischer 344 rats were utilized in these experiments. All animals were fed a basal diet (AIN-76) supplemented with 0.2% or 0.4% cholic acid, 0.2% or 0.4% ursodeoxycholic acid, 0.2% ursodeoxycholic acid plus 0.2% cholic acid, or 75 ppm piroxicam. Rats were given s.c. injections once a week for 2 weeks with AOM (15 mg/kg body wt/week) or vehicle (saline) after being fed their respective diets for 2 weeks. The rats in each group were then maintained on their respective diets for approximately 28 weeks; after sacrifice, their colons were removed and examined macroscopically and microscopically for the presence of tumors. The results of these studies demonstrated that none of the control rats fed the various diets injected with AOM-vehicle developed tumors. In groups receiving AOM, the addition of cholic acid (0.4%) caused a significant increase in the incidence of tumors. In contrast, the addition of 0.2% ursodeoxycholic acid did not promote AOM-induced colonic tumors, and when it was added to a promoting dose of cholic acid (0.2%), 0.2% ursodeoxycholic acid prevented enhancement of tumor promotion. At higher doses (0.4%), supplemental dietary ursodeoxycholic acid significantly reduced the incidence of colon tumors and cancers. Moreover, the tumor suppressive effects of 0.4% ursodeoxycholic acid exceeded that of dietary piroxicam. Our results further emphasize the important role of bile salts in modulating colonic tumor development. These studies also demonstrate for the first time that supplemental dietary ursodeoxycholic acid is a chemopreventive agent in the AOM model of experimental colonic carcinogenesis.
Return threshold model analysis of two stock markets： Evidence study of Italy and Germany＇s stock returns

This paper discusses the model construction and the association between the Italy and the Germany’s stock markets. The period of study data is from January 3, 2000 to June 30, 2008. This paper also utilizes Student’s t distribution to analyze the proposed model. The empirical results show that the two stock markets are mutually affected each other, and the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) and the bivariate asymmetric-GARCH (1, 2) model is appropriate in evaluating the relation between them. The empirical result also indicates that Italy and Germany’s stock markets show a positive relationship. The average value of correlation coefficient equals to 0.8424, which implies that the two stock markets return volatility have a synchronized influence on each other. In addition, the empirical result also shows that there is an asymmetrical effect between Italy and the Germany’s stock markets, and demonstrates that the good news and bad news of the stock returns’ volatility will produce the different variation risks for Italy and the Germany’s stock price markets.
Full Search of Side-Information in Distributed Video Coding

Distributed video coding (DVC) has attracted increasing research efforts due to the requirements of low complexity encoders for portable wireless video communication devices. The recently proposed DVC scheme using Low-Density-Parity-Check-Accumulate (LDPCA) code with hash-based motion estimation at the decoder has achieved very good performance. However, there is still a performance gap compared with conventional video coding schemes. In this paper, we propose a scheme using a full search for side-information to obtain the best possible side- information at the decoder without hash or other extra bits, thus improving the coding efficiency. The simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme with better rate-distortion performance compared with the original hash-based LDPCA scheme.
A comparative Analysis by SAGE of Gene Expression Profiles of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma and Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are the two main types of esophageal cancer. Despite extensive research the exact molecular basis of these cancers is unclear. Therefore we evaluated the transcriptome of EA in comparison to non-dysplastic Barrett’s esophagus (BE), the metaplastic epithelium that predisposes for EA, and compared the transcriptome of ESCC to normal esophageal squamous epithelium. For obtaining the transcriptomes tissue biopsies were used and serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was applied. Validation of results by RT-PCR and immunoblotting was performed using tissues of an additional 23 EA and ESCC patients. Over 58,000 tags were sequenced. Between EA and BE 1013, and between ESCC and normal squamous epithelium 1235 tags were significantly differentially expressed (p < 0.05). The most up-regulated genes in EA compared to BE were SRY-box 4 and Lipocalin2, whereas the most down-regulated genes in EA were Trefoil factors and Annexin A10. The most up-regulated genes in ESCC compared to normal squamous epithelium were BMP4, E-Cadherin and TFF3. The results could suggest that the BE expression profile is closer related to normal squamous esophagus then to EA. In addition, several uniquely expressed genes are identified.
Spectral Signatures of Gravitationally Confined Thermonuclear Supernova Explosions

We consider some of the spectral and polarimetric signatures of the gravitationally confined detonation scenario for Type Ia supernova explosions. In this model, material produced by an off-center deflagration (which itself fails to produce the explosion) forms a metal-rich atmosphere above the white dwarf surface. Using hydrodynamical simulations, we show that this atmosphere is compressed and accelerated during the subsequent interaction with the supernova ejecta. This leads ultimately to the formation of a high-velocity pancake of metal-rich material that is geometrically detached from the bulk of the ejecta. When observed at the epochs near maximum light, this absorbing pancake produces a highly blueshifted and polarized calcium IR triplet absorption feature similar to that observed in several Type Ia supernovae. We discuss the orientation effects present in our model and contrast them to those expected in other supernova explosion models. We propose that a large sample of spectropolarimetric observations can be used to critically evaluate the different theoretical scenarios.
An analysis of the Canadian federal policy on sport participation and its impact on national sport organizations

The formal inclusion of participation in the new Canadian sport policy in 2002 marks a significant change in the Canadian sporting landscape, a change examined in this Masters thesis through a qualitative research methodology in the form of a questionnaire, interviews, and document analysis. The first section of the thesis seeks to gain a better understanding of what factors led the federal government to add participation to the new Canadian Sport Policy, and what the agendas were of the key stakeholders in the formation of the policy. Findings support Kingdon's Multiple Streams Theory but highlight the importance a single individual can have in driving the policy agenda. The second section examines the participation pillar's effect on NSOs related to new initiatives implemented and organizational structure and values linked to organizational archetypes. Six structureand value-based barriers to change were found, throwing doubt on the ability of NSOs to deliver participation initiatives. Participation Pillar iv
Comparative analysis of variable quantization DCT and variable rank matrix SVD algorithms for image compression applications

Compressing an image is significantly different than compressing raw binary data. Evidently, general purpose compression algorithms can be used to compress images, but the result is less than optimal. Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) has been widely used in signal processing of image. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is a commonly used standard technique of compression for photographic images and in turn utilizes DCT. Apart from DCT, their also exist a decomposition algorithm well known as Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). The proposed schemes investigate the performance evaluation of variable quantization DCT and variable rank of image matrix SVD based image compression. The numerical analysis of such algorithms is carried out by measuring Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Compression Ratio (CR).
Infected Cells − Herpesvirus Sarcoma-AssociatedGanciclovir and Zidovudine in Kaposi ' s Hypoxia Enhances the Phosphorylation and Cytotoxicity of Updated

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a rare B-cell lymphoma caused by Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). PEL is poorly responsive to standard cytotoxic chemotherapy and portends a poor survival. Consequently, new effective treatment options are urgently needed. It is known that KSHV encodes two lytic genes, ORF36 (phosphotransferase) and KSHV ORF21 (thymidine kinase), which can phosphorylate ganciclovir and azidothymidine, respectively. Here, we have explored whether these genes can be used as therapeutic targets for PEL. PEL arises in pleural spaces and other effusions that provide a hypoxic environment. Based on Northern blot analysis, exposure of PEL cells to hypoxia up-regulated the expression of both ORF36 and ORF21. Using a newly developed nonradioactive reverse-phase highperformance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry method to separate and quantify the phosphorylated forms of ganciclovir and azidothymidine, we found that PEL cells exposed to hypoxia produced increased amounts of the toxic triphosphates of these drugs. Moreover, we found that hypoxia increased the cell toxicity of ganciclovir and azidothymidine in PEL cells but had no significant effect on the herpesvirusnegative cell line CA46. These findings may have clinical applicability in the development of effective therapies for PEL or other KSHV-related malignancies. [Cancer Res 2007;67(14):7003–10]
An Anti-Phospholipase A2 Receptor Quantitative Immunoassay and Epitope Analysis in Membranous Nephropathy Reveals Different Antigenic Domains of the Receptor

The phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) was recently discovered as a target autoantigen in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). Published evidence suggests that the autoantibodies directed towards a conformation dependent epitope are currently effectively detected by a cell based assay (CBA) utilizing indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on tissue culture cells transfected with the PLA2R cDNA. Limitations of such IIF-CBA assays include observer dependent subjective evaluation of semi-quantitative test results and the protocols are not amenable to high throughput diagnostic testing. We developed a quantitative, observer independent, high throughput capture immunoassay for detecting PLA2R autoantibodies on an addressable laser bead immunoassay (ALBIA) platform. Since reactive domains of PLA2R (i.e. epitopes) could be used to improve diagnostic tests by using small peptides in various high throughput diagnostic platforms, we identified PLA2R epitopes that bound autoantibodies of IMN patients. These studies confirmed that inter-molecular epitope spreading occurs in IMN but use of the cognate synthetic peptides in immunoassays was unable to conclusively distinguish between IMN patients and normal controls. However, combinations of these peptides were able to effectively absorb anti-PLA2R reactivity in IIF-CBA and an immunoassay that employed a lysate derived from HEK cells tranfected with and overexpressing PLA2R. While we provide evidence of intermolecular epitope spreading, our data indicates that in addition to conformational epitopes, human anti-PLA2R reactivity in a commercially available CBA and an addressable laser bead immunoassay is significantly absorbed by peptides representing epitopes of PLA2R.
A framework for defining XML views

XML has become the de facto standard for representing and interchanging data in web-based applications. And XML view has been widely applied. In relational database, the views are often defined by a query statement, though there may be GUI tools as aids. However, the users usually desire a conceptual modeling tool to help them define views and communicate with each other. Richer semantics are also expected when users tackle view related issues, such as view updates. In this paper, we present a framework for defining XML views, which includes three levels: conceptual level, logical level and physical level. Conceptual level is described by some conceptual model, e.g. EER or UML. Logical level is captured by some XML schema language and physical level is the XML views data. In particular, we show what semantics should be captured and how to represent them.