Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reproducibility and validity of a food frequency questionnaire among fourth to seventh grade inner-city school children: implications of age and day-to-day variation in dietary intake

Abstract Objective To assess the reproducibility and validity of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to classify children and adolescents in terms of daily servings of fruits and vegetables and intake of calories, protein, fat, carbohydrate, dietary fibre, vitamin C, phosphorous, calcium and iron. Design FFQs were collected in the autumn of 1993 and 1994. Four 24-hour diet recalls were collected during the same 1-year period and their mean was compared to the FFQ diet estimates. Setting Low income, inner-city state schools. Subjects A sample of 109 inner-city fourth to seventh grade students. Results The 1-year reproducibility of the FFQ, assessed with Spearman correlations, was lower among the fourth and fifth (range: r = −0.26 to 0.40) than the sixth and seventh grade students (range: r = 0.18–0.47). After adjusting for day-to-day variation in dietary intake, for most nutrients and foods the correlations between the FFQ and the 24-hour recalls remained greater among the junior high school students (fourth to fifth grade range: r = 0.0–0.42; sixth to seventh grade range: = 0.07–0.76). Conclusions Inner-city sixth and seventh grade students demonstrated the ability to provide valid estimates of intake of calories, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorous, iron and vitamin C over the past year. However, children in the fourth and fifth grades experienced some difficulty in completing the FFQ. Our results suggest that, before using this instrument with fourth and fifth grade children, investigators should assess whether study participants can think abstractly and are familiar with the concept of ‘average intake’.
On Fixed-Point Implementation of Log-MPA for SCMA Signals

In this letter, we present a design framework for fixed-point implementation of the log-domain message passing algorithm (Log-MPA) for sparse code multiple access signals, and make a detailed comparative analysis on the complexity of Log-MPA and traditional MPA. We also investigate the impact of the number of massage-passing iterations within the Log-MPA decoding process on the performance of Log-MPA. Simulation results demonstrate that Log-MPA achieves favorable performance with low-complexity hardware implementation as compared to MPA. We also implement Log-MPA on FPGA evaluation board to verify the performance of Log-MPA.
On the Estimation of LFM Signal Parameters: Analytical Formulation

We propose analytical formulations, approximations, upper and lower bounds for the angle sweep of maximum magnitude of fractional Fourier transform of mono- and multicomponent linear frequency modulated (LFM) signals. We employ a successive coarse-to-fine grid-search algorithm to estimate the chirp rates of multicomponent nonseparable LFM signals. Extensive numerical simulations show the validity of analytical formulations and performance of the proposed estimator. Obtained analytical results may also find themselves other application areas, where nonstationary signals are of interest.
Weight Changes After Thyroid Surgery for Patients with Benign Thyroid Nodules and Thyroid Cancer: Population-Based Study and Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND A key concern among patients who undergo thyroid surgery is postoperative weight gain. Yet, the impact of thyroid surgery on weight is unclear. METHODS The population-based Rochester Epidemiology Project was used to examine weight and body mass index (BMI) changes at one, two, and three years of follow-up in (i) patients with thyroid cancer and benign thyroid nodules after thyroid surgery, and (ii) patients with thyroid nodules who did not have surgery. A comprehensive systematic review of the published literature from inception to February 2016 was also conducted. The results were pooled across studies using a random effects model. RESULTS A total of 435 patients were identified: 181 patients with thyroid cancer who underwent surgery (group A), 226 patients with benign thyroid nodules without surgery (group B), and 28 patients with benign thyroid nodules undergoing surgery (group C). Small changes in mean weight, BMI, and the number of patients whose weight increased between 5 and 10 kg were similar during each year of follow-up between patients in groups A and B. Furthermore, age >50 years, female sex, baseline BMI >25 kg/m2, and thyrotropin value at one to two years were not predictors of a 5% weight change. In the meta-analysis, 11 studies were included. One to two years after surgery for thyroid cancer or thyroid nodules, patients gained on average 0.94 kg [confidence interval (CI) 0.58-1.33] and 1.07 kg [CI 0.26-1.87], respectively. Patients with benign thyroid nodules who did not have surgery gained 1.50 kg [CI 0.60-2.4] at the longest follow-up. CONCLUSIONS On average, patients receiving care for thyroid nodules or cancer gain weight, but existing evidence suggests that surgery for these conditions does not contribute significantly to further weight gain. Clinicians and patients can use this information to discuss what to expect after thyroid surgery.
First-passage dynamics of linear stochastic interface models: numerical simulations and entropic repulsion effect

A fluctuating interfacial profile in one dimension is studied via Langevin simulations of the Edwards–Wilkinson equation with non-conserved noise and the Mullins–Herring equation with conserved noise. The profile is subject to either periodic or Dirichlet (no-flux) boundary conditions. We determine the noise-driven time-evolution of the profile between an initially flat configuration and the instant at which the profile reaches a given height M for the first time. The shape of the averaged profile agrees well with the prediction of weak-noise theory (WNT), which describes the most-likely trajectory to a fixed first-passage time. Furthermore, in agreement with WNT, on average the profile approaches the height M algebraically in time, with an exponent that is essentially independent of the boundary conditions. However, the actual value of the dynamic exponent turns out to be significantly smaller than predicted by WNT. This ‘renormalization’ of the exponent is explained in terms of the entropic repulsion exerted by the impenetrable boundary on the fluctuations of the profile around its most-likely path. The entropic repulsion mechanism is analyzed in detail for a single (fractional) Brownian walker, which describes the anomalous diffusion of a tagged monomer of the interface as it approaches the absorbing boundary. The present study sheds light on the accuracy and the limitations of the weak-noise approximation for the description of the full first-passage dynamics.
The importance of cohort research starting early in life to understanding child health

Purpose of review The current review addresses the importance of the prospective cohort design in large, unselected populations starting early in life for understanding the origins of childhood health disorders. Recent findings Cohort studies originating in healthy populations have contributed to great advances in health, especially in cardiovascular diseases, but have only recently been applied systematically to study the origins of childhood disorders. Several large population-based pregnancy and/or birth cohorts have been developed in different parts of the world, and these are beginning to contribute to better understanding of the underlying causes of rare but important childhood disorders, such as autism. The environmental influences on child health outcomes (ECHO) Program is distinct in leveraging and building upon 84 existing cohorts to prospectively investigate the role of early-life exposures and underlying biological mechanisms in childhood health and disease, specifically perinatal conditions, obesity, neurodevelopmental disorders, asthma and related pulmonary disorders as well as optimum child health. ECHO is expected to comprise approximately 50 000 children. It is the first US study of this size and scope since the US Collaborative Perinatal Project of 1959–1966. Summary The ECHO project represents a new approach to cohort studies in childhood, efficiently making use of extant cohorts while adding new data collection elements that should permit novel insights into the underlying causes of several important pediatric conditions.
Beaming into the News: A System for and Case Study of Tele-Immersive Journalism

We show how a combination of virtual reality and robotics can be used to beam a physical representation of a person to a distant location, and describe an application of this system in the context of journalism. Full body motion capture data of a person is streamed and mapped in real time, onto the limbs of a humanoid robot present at the remote location. A pair of cameras in the robots eyes stream stereoscopic video back to the HMD worn by the visitor, and a two-way audio connection allows the visitor to talk to people in the remote destination. By fusing the multisensory data of the visitor with the robot, the visitors consciousness is transformed to the robots body. This system was used by a journalist to interview a neuroscientist and a chef 900 miles distant, about food for the brain, resulting in an article published in the popular press.
The Development and Current Practices for Enhanced Recovery Following Colorectal Resection in The United Kingdom

Enhanced recovery following colorectal resection is a set of interventions which, when combined, lead to early return of gut function, fewer complications and a shorter length of stay. It divides the patient’s journey into stages and ensures the surgical stress inflicted onto the patient is minimised and normalisation can occur as soon as possible. There has been much research into this new and advancing field with several meta-analyses confirming its benefit.
Cannabidiol inhibits angiogenesis by multiple mechanisms

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Several studies have demonstrated anti‐proliferative and pro‐apoptotic actions of cannabinoids on various tumours, together with their anti‐angiogenic properties. The non‐psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) effectively inhibits the growth of different types of tumours in vitro and in vivo and down‐regulates some pro‐angiogenic signals produced by glioma cells. As its anti‐angiogenic properties have not been thoroughly investigated to date, and given its very favourable pharmacological and toxicological profile, here, we evaluated the ability of CBD to modulate tumour angiogenesis.
Detailed Analysis of Footprint Geometry for Person Identification

In this article we propose a novel biometric identification method using Footprint. A paper scanner was used to obtain images to uniquely identify the person. 312 footprint images from 78 persons(2 samples each foot) were analyzed, leading to the conclusion that footprints could also be used to identify human. Physiological and behavioral biometric characteristics make it a great alternative to computational intensive algorithms like fingerprint, palm print, retina or iris scan, and face. Foot biometric is also a great alternative. In spite of having minutia features (considered totally unique and already tested in fingerprint) it also has geometric features like hand geometry which give satisfactory results in recognition.We have computed province, major axis, minor axis, eccentricity in one approach, where a foot is divided into 15 equal sized boxes in another shape-based algorithm. This article also examines the texture features of the foot. It could be applied at those places where people inherently remove their shoes, such as holy places(temples and mosque). They remove shoes at famous monuments such as The Taj Mahal, India from the perspective of hygiene and preservation. Usually, these places are with a strong foot fall and high-risk security due to the chaotic crowd. It could also be employed in newborn authentication and identification. Uniqueness of minutiae foot-print in newborns has been already proved.
Comparison of the analgesic efficacy of oral ketorolac versus intramuscular tramadol after third molar surgery: A parallel, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background Preemptive analgesia is considered an alternative for treating the postsurgical pain of third molar removal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the preemptive analgesic efficacy of oral ketorolac versus intramuscular tramadol after a mandibular third molar surgery. Material and Methods A parallel, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was carried out. Thirty patients were randomized into two treatment groups using a series of random numbers: Group A, oral ketorolac 10 mg plus intramuscular placebo (1 mL saline solution); or Group B, oral placebo (similar tablet to oral ketorolac) plus intramuscular tramadol 50 mg diluted in 1 mL saline solution. These treatments were given 30 min before the surgery. We evaluated the time of first analgesic rescue medication, pain intensity, total analgesic consumption and adverse effects. Results Patients taking oral ketorolac had longer time of analgesic covering and less postoperative pain when compared with patients receiving intramuscular tramadol. Conclusions According to the VAS and AUC results, this study suggests that 10 mg of oral ketorolac had superior analgesic effect than 50 mg of tramadol when administered before a mandibular third molar surgery. Key words:Ketorolac, tramadol, third molar surgery, pain, preemptive analgesia.
Automated Place Detection Based on Coherent Segments

This paper is concerned with automated appearance-based place detection. This requires the robot to partition the incoming visual stream in a place-identity independent manner and determine the set of appearances belonging to each place. While previous work uses low-level features for place detection, we introduce a novel approach based on spatio-temporally coherent segmented regions. Our motivation is that these segments persist in the scene under a wider range of viewpoints and dynamical changes - based on our previous work on video summarization. In this approach, each incoming appearance is represented by a region adjacency graph that encodes the prevailing segments and their spatial relations. The robot detects a place through tracking the region adjacency graphs across the incoming appearance data based on the spatio-temporal coherency of their constituent segments. As such, place detection can be done more reliably while simultaneously generating a segment-based place representation that can be used in the ensuing semantic analysis of the place. This is demonstrated by a series of on-robot experiments using indoor and outdoor benchmark datasets including a comparative study.
A near-wall four-equation turbulence model for compressible boundary layers

A near-wall four-equation turbulence model is developed for the calculation of high-speed compressible turbulent boundary layers. The four equations used are the k-epsilon equations and the theta(exp 2)-epsilon(sub theta) equations. These equations are used to define the turbulent diffusivities for momentum and heat fluxes, thus allowing the assumption of dynamic similarity between momentum and heat transport to be relaxed. The Favre-averaged equations of motion are solved in conjunction with the four transport equations. Calculations are compared with measurements and with another model's predictions where the assumption of the constant turbulent Prandtl number is invoked. Compressible flat plate turbulent boundary layers with both adiabatic and constant temperature wall boundary conditions are considered. Results for the range of low Mach numbers and temperature ratios investigated are essentially the same as those obtained using an identical near-wall k-epsilon model. In general, the numerical predictions are in very good agreement with measurements and there are significant improvements in the predictions of mean flow properties at high Mach numbers.
Hand gestures recognition using machine learning for control of multiple quadrotors

Interacting with a gesture is natural and simpler than manipulating physical devices or controls, based on this, in this paper we propose the design of real-time hand gesture recognition for flight control of multiple quadrotors through electromyography signals (EMG) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) in order to simplify flight operation control and make it more intuitive for the user. Additionally, a Sliding Mode Control(SMC) algorithm is implemented to control the quadrotors formation during flying, based on leader-follower principle. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed interactive method.
Foreign English Accent Classification Using Deep Belief Networks

In this paper, we presented an effective classifier for foreign accented spoken English to determine the origins of the speaker. We created an accented spoken English corpus that consists of 30 speakers from 6 different countries including China, India, France, Germany, Turkey and Spain. We used MFCC as feature and Deep belief network (DBN) as classifier. The parameters of the DBN were determined by an iterative approach in which the node weight is updated according to the substitution error. Our method achieved an accuracy of 90.2% for 2 accented datasets and 71.9% for 6 accented datasets. The result is much better than the other state-of-art methods such as SVM, k-NN and random forest which have around 40% accuracy.
Evaluation of a Salmonella Vectored Vaccine Expressing Mycobacterium avium Subsp. paratuberculosis Antigens Against Challenge in a Goat Model

Johnes disease (JD), caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (MAP), occurs worldwide as chronic granulomatous enteritis of domestic and wild ruminants. To develop a cost effective vaccine, in a previous study we constructed an attenuated Salmonella strain that expressed a fusion product made up of partial fragments of MAP antigens (Ag85A, Ag85B and SOD) that imparted protection against challenge in a mouse model. In the current study we evaluated the differential immune response and protective efficacy of the Sal-Ag vaccine against challenge in a goat model as compared to the live attenuated vaccine MAP316F. PBMCs from goats vaccinated with Sal-Ag and challenged with MAP generated significantly lower levels of IFN-γ, following in vitro stimulation with either Antigen-mix or PPD jhonin, than PBMC from MAP316F vaccinated animals. Flow cytometric analysis showed the increase in IFN-γ correlated with a significantly higher level of proliferation of CD4, CD8 and γδT cells and an increased expression of CD25 and CD45R0 in MAP316F vaccinated animals as compared to control animals. Evaluation of a range of cytokines involved in Th1, Th2, Treg, and Th17 immune responses by quantitative PCR showed low levels of expression of Th1 (IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-12) and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, TNF-α) in the Sal-Ag immunized group. Significant levels of Th2 and anti-inflammatory cytokines transcripts (IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, TGF-β) were expressed but their level was low and with a pattern similar to the control group. Over all, Sal-Ag vaccine imparted partial protection that limited colonization in tissues of some animals upon challenge with wild type MAP but not to the level achieved with MAP316F. In conclusion, the data indicates that Sal-Ag vaccine induced only a low level of protective immunity that failed to limit the colonization of MAP in infected animals. Hence the Sal-Ag vaccine needs further refinement to increase its efficacy.
Critical Appraisal of Foot and Ankle Amputations in Diabetes

Diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic amputation in the world. Patients with diabetes have a 10-fold increased risk for lower extremity amputation compared with those who do not have diabetes. Amputees with diabetes are more likely to be severely disabled, to experience their initial amputation at a younger age, progress to higher-level amputations, and die at a younger age compared with patients without diabetes. Indications for amputation are chronic lower limb ulcers, infected or not infected, due to peripheral neuropathy, vascular disease or deformity of the feet. Foot ulcer precedes amputations in 84% of the cases. Amputation in diabetes is not a riskless treatment. The 5-year relative mortality rate is 48% after major limb loss. After a major limb loss, there is a 50% probability of developing a serious lesion on the contralateral limb within 2 years. In the present review and clinical appraisal, indications for determination of the level of amputation, the possible consequences of a specific amputation on stance, deambulation, necessity of using a specific footwear or prosthesis, technical problems and complications are discussed.
Thymosin Beta 4 May Translocate from the Cytoplasm in to the Nucleus in HepG2 Cells following Serum Starvation. An Ultrastructural Study

Due to its actin-sequestering properties, thymosin beta-4 (Tβ4) is considered to play a significant role in the cellular metabolism. Several physiological properties of Tβ4 have been reported;, however, many questions concerning its cellular function remain to be ascertained. To better understand the role of this small peptide we have analyzed by means of transmission immunoelectron microscopy techniques the ultrastructural localization of Tβ4 in HepG2 cells. Samples of HepG2 cells were fixed in a mixture of 3% formaldehyde and 0.1% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer and processed for standard electron microscopic techniques. The samples were dehydrated in a cold graded methanol series and embedded in LR gold resin. Ultrathin sections were labeled with rabbit antibodies to Tβ4, followed by gold-labeled goat anti-rabbit, stained with uranyl acetate and bismuth subnitrate, observed and photographed in a JEOL 100S transmission electron microscope. High-resolution electron microscopy showed that Tβ4 was mainly restricted to the cytoplasm of HepG2 growing in complete medium. A strong Tβ4 reactivity was detected in the perinuclear region of the cytoplasmic compartment where gold particles appeared strictly associated to the nuclear membrane. In the nucleus specific Tβ4 labeling was observed in the nucleolus. The above electron microscopic results confirm and extend previous observations at light microscopic level, highlighting the subcellular distribution of Tβ4 in both cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments of HepG2 cells. The meaning of Tβ4 presence in the nucleolus is not on the best of our knowledge clarified yet. It could account for the interaction of Tβ4 with nucleolar actin and according with this hypothesis, Tβ4 could contribute together with the other nucleolar acting binding proteins to modulate the transcription activity of the RNA polymerases.