Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Bobath based and movement science based treatment for stroke: a randomised controlled trial

Objectives: Bobath based (BB) and movement science based (MSB) physiotherapy interventions are widely used for patients after stroke. There is little evidence to suggest which is most effective. This single-blind randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of these treatments on movement abilities and functional independence. Methods: A total of 120 patients admitted to a stroke rehabilitation ward were randomised into two treatment groups to receive either BB or MSB treatment. Primary outcome measures were the Rivermead Motor Assessment and the Motor Assessment Scale. Secondary measures assessed functional independence, walking speed, arm function, muscle tone, and sensation. Measures were performed by a blinded assessor at baseline, and then at 1, 3, and 6 months after baseline. Analysis of serial measurements was performed to compare outcomes between the groups by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) and inserting AUC values into Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: Comparison between groups showed no significant difference for any outcome measures. Significance values for the Rivermead Motor Assessment ranged from p = 0.23 to p = 0.97 and for the Motor Assessment Scale from p = 0.29 to p = 0.87. Conclusions: There were no significant differences in movement abilities or functional independence between patients receiving a BB or an MSB intervention. Therefore the study did not show that one approach was more effective than the other in the treatment of stroke patients.
TASK Channels Determine pH Sensitivity in Select Respiratory Neurons But Do Not Contribute to Central Respiratory Chemosensitivity

Central respiratory chemoreception is the mechanism by which the CNS maintains physiologically appropriate pH and PCO2 via control of breathing. A prominent hypothesis holds that neural substrates for this process are distributed widely in the respiratory network, especially because many neurons that make up this network are chemosensitive in vitro. We and others have proposed that TASK channels (TASK-1, K2P3.1 and/or TASK-3, K2P9.1) may serve as molecular sensors for central chemoreception because they are highly expressed in multiple neuronal populations in the respiratory pathway and contribute to their pH sensitivity in vitro. To test this hypothesis, we examined the chemosensitivity of two prime candidate chemoreceptor neurons in vitro and tested ventilatory responses to CO2 using TASK channel knock-out mice. The pH sensitivity of serotonergic raphe neurons was abolished in TASK channel knock-outs. In contrast, pH sensitivity of neurons in the mouse retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) was fully maintained in a TASK null background, and pharmacological evidence indicated that a K+ channel with properties distinct from TASK channels contributes to the pH sensitivity of rat RTN neurons. Furthermore, the ventilatory response to CO2 was completely retained in single or double TASK knock-out mice. These data rule out a strict requirement for TASK channels or raphe neurons in central respiratory chemosensation. Furthermore, they indicate that a non-TASK K+ current contributes to chemosensitivity of RTN neurons, which are profoundly pH-sensitive and capable of driving respiratory output in response to local pH changes in vivo.
Nuclear energy, responsible risk communication and moral emotions: a three level framework

Communication about nuclear risks is treacherous territory, especially after Fukushima, requiring not only considerations about effectiveness, but also about ethical legitimacy. In this paper, a three-level framework of morally responsible risk communication is developed, focusing on the procedure, the message and the effects of risk communication. This gives rise to three conditions of ethically responsible risk communication: it requires a legitimate procedure, an ethically justified risk message and concern for and evaluation of the effects of the message and procedure. The role of emotions, such as sympathy, empathy and feelings or responsibility, is emphasized as a key to addressing and explicating moral values at these three levels. Emotions point out moral aspects of risks such as justice, fairness and autonomy. This framework can shed important new light on morally responsible communication about nuclear risks. The first condition of this framework requires that the procedure of communication is participatory, in order to include the relevant moral emotions and values concerning nuclear energy of all stakeholders. A legitimate procedure does not guarantee an ethically justified message concerning nuclear risks. For this reason, the second condition requires an ethical deliberation of the message and the values and emotions entailed in it. Finally, the third condition requires a moral evaluation of the effects of risk communication concerning nuclear energy. A successful risk communication effort triggers reflection, compassion and a willingness to take responsibility for energy-related issues. Problematic effects of risk communication can be a lack of trust or a sense of hopelessness and passivity. Evaluating all three levels from a moral point of view should be done in an iterative way, allowing possible revisions and improvements. Considering the high stakes and current stalemates in the nuclear debate, the suggested model provides a promising, constructive and morally legitimate way forward.
Real-Time 3D Profile Measurement Using Structured Light

The paper builds a real-time system of 3D profile measurement using structured-light imaging. It allows a hand-held object to rotate free in the space-time coded light field, which is projected by the projector. The surface of measured objects with projected coded light is imaged; the system shows surface reconstruction results of objects online. This feedback helps user to adjust object's pose in the light field according to the dismissed or error data, which would achieve the integrality of data used in reconstruction. This method can acquire denser data cloud and have higher reconstruction accuracy and efficiency. According to the real-time requirements, the paper presents the non-restricted light plane modelling which suits stripe structured light system, designs the three-frame stripes space-time coded pattern, and uses the advance ICP algorithms to acquire 3D data alignment from multiple view.
Rapid Reactivation of Cyanobacterial Photosynthesis and Migration upon Rehydration of Desiccated Marine Microbial Mats

Desiccated cyanobacterial mats are the dominant biological feature in the Earth’s arid zones. While the response of desiccated cyanobacteria to rehydration is well-documented for terrestrial systems, information about the response in marine systems is lacking. We used high temporal resolution hyperspectral imaging, liquid chromatography, pulse-amplitude fluorometry, oxygen microsensors, and confocal laser microscopy to study this response in a desiccated microbial mat from Exmouth Gulf, Australia. During the initial 15 min after rehydration chlorophyll a concentrations increased 2–5 fold and cyanobacterial photosynthesis was re-established. Although the mechanism behind this rapid increase of chlorophyll a remains unknown, we hypothesize that it involves resynthesis from a precursor stored in desiccated cyanobacteria. The subsequent phase (15 min–48 h) involved migration of the reactivated cyanobacteria toward the mat surface, which led, together with a gradual increase in chlorophyll a, to a further increase in photosynthesis. We conclude that the response involving an increase in chlorophyll a and recovery of photosynthetic activity within minutes after rehydration is common for cyanobacteria from desiccated mats of both terrestrial and marine origin. However, the response of upward migration and its triggering factor appear to be mat-specific and likely linked to other factors.
Organizational and customer related challenges of software testing: An empirical study in 11 software companies

The aim of this empirical study was to elucidate organizational and customer related challenges that affect the software testing process in software developing companies and how these challenges affect software quality construction. Using the grounded theory research method, we studied eleven software companies operating in different domains such as banking, space satellites, health care and energy. Seven main findings are presented: First, the low involvement of testers in the planning phase of the software development life cycle (SDLC) led to underestimation of the scope of testing and resources required. Second, there was poor buy-in for testing from project managers, which led to insufficient involvement of testers in some SDLC activities. Third, the risk-taking behaviour of project managers led them to skip important tests. Fourth, vertical organizational structures and modes of operation within the companies limited the mandate and visibility of testing and quality assurance units in development projects. Fifth, oversights in budgeting and contracts between customers and the software developing companies limited the extent of testing. Sixth, resources management, which was related to poor use of available systems, created a communication gap between teams and conflict in requirements interpretation; and seventh, customers' willingness to co-operate in after-sales testing limited the extent and efficiency of such testing and thus affected software quality.
Functional performance testing following knee ligament injury

Abstract Outcome measurement in sports physiotherapy is directed at identifying an athlete's ability to tolerate the physical demands inherent in sport-specific activity and prevent re-injury on return-to-competition. Outcome measures currently utilized following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury include clinical, functional performance test (FPT), and subjective measures. The FPT simulates the forces encountered during sport-specific activity under controlled clinical conditions, the use of the FPT increasing since traditional clinical outcome measures, such as knee joint laxity and isokinetic quadriceps muscle strength, demonstrate weak to moderate and often insignificant relationships with functional tasks. Many FPTs, such as hop, leap, jump, sprint, and agility FPTs, may be administered to an athlete following knee ligament injury. However, when selecting a FPT for the assessment of knee function, the clinician must acknowledge issues relating to reliability, validity, data analysis, and at what point in the rehabilitation process a FPT should be administered if the data generated are to be meaningful and useful. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive and detailed review of the FPT literature in order to assist the sports physiotherapist with the clinical application of a FPT to an athlete following knee ligament injury.
Composite Messages: a Structural Pattern for Communication between Components

Complex software systems are composed of interacting components. These components collaborate to implement abstractions, such as \packets" in a networking system or \virtual memory page" in a virtual memory system. This pattern focuses on organizing the communication infrastructure used by the components , so that communicating components can be added or removed with minimalchanges. At the same time, the communication overhead is minimized. 1 Intent Structure inter-component communication in a system so that loosely coupled components make minimal assumptions about the communication infrastructure , while tightly coupled components localize their interactions. 2 Motivation To motivate the pattern, consider the implementation of networking systems and virtual memory systems. Networking systems are typically implemented as subsystems \layered" on top of one another. In this case, the individual layers are our components, and they operate on a single logical resource, the packet. We are interested in how the layers interact with each other to construct a packet that can be transmitted (this is not to be confused with the application-to-application communication implemented by the layers). Typically, the user session layer creates a message with a header and payload, and each subsequent Supported by CNRI contract CNRI GIGABIT/UILL. layer adds a header to the packet to be transmitted, In doing so, the layers implicitly \communicate" with each other by following a recipe to ensure the header added by one layer is not destroyed by another, and that the eventual format of the packet matches that prescribed by the overall networking protocol. If the implicit communication is implemented so that each layer knows the size and placement of head-ers added by others, it becomes diicult to reuse code in case some layer is removed or header size changed. Instead, we should design a simple recipe to be followed by each layer, resolving the following forces: Memory management should be eecient. Packet layout must be immune to addition and removal of layers. Furthermore, packets have to be marshalled or fragmented 8] for communication across the network. Network layers communicate in order to create transmissible packets, so although marshalling and fragmentation are not necessary for inter-layer communication , we will include them as a force that aaects packet layout. Packet layout has to simplify marshalling, fragmentation , reassembly, and unmarshalling of packets. Now consider a diierent example of communication between system components. The virtual memory system of a modern operating system such as Choices 2] or Mach …
Joint Channel Bandwidth and Power Allocation Game for Selfish Cooperative Relaying Networks

Resource-exchange-based incentive mechanisms are investigated for both selection cooperation (SC) and selection relaying (SR) networks using the cooperative bargaining game approach. Consider a user node that can act as a source as well as a potential relay for other nodes, and it is selfish to share an own resource with others only if the data rate achieved through cooperative relaying is not lower than that achieved without the cooperation by consuming the same amount of the resource. In the SC scenario, only one relay is allotted to a source. Then, a two-person SC game (SCG) is formulated to address the joint bandwidth and power allocation problem for two cooperative nodes. In the SR scenario, a set of relays is allotted to a source. Hence, we propose a one-to-many SR game (SRG) to address the multinode cooperation case. For both SCG and SRG, specific data frame structures are designed to accommodate both the bandwidth resource (in the form of transmission time) and the energy resource (in the form of transmission power) for a cooperative node. To achieve the system efficiency and per-node fairness objectives simultaneously, the Nash bargaining solution (NBS) method is used to solve both SCG and SRG. The existence and uniqueness of the NBS are proved. Moreover, theoretical analysis and simulations are provided to testify as to the effectiveness of the proposed SCG and SRG for efficient and fair resource allocation in the SC and SR scenarios, respectively.
Multidimensional persistent homology is stable

Multidimensional persistence studies topological features of shapes by analyzing the lower level sets of vector-valued functions. The rank invariant completely determines the multidimensional analogue of persistent homology groups. We prove that multidimensional rank invariants are stable with re- spect to function perturbations. More precisely, we construct a distance be- tween rank invariants such that small changes of the function imply only small changes of the rank invariant. This result can be obtained by assuming the function to be just continuous. Multidimensional stability opens the way to a stable shape comparison methodology based on multidimensional persistence.
Determinants of renal potassium excretion in critically ill patients: The role of insulin therapy

Objectives:Insulin administration lowers plasma potassium concentration by augmenting intracellular uptake of potassium. The effect of insulin administration on renal potassium excretion is unclear. Some studies suggest that insulin has an antikaliuretic effect although plasma potassium levels were poorly controlled. Since the introduction of glycemic control in the intensive care unit, insulin use has increased. We examined the relation between administered insulin and renal potassium excretion in critically ill patients under computer-assisted glucose and potassium regulation. Design:Prospective observational study. Setting:Twelve-bed surgical intensive care unit of a university teaching hospital. Patients:Consecutive intensive care unit patients. Interventions:Potassium and glucose levels were regulated by a computer-assisted decision support system. Both potassium and insulin were continuously administered by syringe pump. Measurements and Main Results:Renal potassium excretion was measured daily in the 24-hr urine collections. The 24-hr urinary samples of patients with kidney failure or on renal replacement therapy were excluded. Multivariate analysis with potassium excretion as the dependent variable was performed. In 178 consecutive patients, 1,456 24-hr urinary samples, were analyzed. Mean ± SD plasma potassium was 4.2 ± 0.3 mmol/L, with 79 ± 46 mmol/d of potassium administered and a mean insulin dose of 53 ± 38 U/day. Renal potassium excretion was 126 ± 51 mmol/day. After multivariate analysis correcting for relevant variables (including diuretics, pH, potassium levels and renal sodium excretion), insulin administration was independently and positively associated with renal potassium excretion. Other significant variables were potassium levels, potassium administration, renal sodium and chloride excretion, creatinine clearance, diuretic therapy, pH, known diabetes and intensive care unit admission day (R2 = .52; p <. 001). Conclusion:Insulin administration is associated with an increase in the renal potassium excretion in critically ill patients.
MR diffusion and perfusion parameters: relationship to metabolites in acute ischaemic stroke

Background Magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion and perfusion imaging are used to identify ischaemic penumbra, but there are few comparisons with neuronal loss and ischaemia in vivo. The authors compared N-acetyl aspartate (NAA, found in intact neurons) and lactate (anaerobic metabolism) with diffusion/perfusion parameters. Methods The authors prospectively recruited patients with acute ischaemic stroke and performed MR diffusion tensor, perfusion (PWI) and proton chemical shift spectroscopic imaging (CSI). We superimposed a 0.5 cm voxel grid on the diffusion-weighted images (DWI) and classified voxels as ‘definitely abnormal,’ ‘possibly abnormal’ or normal on DWI appearance, and ‘mismatch’ for voxels in DWI/PWI mismatch areas. The authors compared metabolite (NAA, lactate), perfusion and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in each voxel type. Results NAA differentiated ‘definitely’ from ‘possibly abnormal,’ and ‘possibly abnormal’ from ‘mismatch’ (both comparisons p<0.01) voxels, but not ‘mismatch’ from ‘normal’ voxels. Lactate was highest in ‘definitely abnormal,’ and progressively lower in ‘possibly abnormal,’ ‘mismatch,’ than ‘normal’ voxels (all differences p<0.01). There was no correlation between NAA and ADC or PWI values, but high lactate correlated with low ADC (Spearman r=−0.41, p=0.02) and prolonged mean transit time (Spearman r=0.42, p=0.02). Conclusion ADC and mean transit time indicate the presence of ischaemia (lactate) but not cumulative total neuronal damage (NAA) in acute ischaemic stroke, suggesting that caution is required if using ADC and PWI parameters to differentiate salvageable from non-salvageable tissue. Further refinement of the DWI/PWI concept is required prior to more widespread use.
2003 Midwest Research to Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education Adults Learning to Reflect: A Study of the Assessment of Private Learning

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a process used by many postsecondary institutions to award academic credit to adult learners for knowledge derived from life experiences. For the most part, PLA has focused on occupational or work-related experiences. A few institutions have extended this assessment process to significant life experiences not related to work, such as divorce, job loss, or drug and alcohol recovery. However, we know relatively little about adult learners' experiences in these programs. The life events that are often the focus of this process represent powerful, emotional experiences in the learners' lives. For this reason, we sought to develop a deeper understanding of their experiences with such a process. In-depth interviews were conducted with six learners enrolled in an accelerated, degree-completion program at Covenant College. The adults' experiences in the assessment module reflect a preoccupation with meeting its technical and instrumental challenges. While they describe strong emotions and feelings associated with this process, there is less evidence that the process facilitates a reworking of their prior experiences or greater self-awareness as learners.
Every woman has a story: A phenomenological understanding of women's careers

The author’s research for a Master’s project involved exploring the career of a high achieving New Zealand woman using narrative and constructivist techniques, the findings of which were presented at CDANZ research symposium in 2011. This small-scale study was the catalyst for this doctoral study, which uses hermeneutic phenomenological methodology. In layman’s language this means investigating women’s careers from an insider’s perspective, attempting to excavate and construct meaning from women’s described experiences.
Sphincter of Oddi regulates flow by acting as a variable resistor to flow.

Two models of transsphincteric flow and a model evaluating pumping activity were established in the anesthetized Australian brush-tailed possum to determine whether the sphincter of Oddi (SO) acts as a resistor or as a pump. A simple model of transsphincteric flow (inflow only) demonstrated that at physiological common bile duct (CBD) pressure, 9.5 +/- 0.3 cmH2O (n = 7), transsphincteric flow occurred between SO pressure waves (n = 10). A second more complex transsphincteric flow model was established that permitted simultaneous measurements of inflow, outflow, CBD pressure, SO basal pressure, SO contraction frequency, and amplitude. At physiological CBD pressure, inflow always equaled outflow (157.0 +/- 11.2 and 156.4 +/- 11.4 microliters/min, respectively; n = 7). The SO displayed regular contractions superimposed on a basal pressure of 1.1 +/- 0.4 mmHg. Contraction amplitude was 12.6 +/- 3.0 mmHg and the frequency was 3.6 +/- 0.4 contractions/min (n = 7). Pressure waves recorded in the CBD corresponded to the SO contractions and reflected SO activity. Transsphincteric flow occurred between SO contractions and was obstructed by these contractions. Stimulation of SO activity (basal pressure and contraction frequency) with intra-arterial injections of motilin (200 ng/kg) or erythromycin (200 micrograms/kg) abolished transsphincteric flow. Reduction in SO contraction frequency to 72.7 +/- 7.2% (P < 0.01, paired t test) after administration of Cisapride (2 mg/kg iv) increased transsphincteric flow to 147.6 +/- 12.3% (n = 7, P < 0.05, paired t test). In six possums, possible SO pumping action was evaluated. A manometer was connected to the CBD, and a second manometer was connected to the duodenum surrounding the papilla. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)