Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strength and functional deficits in individuals with hip osteoarthritis compared to healthy, older adults

Abstract Purpose: Hip osteoarthritis (OA) compromises quality of life for many individuals. This study quantified deficits in functional capacity for use in rehabilitation goal setting by combining assessments of muscle strength, function and physical activity in patients with hip OA and healthy adults. Method: Twenty-six patients with end-stage hip OA and 18 healthy adults participated. Isometric muscle strength around the hip and knee was measured. Function was assessed using stair climbing, five-time-sit-to-stand, timed-up-and-go and 6-minute walk tests. The UCLA activity rating scale assessed physical activity. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to assess differences between groups. Results: Patients had 30% less knee extensor (p < 0.001), 38% less knee flexor (p < 0.001), 10% less hip flexor (p = 0.47), 23% less hip extensor (p = 0.24) and 17% less hip abductor strength (p = 0.23) than healthy adults. Hip adductor strength was equal between groups (p = 0.93). Patients were 50% slower on the stair climbing test (p = 0.001), 34% slower on the timed-up-and-go test (p = 0.004), 34% slower on the five-time-sit-to-stand test (p = 0.001), and walked 28% less during the 6-min walk test (p < 0.001). Patients were less physically active (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Patients had deficits in muscle strength, function and physical activity compared to healthy adults. Quantifying these deficits provides benchmarks for improvement during rehabilitation. Implications for Rehabilitation Hip osteoarthritis (OA) affects up to 28% of adults over the age of 65 and many individuals report functional and activity limitations directly related to their arthritic condition, posing a risk for future morbidity Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is the treatment of choice for decreasing pain and improving function, however, some individuals suffering from end-stage hip OA are not candidates for THA, and effective rehabilitation interventions to improve physical function are crucial Establishing estimates of the deficits in muscle strength, physical function and physical activity in people with and without hip OA can aid rehabilitation professionals in their goal setting and intervention planning Rehabilitation interventions should not only consist of muscle strengthening and functional training, but interventions to improve physical activity levels are required to improve overall physical functioning and to decrease risks for additional health complications
Comments on "Spectrally-Efficient Relay Selection with Limited Feedback"

In the above mentioned paper, the authors proposed an incremental transmission relay selection (ITRS) protocol, whose diversity-multiplexing-tradeoff performance was illustrated and compared with existing alternatives in Fig. 3 (R. Tannious et al., Oct, 2008). However, in our opinion, these comparisons are unfair and a curve depicted in Fig. 3 is wrong. We discuss the full detail of our comment in this paper.
Development of a Virtual Reality Assessment of Everyday Living Skills

Cognitive impairments affect the majority of patients with schizophrenia and these impairments predict poor long term psychosocial outcomes. Treatment studies aimed at cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia not only require demonstration of improvements on cognitive tests, but also evidence that any cognitive changes lead to clinically meaningful improvements. Measures of “functional capacity” index the extent to which individuals have the potential to perform skills required for real world functioning. Current data do not support the recommendation of any single instrument for measurement of functional capacity. The Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool (VRFCAT) is a novel, interactive gaming based measure of functional capacity that uses a realistic simulated environment to recreate routine activities of daily living. Studies are currently underway to evaluate and establish the VRFCAT’s sensitivity, reliability, validity, and practicality. This new measure of functional capacity is practical, relevant, easy to use, and has several features that improve validity and sensitivity of measurement of function in clinical trials of patients with CNS disorders.
Graphene Based Electronic Device

— The semiconductor industry is placing an increased emphasis on emerging materials and devices that may provide improved performance, or provide novel functionality for devices. Recently, graphene, as a true two-dimensional carbon material, has shown fascinating applications in electronics. In this paper detailed discussions are introduced for possible applications of grapheme Transistor in RF and digital devices.
Hypoglycemic, antioxidant and hypolipidemic activity of Asparagus racemosus on streptozotocin-induced diabetic in rats

The potential role of the ethanolic extract of Asparagus racemosus (Wild) in the treatment of diabetes along with its antioxidant and antihyperlipidemic effects was studied in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Oral administration of ethanolic extract of Asparagus racemosus (EEAR) 200 and 400 mg/kg/b.w for 21 days significantly decreased the blood glucose level, fluid intake and considerably increased the body weight of diabetic induced rats. EEAR significantly decreased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and significantly increased in reduced glutathione, superoxide dismutase and catalase in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats at the end of 21 days of treatment. The study also investigated the antihyperlipidemic potential of EEAR. The results show that the EEAR is promising for development of standardized phytomedicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Factors influencing physiological responses to small-sided soccer games

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the effects of exercise type, field dimensions, and coach encouragement on the intensity and reproducibility of small-sided games. Data were collected on 20 amateur soccer players (body mass 73.1 ± 8.6 kg, stature 1.79 ± 0.05 m, age 24.5 ± 4.1 years, [Vdot]O2max 56.3 ± 4.8 ml · kg−1 · min−1). Aerobic interval training was performed during three-, four-, five- and six-a-side games on three differently sized pitches, with and without coach encouragement. Heart rate, rating of perceived exertion (RPE) on the CR10-scale, and blood lactate concentration were measured. Main effects were found for exercise type, field dimensions, and coach encouragement (P < 0.05), but there were no interactions between any of the variables (P > 0.15). During a six-a-side game on a small pitch without coach encouragement, exercise intensity was 84 ± 5% of maximal heart rate, blood lactate concentration was 3.4 ± 1.0 mmol · l−1, and the RPE was 4.8. During a three-a-side game on a larger pitch with coach encouragement, exercise intensity was 91 ± 2% of maximal heart rate, blood lactate concentration was 6.5 ± 1.5 mmol · l−1, and the RPE was 7.2. Typical error expressed as a coefficient of variation ranged from 2.0 to 5.4% for percent maximal heart rate, from 10.4 to 43.7% for blood lactate concentration, and from 5.5 to 31.9% for RPE. The results demonstrate that exercise intensity during small-sided soccer games can be manipulated by varying the exercise type, the field dimensions, and whether there is any coach encouragement. By using different combinations of these factors, coaches can modulate exercise intensity within the high-intensity zone and control the aerobic training stimulus.
Ripple minimizing digital controller for flying capacitor dc-dc converters based on dynamic mode levels switching

This paper introduces a new control method for dc-dc flying capacitor multi-level converters. Depending on the operating conditions, introduced controller dynamically changes the number of operating converter's levels to minimize the output inductor current ripple improving power processing efficiency. For the converters with a narrow conversion range this controller also allows for a significant reduction of the inductor. The effectiveness of this control method is demonstrated on a 5-level dc-dc converter example, which number of levels is dynamically varied between 5 and 4 depending on the required conversion ratio. Experimental results obtained with wide input 12 V–36 V, wide output voltage 1 V–12 V/5 A, 2.5 MHz experimental prototype are showing up to a 25% lower losses compared to the 5-level converter operating in the conventional mode.
Clustering multi-typed objects in extended star-structured heterogeneous data

Mining richly structured heterogeneous datasets represents a key emerging challenge for data mining. When traditional clustering methods are applied, heterogeneous networks consisting of multiple entities must first be converted to homogeneous networks consisting of entities of only one type, causing information loss. This paper proposes a three-phase general framework to directly handle the information contained in extended star-structured heterogeneous data. First, entity resolution of objects of all types is conducted based on their attribute values. Then, central objects are clustered in terms of their relation strengths. Finally, groups of attribute objects are detected according to the clustering assignment of their connected central objects. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the modeling idea and working principle of the proposed method, and experiments on a real-world dataset show the effectiveness of the three proposed algorithms.
Quality of Spelling Breakdown in Alzheimer’s Disease is Independent of Disease Progression

There is a convergence of evidence from recent studies that spelling is impaired in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) relative to normal aging. However, the literature is more divided over whether there is a logical pattern in spelling deterioration with disease progression. The present study reviewed performance of participants with mild AD, moderate AD, and control participants on a written and oral spelling task. Results suggest that spelling in individuals with AD is impaired relative to controls. Comparison between those with mild AD and moderate AD failed to find evidence of a logical pattern of deterioration. We further examined the effects of word characteristics on spelling performance. Although increasing in quantity with disease progression, analysis of quality of spelling errors reveal a multi-componential disruption of spelling ability, which is independent of disease progression.
Non-Markovianmaximum likelihood estimation of autocorrelatedmovement processes

1 By viewing animal movement paths as realizations of a continuous stochastic process, we introduce a rigorous likelihood method for estimating the statistical parameters of movement processes. This method makes no assumption of a hiddenMarkov property, places no special emphasis on the sampling rate, is insensitive to irregular sampling and data gaps, can produce reasonable estimates with limited sample sizes and can be used to assignAIC values to a vast array of qualitatively differentmodels of animalmovement at the individual and population levels. 2 To develop our approach, we consider the likelihood of the first two cumulants of stochastic processes, the mean and autocorrelation functions. Together, these measures provide a considerable degree of information regarding searching, foraging, migration and other aspects of animal movement. As a specific example, we develop the likelihood analyses necessary to contrast performance of animal movementmodels based on Brownian motion, the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process and a generalization of the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process that includes ballistic bouts. 3 We then show how our framework also provides a new and more accurate approach to home-range estimationwhen compared to estimators that neglect autocorrelation in themovement path. 4 We apply our methods to a data set on Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa) to identify the movement behaviours and their associated time and length scales that characterize the movement of each individual. Additionally, we show that gazelle annual ranges are vastly larger than those of other non-migratory ungulates.
Glucose Utilization Is Essential for Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α-Dependent Phosphorylation of c-Jun

ABSTRACT Hypoxia and anoxia are important microenvironmental stresses that contribute to pathological events such as solid-tumor development. We have been investigating the effects of hypoxia and anoxia on expression of the proto-oncogene c-jun and the regulation of c-Jun/AP-1 transcription factors. In earlier work using genetically manipulated mouse embryo fibroblasts (mEFs), we found a functional relationship among c-jun expression, c-Jun N-terminal phosphorylation, and the presence of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), the oxygen-regulated subunit of the HIF-1 transcription factor. Both the induction of c-jun mRNA expression and c-Jun N-terminal phosphorylation in cells exposed to hypoxia or anoxia were found to be dependent on the presence of HIF-1α, but this was not the case in cells exposed to less-severe hypoxia. Here we describe new findings concerning HIF-1-dependent c-Jun N-terminal phosphorylation in cells exposed to hypoxia or anoxia. Specifically, we report that hypoxia-inducible c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activity, which involves JNKs or stress-activated protein kinases (SAPKs), is dependent on enhanced glucose utilization mediated by HIF-1. These results suggest a model in which hypoxia-inducible JNK activity is connected to oxygen sensing through increased glucose absorption and/or glycolytic activity regulated by the HIF-1 system. We also found that basal threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation (within the TEY motif) of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and the corresponding ERK1/2 activity were defective in hypoxic HIF-1α-null mEFs but not in wild-type mEFs, independently of glucose uptake. Therefore, the activities of both JNKs/SAPKs and ERK1/2 are sensitive to HIF-1-dependent processes in cells exposed to hypoxia or anoxia.
Development and Evaluation of Glyburide Fast Dissolving Tablets Using Solid Dispersion Technique

Glyburide is a poorly water‐soluble oral hypoglycemic agent, with problems of variable bioavailability and bio‐inequivalence related to its poor water‐solubility. This work investigated the possibility of developing glyburide tablets, allowing fast, reproducible, and complete drug dissolution, by using drug solid dispersion in polyethylene glycol. Phase‐solubility studies were performed to investigate the drug‐carrier interactions in solution, whereas differential scanning calorimetry, X‐ray powder diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the solid state of solid dispersions. The effects of several variables related to both solid dispersion preparation (cofusion or coevaporation technique, drug‐to‐carrier ratio, polyethylene glycol molecular weight) and tablet production (direct compression or previous wet‐granulation, tablet hardness, drug, and solid dispersion particle size) on drug dissolution behavior were investigated. Tablets obtained by direct compression, with a hardness of 7–9 Kp, and containing larger sized solid dispersions (20–35 mesh, i.e., 850–500 µm) of micronized glyburide in polyethylene glycol 6000 prepared by the cofusion method gave the best results, with a 135% increase in drug dissolution efficiency at 60 min in comparison with a reference tablet formulation containing the pure micronized drug. Moreover, the glyburide dissolution profile from the newly developed tablets was clearly better than those from various commercial tablets at the same drug dosage.
Skn 1 and Ipt 1 negatively regulateautophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Skn1and Ipt1negatively regulateautophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Karin Thevissen, Wei-Lien Yen, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez, Jolanta Idkowiak-Baldys, An M. Aerts, Isabelle E.J.A. François, Frank Madeo, Daniel J. Klionsky, Yusuf A. Hannun & Bruno P.A. Cammue Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics (CMPG), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium; Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Institute of Molecular Biosciences (IMB), Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Evaluation of the pooling of swabs for real-time PCR detection of low titre shedding of low pathogenicity avian influenza in turkeys

SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to determine whether pooling avian influenza (AI)-positive swabs with negative swabs has a detrimental effect on the sensitivity of AI real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reactions (rRT–PCRs). Cloacal and buccal swabs were sampled daily from 12 turkeys infected with A/goose/England/07(H2N2). For half the turkeys, each swab was mixed with four swabs from known AI-negative turkeys, and for the other half the swabs were tested individually. Bayesian modelling was used to (i) determine whether pooling the positive swabs compromised the cycle threshold (Ct) value obtained from the rRT–PCRs, and (ii) estimate the likelihood of detection of an H2N2 infected turkey flock via rRT–PCR for pooled and individually tested swabs (cloacal and buccal) vs. the number of days post-infection of the flock. Results indicated that there was no significant effect of compromising AI rRT–PCR sensitivity by pooling a weak positive swab with negative swabs on the Ct values which were obtained. Pooled sampling was able to widen the detection window compared to individual sampling, for the same number of rRT–PCR tests. This indicates that pooled sampling would be an effective method of reducing the number of tests to be performed to determine flock status during an AI outbreak and for surveillance.
Eigenmodes analysis in Drude-type dispersive EBG structures in frequency domain

Recently, remarkable progress has been made in the study of electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures due to their various applications in optics, microwave, and antenna engineering. The band structure of EBG structures has been researched for frequency-independent or non-dispersive materials. Lately, there is an intensive interest in the analysis of dispersive EBG structures for novel applications. Therefore, accuracy in modeling of the band structure of EBGs composed of dispersive materials is important to accurately analyze the wave propagation phenomena over a wide range of frequencies in microwave and optical fields. In this paper, we use a new 2D FDFD algorithm to calculate the band structure and electric field distribution of eigenmodes of 2D EBG structure composed of Drude-type dispersive media. This algorithm uses only the eigenvalue equation, thus, all of the eigenfrequencies can be computed accurately for every band point of irreducible Brillouin zone. To validate this method, it is compared with the FDTD method which shows high accuracy and stability.
Parallel Concatenation vs. Serial Concatenation Turbo Codes for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks are to a large extent characterized by the sensing, communication and computation constraints of their constituent sensor nodes. Moreover, energy efficient operation is critical, since the nodes are typically powered by batteries or scavenge energy from their environment. Communication over a wireless channel is prone to noise and interference, which causes errors to occur in the received packets. Plain retransmission of erroneous packets requires high amounts of energy from the nodes. Error Correcting Codes (ECCs) are commonly used in communication systems to correct erroneous packets at the receiver, at some additional processing power cost for the decoding process. A strong error correction decoder can however be shifted to the data collecting Base Station—which has more processing power and energy available—to correct errors accumulated over the multi-hop communication path. Turbo Codes are commonly used in wireless communication when high error correction performance is required. Turbo Codes can have a Serial Concatenation or a Parallel Concatenation structure. In this paper we evaluate and compare the performance of both structures when using a Turbo decoder at the Base Station to correct the accumulated errors.
The Inflammatory Reaction Following 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine Intoxication in Mouse

In degenerative disorders of the CNS an immune system involvement in the pathological process is postulated. The MPTP model of Parkinson's disease seem to be a good model for studying an inflammation following toxic neurodegeneration. In this model, microglial and astroglial reactions were previously found around impaired neurons. In the present work we showed an immune reaction, including lymphocytic infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the substantia nigra and striatum and elevated MHC class I and II antigens expression on microglia. Many activated lymphocytes were present, showing increased LFA-1 and CD44 antigen expression. We found also that ICAM-1 expression increased on the endothelium and appeared on microglia in the injured regions. Treatment with dexamethasone inhibited T-cell infiltration and MHC class II expression, lessened the glial reaction, and also diminished neuronal impairment. These findings suggest that an immune mechanism may contribute to the neuronal damage following MPTP administration.
Factors that influence the relative use of multiple memory systems

Neurobehavioral evidence supports the existence of at least two anatomically distinct “memory systems” in the mammalian brain that mediate dissociable types of learning and memory; a “cognitive” memory system dependent upon the hippocampus and a “stimulus‐response/habit” memory system dependent upon the dorsolateral striatum. Several findings indicate that despite their anatomical and functional distinctiveness, hippocampal‐ and dorsolateral striatal‐dependent memory systems may potentially interact and that, depending on the learning situation, this interaction may be cooperative or competitive. One approach to examining the neural mechanisms underlying these interactions is to consider how various factors influence the relative use of multiple memory systems. The present review examines several such factors, including information compatibility, temporal sequence of training, the visual sensory environment, reinforcement parameters, emotional arousal, and memory modulatory systems. Altering these parameters can lead to selective enhancements of either hippocampal‐dependent or dorsolateral striatal‐dependent memory, and bias animals toward the use of either cognitive or habit memory in dual‐solution tasks that may be solved adequately with either memory system. In many learning situations, the influence of such experimental factors on the relative use of memory systems likely reflects a competitive interaction between the systems. Research examining how various factors influence the relative use of multiple memory systems may be a useful method for investigating how these systems interact with one another. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.