Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Pathological Synovial Plicae of the Knee

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the incidence, clinical significance, and clinical manifestations of pathological synovial plicae of the knee. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 2002 and 2006, 63 patients with pathological synovial plicae of the knee were studied. Of those 63 patients, 21 had the diagnosis confirmed by previously performed magnetic resonance imaging. All of the patients initially underwent conservative treatment for 90 days that involved strengthening and improving the flexibility of the muscles surrounding the knee as well as modification of their sports activities. RESULTS: A total of 55 patients improved after conservative treatment. Six of these patients eventually experienced a recurrence of symptoms, but the symptoms were not incapacitating in any of these patients. The other eight patients underwent arthroscopic removal of the synovial plica. Of these eight patients, six returned to their pretreatment physical activities, and two had persistent symptoms during physical activity. CONCLUSION: The presence of a synovial plica of the knee should be considered as a potential diagnosis in patients with knee pain, especially those who practice sports inappropriately. Conservative treatment is effective in most cases, and surgical treatment should be reserved for exceptional cases that do not improve with conservative treatment.
Estudio psicométrico de la versión española del cuestionario de agresión de Buss y Perry

The basic objective of this research was to conduct psychometric adaptation of the Spanish version of the Aggression Questionnaire (Buss and Perry, 1992; Andreu, Pena and Grana, 2002). It was worked with 3,632 from 10 to 16 years, of both sexes, of 1 o to 5 o degree of secondary education, fromdifferent educational institutions of the coast, highlands and jungle of Peru. This study analyzes the structure of the questionnaire through exploratory factor analysis evidencing the model proposed by Buss and determines acceptable internal consistency. The results obtained show an acceptable fit to the four-factor model, adequate internal consistency, scales percentile and interpretative rules.
Adaptive multicarrier modulation: a convenient framework for time-frequency processing in wireless communications

A historical perspective of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is given with reference to its literature. Its advantages and disadvantages are reviewed, and its performance is characterized over highly dispersive channels. The effects of both time- and frequency-domain synchronization errors are quantified, and a range of solutions proposed in the recent literature are reviewed. One of the main objectives of this review is to highlight the recent thinking behind adaptive bit allocation and turbo coding in the context of OFDM. This paper concludes with a wide-ranging throughput comparison of the schemes discussed herein under the unified constraint of a fixed target bit error rate of 10/sup -4/.
The Affective Views of Primary School Children.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION Observations in the classes confirm that the use of computers with the tools in an open setting had a mediating role for students’ construction of knowledge. The use of an open learning environment and possibilities for students to make their choices seemed to stimulate this. The students discussed what they see on the screen and asked questions to their peers. Their understanding developed as they worked, and observation of some cases revealed that what they learned on one task, they recognized they could use on a similar task later. An aim in the project was to develop the students’ competence to make reasonable choices of tools. From the analysis of answers to the questionnaire I found that about 18 % gave good reasons for their choices with reference to features of the tools. For about 46 – 60 % of the students’ answers was less informative, telling they used the tool because it was “the best choice for this task”, “it is easy with a spreadsheet”, and similar. For some answers, perhaps a geometrical figure or a table of numbers triggered the answer. These answers can be judged as superficial but the choice of a relevant tool itself has to be counted, and in this setting we can only expect short answers. In most cases their choices are relevant and give a good starting point for the task. I think the depth of choices will increase with more knowledge of the tools. Another question is whether the students can solve the task with the tools they chose, e.g., if they can make a spreadsheet model when they have chosen this, and tell it is the best choice for this. In order to answer this in full, more analysis of observations is needed. But from the example of Tim and Hans given in this paper, and other cases in the data, indicate that the answers given are closely related to the experiences students had in their work on similar tools and are reasonable.
CPT : An Energy-Efficiency Model for Multi-core Computer Systems

Resolving the excessive energy consumption of modern computer systems has become a substantial challenge. Therefore, various techniques have been proposed to reduce power dissipation and improve energy efficiency of computer systems. These techniques affect the energy efficiency across different layers in a system. In order to better understand and analyze those techniques, it is necessary to obtain a general metric that represents the energy efficiency of a computer system, for a specific configuration, given a certain amount of workload. In this paper, we take the initial step and define a general energy-efficiency model, the CPT model, for multi-core computer systems. CPT is a unified model that helps to decide the nearoptimal configuration of a system in terms of energy efficiency to execute a given workload. In addition, we expect the model can be utilized to analyze possible knobs that are used to improve energy efficiency. Three case studies are employed to illustrate the usage of the proposed CPT model.
Dietary Treatment of Hypercholestrolemia: Can We Predict Long-Term Success?

Objective: To look for associations between changes in LDL cholesterol and baseline characteristics of patients receiving dietary therapy for hypercholesterolemia. Methods: Ninety-six hypercholesterolemic individuals aged 30–65 from three primary care clinics and a worksite clinic received counseling by a physician and/or a dietitian for lifestyle and dietary modifications. Baseline nutritional intake was evaluated using three-day food diaries. Lipoprotein levels were evaluated at six weeks and thereafter every three months for one year. Partial (adjusted) correlations (β) were calculated between baseline parameters (demographic, anthropometric, nutritional and laboratory) and changes of LDL cholesterol for the short and long term (three and 12 months). Results: The average LDL cholesterol level decreased by 6 ± 10% (p < 0.001) at the end of 12 months. This reduction was positively correlated with baseline LDL cholesterol level (β = +0.4, p = 0.001), and negatively correlated with the baseline BMI (β = −0.2, p < 0.05) and saturated fat intake (β = −0.3, p < 0.05). The differences between low and high subgroups of baseline LDL cholesterol, BMI and saturated fat intake became apparent only after six to twelve months of therapy and probably result from varying levels of adherence to the dietary regimen. A significant correlation was found between the change in LDL cholesterol after six weeks and the change in LDL cholesterol after 12 months (β = 0.4, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The probability of successfully reducing LDL cholesterol with dietary therapy can be predicted by baseline LDL cholesterol level, BMI and saturated fat intake, as well as by the response to dietary changes within six weeks of therapy.
Radiation as an immunological adjuvant: current evidence on dose and fractionation

Ionizing radiation to a cancer site has the ability to convert the irradiated tumor in an immunogenic hub. However, radiation is a complex modifier of the tumor microenvironment and, by itself, is seldom sufficient to induce a therapeutically significant anti-tumor immune response, since it can also activate immune suppressive pathways. While several combinations of local radiation and immunotherapy have been shown in pre-clinical models to induce powerful anti-tumor immunity, the optimal strategy to achieve this effect remains to be defined. When used in vivo, radiation effects on tumors depend on the dose per fraction applied, the number of fractions used, and the total dose. Moreover, the interplay of these three variables is contingent upon the tumor setting studied, both in pre-clinical and clinical applications. To enable repair of the collateral damage to the normal tissue, radiation is usually given in multiple fractions, usually of 2 Gy. Generally, the use of larger fractions is limited to stereotactic applications, whereby optimal immobilization reduces inter- and intrafraction movement and permits a very conformal delivery of dose to the target, with optimal exclusion of normal tissue. Translation of the partnership of radiation and immunotherapy to the clinic requires a careful consideration of the radiation regimens used. To date, little is known on whether different dose/fractionation regimens have a specific impact on the anti-tumor immune response. Most experiments combining the two modalities were conducted with single fractions of radiotherapy. However, there is at least some evidencethat when combined with some specific immunotherapy approaches, the ability of radiation to promote anti-tumor immunity is dependent on the dose and fractionation employed. We critically review the available in vitro and in vivo data on this subject and discuss the potential impact of fractionation on the ability of radiation to synergize with immunotherapy.
Mouse models to study wound closure and topical treatment of infected wounds in healing‐impaired and normal healing hosts

Full‐thickness wounds were made on the backs of wound healing‐impaired diabetic mice and their normally healing litter mates. The wounds were then inoculated with 104 colony‐forming units of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In both cases, the inoculum increased rapidly to between 109 and 1010 colony‐forming units/wound area. The infection caused a significant decrease in wound closure in the normally healing mice. In the wound healing‐impaired diabetic mice, infection increased the size of the wound area over 100% by day 21. The wound became filled with inflammatory cells and serous fluid, and the mice lost significant amounts of weight, an additional sign of severe, ongoing infection. Early antimicrobial treatment of infected wounds in diabetic mice (1 hour after wounding and microbial inoculation) reversed the increase in wound size area, improved wound closure, and reduced to a significant degree the weight loss observed in untreated control mice. Delay in treatment for as little as 8 hours significantly reduces the efficacy of antimicrobial treatment. These models can be used to study the effects of infection as well as to determine the efficacy of topical antimicrobial and/or wound healing‐enhancing substances on these wounds in both normally healing and healing‐impaired hosts.
University of Birmingham Measuring hunger and satiety in primary school children. Validation of a new picture rating scale

1 2 Measuring hunger and satiety in children is essential to many studies of childhood eating behaviour 3 and obesity. Despite this, few validated measures currently exist that allow children to make 4 accurate and reliable ratings of their hunger/satiety. Three studies aimed to address this issue by 5 validating the use of a new categorical rating scale, Teddy the Bear, in the context of estimated and 6 real eating episodes. Forty-seven 6-8 year old primary school pupils participated in Study 1, which 7 used a between-participant design. Results from this study indicated that the majority of children 8 were able to use the scale to make estimated hunger/satiety ratings for a character in a story using 9 the scale. No significant differences in the ratings of hunger/satiety of children measured before and 10 after lunch were observed and likely causes are discussed. To account for inter-individual differences 11 in hunger/satiety perceptions Study 2 employed a within-participant design. Fifty-four 5-7 year olds 12 participated in this study and made estimated hunger/satiety ratings for a story character and real 13 hunger/satiety ratings before and after lunch. The results from this study indicated that the majority 14 of children were able to use the scale to make estimated and real hunger and satiety ratings. 15 Children were also found to be significantly hungrier before compared to after lunch. As it was not 16 possible to establish what types of food and in what quantity children ate for lunch a third study was 17 carried out in a controlled laboratory environment. Thirty-six 6-9 year olds participated in Study 3 18 and made hunger/satiety ratings before and after ingesting an ad libitum snack of known 19 composition and quantity. Results indicate that children felt hungrier before than after the snack 20 and that pre-snack hunger/satiety, as well as changes in hunger/satiety, were associated with ad 21 libitum snack intake. Overall, the studies indicate that our new categorical rating scale has potential 22 for use with primary school children. Implications of our findings and possible contexts for its 23 application are discussed. 24 25
Evaluating implicit feedback models using searcher simulations

In this article we describe an evaluation of relevance feedback (RF) algorithms using searcher simulations. Since these algorithms select additional terms for query modification based on inferences made from searcher interaction, not on relevance information searchers explicitly provide (as in traditional RF), we refer to them as implicit feedback models. We introduce six different models that base their decisions on the interactions of searchers and use different approaches to rank query modification terms. The aim of this article is to determine which of these models should be used to assist searchers in the systems we develop. To evaluate these models we used searcher simulations that afforded us more control over the experimental conditions than experiments with human subjects and allowed complex interaction to be modeled without the need for costly human experimentation. The simulation-based evaluation methodology measures how well the models learn the distribution of terms across relevant documents (i.e., learn what information is relevant) and how well they improve search effectiveness (i.e., create effective search queries). Our findings show that an implicit feedback model based on Jeffrey's rule of conditioning outperformed other models under investigation.
Clutter reduction based on coefficient of variation in through-wall radar imaging

In this paper, the coefficient of variation (CV), defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean in statistics, is applied to through-wall imaging for clutter reduction. The received signals coming from a given point in the imaging scene are taken as the statistical samples of its corresponding pixel in the image. Then the CVs in three classes of pixels are examined: the target pixel, the clutter pixel, and the noise pixel. It could be observed that the CV in target pixel is much smaller than that in clutter pixel as well as in noise pixel. Taking advantage of this, each pixel in the image is weighted by the reciprocal of its CV. The corrected image shows that this approach can highlight the target pixels by suppressing the clutter and noise pixels. The effectiveness of this approach is validated using both simulation and real data.
B7-Mediated Costimulation of CD4 T Cells Constrains Cytomegalovirus Persistence

ABSTRACT Cytomegalovirus (CMV) utilizes multiple strategies to modulate immunity and promote lifelong, persistent/latent infection, including suppressing T cell activation pathways. Here we examined the role of B7 costimulatory ligands in establishing immune détente from both the host and virus perspectives. Mice lacking both B7.1 and B7.2 showed reduced early expansion of CMV-specific CD4 T cells, consequently allowing for enhanced levels of persistent virus replication. In turn, a CMV mutant lacking expression of the m138 and m147.5 gene products, which restrict B7.1 and B7.2 expression in infected antigen-presenting cells, induced a more robust CD4 T cell response and showed decreased persistence. Together, these data reveal a requirement for B7-mediated signaling in regulating the CMV-specific CD4 T cell response and establishing host-virus equilibrium.
Predicting the impact of expansion terms using semantic and user interaction features

Query expansion for Information Retrieval is a challenging task. On the one hand, low quality expansion may hurt either recall, due to vocabulary mismatch, or precision, due to topic drift, and therefore reduce user satisfaction. On the other hand, utilizing a large number of expansion terms for a query may easily lead to resource consumption overhead. As web search engines apply strict constraints on response time, it is essential to estimate the impact of each expansion term on query performance at the pre-retrieval time. Our experimental results confirm that a significant part of expansions do not improve query performance, and it is possible to detect such expansions at the pre-retrieval time.
Associative Memory in a Multimodular Network

Recent imaging studies suggest that object knowledge is stored in the brain as a distributed network of many cortical areas. Motivated by these observations, we study a multimodular associative memory network, whose functional goal is to store patterns with different coding levelspatterns that vary in the number of modules in which they are encoded. We show that in order to accomplish this task, synaptic inputs should be segregated into intramodular projections and intermodular projections, with the latter undergoing additional nonlinear dendritic processing. This segregation makes sense anatomically if the intermodular projections represent distal synaptic connections on apical dendrites. It is then straightforward to show that memories encoded in more modules are more resilient to focal afferent damage. Further hierarchical segregation of intermodular connections on the dendritic tree improves this resilience, allowing memory retrieval from input to just one of the modules in which it is encoded.
Effect of smoking on the functional aspects of sperm and seminal plasma protein profiles in patients with varicocele.

STUDY QUESTION What are the effects of smoking on the functional aspects of the sperm, the levels of lipid peroxidation and the protein profile of seminal plasma in patients with varicocele? SUMMARY ANSWER In men with varicocele, smoking is associated with altered semen quality, decreased sperm functional integrity and seminal oxidative stress. Alterations in seminal plasma protein profiles are also present and may explain the altered semen phenotype. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Varicocele is a major cause of male infertility. It reduces testicular blood renewal with a consequent accumulation of toxic substances. Thus, it can potentiate the toxic effects of environmental exposure to genotoxic substances such as those found in cigarette smoke. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE AND DURATION A cross-sectional study was performed in 110 patients presenting with variococele to the Human Reproduction Section of the Sao Paulo Federal University (2006-2010). The patients were divided into a control group of non-smokers, a moderate smokers group and a heavy smokers group. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING AND METHODS Semen parameters were analysed by standard methods. Sperm DNA integrity and mitochondrial activity were assessed by Comet assays and by 3,3'-diaminobenzidine deposition, respectively. The level of lipid peroxidation in semen was determined by malondialdehyde quantification. Proteomic studies were performed by 2D-electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Both groups of smokers showed reduced semen quality in comparison with the control group. In the groups of smokers, sperm DNA integrity and mitochondrial activity were also decreased and lipid peroxidation levels were increased. Proteomic analyses revealed 20 proteins differentially expressed between the study groups. LIMITATIONS AND REASONS FOR CAUTION A study including smokers without varicocele is still warranted as these results apply only to smokers who present varicocele. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Patients with varicocele who are exposed to tobacco smoking present more important alterations to semen quality and sperm functional integrity and show changes in the seminal plasma proteome. This suggests testicular, and possibly systemic, adverse effects of smoking. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) Funding for the study was provided by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Fapesp) (2007/59423-7) and by the Division of Urology, Human Reproduction Section at the São Paulo Federal University.
Frame based model order selection of spectral envelopes

Spectral envelopes, using (warped or perceptual) linear prediction or minimum variance distortionless response for the underlying linear parametric model, are widely used in speech recognition systems where the frequency resolution, namely the model order (MO), of the spectrum is kept constant. Modeling different types ofphonemes such asvowels or fricatives withthe same frequency resolution might not lead to the best possible performance. This could be due to the fact that important parts of various phonemes lie in different frequency regions, that the fundamental frequency varies for different speakers or because of a high variance in the signal to noise ratio. To address this problem we propose to vary the MO frame by frame according to a control factor. In our case, the control factor could be either a relation of autocorrelation coefficients or the spectral entropy. Experimental results on the Translanguage English Database show an improvement by 2.4% relative in word error rate compared to the fixed MO and 4.2% relative to the traditional Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients.
Essential Immunoregulatory Role for BCAP in B Cell Development and Function

BCAP was recently cloned as a binding molecule to phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K). To investigate the role of BCAP, mutant mice deficient in BCAP were generated. While BCAP-deficient mice are viable, they have decreased numbers of mature B cells and B1 B cell deficiency. The mice produce lower titers of serum immunoglobulin (Ig)M and IgG3, and mount attenuated responses to T cell–independent type II antigen. Upon B cell receptor cross-linking, BCAP-deficient B cells exhibit reduced Ca2+ mobilization and poor proliferative responses. These findings demonstrate that BCAP plays a pivotal immunoregulatory role in B cell development and humoral immune responses.
An Efficient Predistorter Design for Compensating Nonlinear Memory High Power Amplifiers

This contribution applies digital predistorter to compensate distortions caused by memory high power amplifiers (HPAs) which exhibit true output saturation characteristics. Particle swarm optimization is first implemented to identify the Wiener HPA's parameters. The estimated Wiener HPA model is then directly used to design the predistorter. The proposed digital predistorter solution is attractive owing to its low on-line computational complexity, small memory units required and simple VLSI hardware structure implementation. Moreover, the designed predistorter is capable of successfully compensating serious nonlinear distortions and memory effects caused by the memory HPA operating in the output saturation region. Simulation results obtained are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this novel digital predistorter design.