Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of noninvasive interactive neurostimulation on symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, sham-controlled pilot study.

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of noninvasive interactive neurostimulation used as an adjunct to usual care, on pain and other symptoms in adults with osteoarthritis of the knee. DESIGN Randomized, sham-controlled trial. SETTING A university in the southern United States. SUBJECTS Thirty-seven (37) adults with knee osteoarthritis (based on American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria). INTERVENTIONS Seventeen (17) noninvasive interactive neurostimulation (active or sham) sessions over 8 weeks with a week 12 follow-up. OUTCOME MEASURES Eleven-point numeric rating scale for weekly pain; Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), patient global assessment, and Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) completed at baseline and weeks 4, 8, and 12. RESULTS For the main outcome, pain, the differences between the groups over time did not reach statistical significance (all p > 0.05). However, a clinically important reduction in pain (defined as a 2-point or 30% reduction on an 11-point numeric rating scale) was maintained at week 12 by the active noninvasive interactive neurostimulation group (2.17 points, 34.55% reduction) but not the sham group (1.63, 26.04% reduction). Pain improved over time in participants regardless of group membership (numeric rating scale average pain, p = 0.002; numeric rating scale worst pain, p < 0.001; and WOMAC pain, p < 0.001), as did WOMAC function, WOMAC stiffness, and WOMAC total score (all p < 0.001). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed a statistically significant difference between the groups over time for the SF-36 Vitality scale, F (3, 105) = 3.54, p = 0.017. In addition, the active device group improved on the patient global assessment from baseline to week 8 compared to the sham device group, F (1, 35) = 4.025, p = 0.053. CONCLUSIONS In this pilot study, clinically important reductions in knee pain were maintained at week 12 in the active, but not the sham, noninvasive interactive neurostimulation group. Further study of this noninvasive therapy is warranted.
Y ) ( p 11 . 2 ; q 11 . 23 ) ? Karyotype

Pericentric inversion of Y chromosome has an estimated frequency of the one per thousand. This inversion is always inherited but also is possible a de novo presentation. Sometimes this inverted chromosome is associated with the Down, Klinefelter and other chromosomal syndromes. For the carriers of pericentric inversion the risk of the mental retardation or multiple abortion is not apparently increase and there is not relation with abnormal phenotypic features. The pericentric inversion of Y chromosome is only a rare chromosomal heteromorphism. Chromosome analysis of the father is advisable to determine whether or not the inversion is familial in order to be able to provide genetic counselling. Cytogenetic analysis from amniotic fluid cells and parents’ peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures were prepared by routine methods. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed on cultured amniotic fluid cells to confirm the presence of Y-bearing cells. We performed molecular genetic analysis for Y chromosomal loci (SRY, ZFY, SY84, SY86, SY127, SY134, SY254, SY255). In cytogenetic analysis, the karyotype of male fetus, other brother’s and his father’s were exhibited as 46,X, +mar (Y), inv (Y) (p11.2;q11.23)? His mother’s was 46, XX. In these cases, it was concluded that there was no clinical significance because the same abnormality was found in other members of the family. All of them have normavl phenotypic features. This finding suggests that the pericentric inversion of the Y chromosome affects neither the phenotype nor reproductive performance. ©2008, Firat University, Medical Faculty.
A constraint solver and its application to machine code test generation

Software defects are a curse, they are so difficult to find that most software is declared finished, only later to have defects discovered. Ideally, software tools would find most, or all of those defects for us. Bit-vector and array reasoning is important to the software testing and verification tools which aim to find those defects. The bulk of this dissertation investigates how to build a faster bit-vector and array solver. Theusefulness of a bit-vector and array solver dependschiefly on it being correct and efficient. Ourwork is practical, mostlywe evaluate different simplifications that make problems easier to solve. In particular, we perform a bit-vector simplification phase that we call “theory-level bit-propagation” which propagates information throughout the problem. We describe how we tested parts of this simplification to show it is correct. We compare three approaches to solving array problems. Surprisingly, on the problems we chose, we show that the simplest approach, a reduction from arrays and bit-vectors to arrays, has the best performance. In the second part of this dissertation we study the symbolic execution of compiled software (binaries). We use the solver that we have built to perform symbolic execution of binaries. Symbolic execution is a program analysis technique that builds up expressions that describe all the possible states of a program in terms of its inputs. Symbolic execution suffers from the “path explosion”, where the number of paths through a program grows tremendously large, making analysis impractical. We show an effective approach for addressing this problem.
Formal Methods Application: An Empirical Tale of Software Development

The development of an elevator scheduling system by undergraduate students is presented. The development was performed by 20 teams of undergraduate students, divided into two groups. One group produced specifications by employing a formal method that involves only first-order logic. The other group used no formal analysis. The solutions of the groups are compared using the metrics of code correctness, conciseness, and complexity. Particular attention is paid to a subset of the formal methods group which provided a full verification of their implementation. Their results are compared to other published formal solutions. The formal methods group's solutions are found to be far more correct than the informal solutions.
Long-Term Optimal Investment Strategies in the Presence of Adjustment Costs

We consider the problem of determining in a dynamical way the optimal capacity level of an investment project that operates within a random economic environment. In particular, we consider an investment project that yields payoff at a rate that depends on its installed capacity level and on a random economic indicator such as the price of the project's output commodity. We model this economic indicator by means of a general one-dimensional ergodic diffusion. At any time, the project's capacity level can be increased or decreased at given proportional costs. The aim is to maximize an ergodic performance criterion that reflects the long-term average payoff resulting from the project's management. We solve this genuinely two-dimensional stochastic control problem by constructing an explicit solution to an appropriate Hamilton--Jacobi--Bellman equation and by fully characterizing an optimal investment strategy.
A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of a Large Clinical Cohort of Children With Tourette Syndrome

There is evidence that cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical pathways are involved in the pathophysiology of Tourette syndrome. During the performance of neuropsychological tests in subjects with Tourette syndrome there are suggestions for increased activity in the sensimotor cortex, supplementary motor areas, and frontal cortex. To replicate findings, the authors examined 22 medication-naive children with Tourette syndrome only, 17 medication-naive children with Tourette syndrome and comorbidity, and 39 healthy controls with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There were no differences in activation in brain regions between the children with Tourette syndrome (divided according to the presence of comorbidity) and healthy controls after correction for the confounders age, sex, and intelligence. Activation in the cingulated gyrus, temporal gyrus, and medial frontal gyrus was correlated significantly with obsessive-compulsive disorder score. The authors did not find significant correlations between activation patterns and age, sex, duration of disease, intelligence, severity of tics, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) score.
Strategic Decisions in Task-Oriented Reading

Abstract Answering questions from texts are assessment and instructional activities that are frequently used in schools. Nevertheless, little is known about the strategic processes that students take while performing these tasks. We explored the amount and frequency that students initially read of a text before they answered questions pertaining to the material. In a procedure similar to the one used in the PISA (Program for International Students Assessment), one-hundred-seventy students between 7th and 9th grade read and answered several questions designed to assess task-oriented reading in three specific texts. We recorded on-line indexes that evaluated student behavior (e.g., the amount of text that students read before answering questions raised within a given text), performance, and comprehension skill. The results revealed that students skilled in comprehension initially read a high proportion of the texts, which in turn improved their overall performance in two of the three texts read (text 1: CI95%: 0.01 to 0.09; text 2: CI95%: –0.01 to 0.05; text 3: CI95%: 0.04 to 0.20). Therefore, we conclude that this strategic behavior should be considered during the assessment and instruction of reading literacy.
Neural network based speed observer for interior permanent magnet synchronous motor drives

This paper introduces an artificial neural network (ANN) based observer for accurate speed control of an interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM). A multilayer perception is trained online using back-propagation learning algorithm to estimate the rotor speed. Unlike other observers, no a priori offline training or weights initialization is required. Experiments for different situations highlight the performance of the proposed observer in transient, steady-state, and standstill conditions. The proposed observer is reliable and effective for IPMSM speed control. Furthermore, the neural networks inherent parallelism makes them a good candidate for implementation in real-time PMSM drive systems.
Midgut lysozymes of Lucilia sericata – new antimicrobials involved in maggot debridement therapy

Larvae of Lucilia sericata are used for maggot debridement therapy (MDT) because of their ability to remove necrotic tissue and eradicate bacterial pathogens of infected wounds. So far, very few antibacterial factors have been fully characterized (eg lucifensin). Using a molecular approach, some other putative antimicrobial compounds, including three novel lysozymes, have been previously identified and predicted to be involved in MDT. Nevertheless, data on lysozymes tissue origin and their functions have never been elucidated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of three lysozymes in L. sericata and confirm their antibacterial effects within MDT. Moreover, we characterized the eradication process of bacteria within the digestive system of maggots and determined the role of lysozymes in this process. We found that three lysozymes are expressed in specific sections of the L. sericata midgut. Recombinant lysozymes displayed comparable antibacterial activity against Micrococcus luteus. Furthermore, the majority of Gram‐positive bacteria were destroyed in vivo within the particular section of the L. sericata midgut where lysozymes are produced. Larval ingestion and subsequent eradication of wound pathogens during their passage through the intestine of maggots are due to, at least in part, antibacterial action of three midgut lysozymes.
New laser-treated implant surfaces: a histologic and histomorphometric pilot study in rabbits.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to confirm the validity of laser treated implant surfaces, with regard to high superficial purity preservation and to extremely regular and uniform roughness surfaces. METHODS In this in vivo study, seven different laser treated implant surfaces were analyzed. A diode-pumped solid state source laser, in a Q-Switch output mode, was used at various wavelengths, which were chosen to generate surface irregularities of varying diameter, depth and pitch. Twenty one implants were placed in 11 New Zealand rabbits. Eight weeks after surgery, implants were harvested for histometric analysis: total, threads and body bone-to-implant, and bone-to-implant contacts were measured. The morphologic analysis of the surface was carried out using a Scanning Electron Microscope. RESULTS Average bone-implant contact values were approximately 50% for all tested surfaces. Both total and threads values, within the same processing pattern group, had a high variance. Bone-implant contact thread and body variances were different, so that is possible that laser beam angle is able to modify the superficial roughness and thus the histological response. CONCLUSIONS Implants provided with pores of 20 and 25 µm achieved more than satisfactory bone-implant contact partial peaks. Further statistically significant experiments are needed in order to study, in depth, these surfaces.
Analysis of Childhood Stunting in Malawi Using Bayesian Structured Additive Quantile Regression Model

Analyses of childhood stunting have mainly used mean regression yet modeling using quantile regression is more appropriate than using mean regression in that the former provides flexibility to analyze the determinants of stunting corresponding to quantiles of interest whereas the latter allows only analyzing the determinants of mean stunting. Bayesian structured additive quantile regression models were fitted for childhood stunting. Both quantile and mean regression models were fitted and their estimates were compared. Inference was fully Bayesian using integrated nested Laplace approximation approach for quantile regression and Markov chain and Monte Carlo approach for mean regression. The 2010 Malawi demography and health surveys data was used. Using multistage stratified sampling, more than 19000 eligible reproductive women aged between 15 and 49 years were interviewed in a round of surveys and the anthropometric characteristics of their under 5 children were measured. We found that the dominant determinants of childhood stunting in Malawi include child sex, household head sex, type of residence, mother working status, vitamin A supplementation, availability of radio/TV, source of drinking water, vaccination coverage, infectious diseases, mother education, ethnicity, child age, and duration of breastfeeding. We also observed no any significant structured spatial effects on childhood stunting. In this study, we confirmed that quantile regression fits better than mean regression when modeling childhood stunting.
Electrochemical Investigation of P-Tert-Butylcalix(6)Arene Modified Gold Electrode for Ionic Detection

The aim of this work was to study the electrochemical behavior of gold electrode which was modified with p-tert-butylcalix[6]arene membrane and this in the presence of different nickel ions based concentrations in order to form a nickel electrochemical sensor. For that, impedance-spec- troscopy characteristics have been investigated. The obtained results were then modeled by appropriate equivalent circuit aiming at elucidating the electrical properties of the modified gold transducer. A correlation between the present impedimetric results and previous potentiometric ones was achieved traducing then a fast ionic transfer.
The music21 Stream: A New Object Model for Representing, Filtering, and Transforming Symbolic Musical Structures

The Stream is a new object model of symbolic musical structures deployed as part of the music21 toolkit for computational musicology. Streams are containers that allow for multiple hierarchical and flat representations of a musical work. This flexibility avoids the pitfalls of existing tree-based and event-list-based models and allows for easy searching, discovery of the context of an object (such as a note’s current clef), and transformation (such as transposition or duration stretching). This paper describes the music21 Stream, and offers several examples to show how this multivalent representation is necessary for researchers working on problems in computer-aided musical analysis.
Isolation of the pulmonary veins in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation secondary to mitral valve disease.

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of surgical isolation of the pulmonary veins for re-establishing sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation secondary to mitral valve disease. METHODS Thirty-three (67% were women) patients with permanent atrial fibrillation and indication for surgical correction of the mitral valve underwent surgical isolation of the pulmonary veins. Their mean age was 56.3+/-10 years, preoperative NYHA functional class was 3.2+/-0.6, left atrial size was 5.5+/-0.9 cm, and ejection fraction was 61.3+/-13%. The surgical technique consisted of a circumferential incision surrounding the 4 pulmonary veins, excision of the left atrial appendage, and a perpendicular incision originating in the inferior margin of the circumferential incision isolating the pulmonary veins down to the mitral valve. Early arrhythmias were aggressively treated with cardioversion. RESULTS The mean follow-up was 23.9+/-17 months, and 3 patients died in the postoperative period. Ten patients required electrical cardioversion in the postoperative period; 87% had sinus rhythm in the last medical visit, and 33% were using amiodarone. CONCLUSION Isolation of the pulmonary veins associated with mitral valve surgery is an effective and safe technique for maintaining sinus rhythm in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation.
A new operational solar resource forecast model service for PV fleet simulation

We present and evaluate a new operational solar radiation forecast model to be deployed on a prototype basis as part of the SolarAnywhere (SA) data service. The SA service covers North America and provides seamless access to historical, real time and forecasted solar irradiance data with a maximum possible geographical resolution of 1 km and a maximum time resolution of 1 minute for historical and real time data. The new forecast product presented in this article pertains to SA's intermediate spatial and temporal resolution data, respectively 10 km and hourly. The forecast time horizon ranges from one hour ahead to five days ahead.
The Worst-Case Weighted Multi-Objective Game with an Application to Supply Chain Competitions

In this paper, we propose a worst-case weighted approach to the multi-objective n-person non-zero sum game model where each player has more than one competing objective. Our “worst-case weighted multi-objective game” model supposes that each player has a set of weights to its objectives and wishes to minimize its maximum weighted sum objectives where the maximization is with respect to the set of weights. This new model gives rise to a new Pareto Nash equilibrium concept, which we call “robust-weighted Nash equilibrium”. We prove that the robust-weighted Nash equilibria are guaranteed to exist even when the weight sets are unbounded. For the worst-case weighted multi-objective game with the weight sets of players all given as polytope, we show that a robust-weighted Nash equilibrium can be obtained by solving a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC). For an application, we illustrate the usefulness of the worst-case weighted multi-objective game to a supply chain risk management problem under demand uncertainty. By the comparison with the existed weighted approach, we show that our method is more robust and can be more efficiently used for the real-world applications.
Purification, characterization and functional expression of a new peptide with an analgesic effect from Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK AGP-SYPU1).

In this study, a new peptide named BmK AGP-SYPU1 with an analgesic effect was purified from the venom of Chinese scorpion Buthus martensi Karsch (BmK) through a four-step chromatographic process. The mouse twisting test was used to identify the target peptides in every separation step. The purified BmK AGP-SYPU1 was further qualified by RP-HPLC and HPCE. The molecular mass determined by the MALDI-4800-TOF/TOF MS for BmK AGP-SYPU1 was 7544 Da. Its primary structure of the N-terminal was obtained using Edman degradation. The gene sequence of BmK AGP-SYPU1 was cloned from the cDNA pool and genomic of scorpion glands, respectively, and then expressed in Escherichia coli. The sequence determination showed that BmK AGP-SYPU1 was composed of 66 amino acid residues with a new primary structure. The metal chelating affinity column and cation exchange chromatography were used to purify the recombinant BmK AGP-SYPU1. Consequently, the native and recombinant BmK AGP-SYPU1 showed similar analgesic effects on mice as assayed using a mouse twisting model. These results suggested that BmK AGP-SYPU1 is a new analgesic component found in the Chinese scorpion Buthus martensi Karsch.
Expression and Characterization of the Flavoprotein Subcomplex Composed of 50-kDa (NQO1) and 25-kDa (NQO2) Subunits of the Proton-translocating NADH-Quinone Oxidoreductase of Paracoccus denitrificans(*)

This study reports the expression of the flavoprotein (FP) subcomplex of the proton-translocating NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (NDH-1) from Paracoccus denitrificans, which is composed of the NQO1 (50 kDa) and the NQO2 (25 kDa) subunits. The two subunits are co-expressed in Escherichia coli using a double expression plasmid system. The expressed subunits form a water-soluble heterodimer complex with 1:1 stoichiometry. The expressed complex contained one [2Fe-2S] cluster but almost no FMN or [4Fe-4S] cluster. The two latter prosthetic groups could be partially reconstituted with FMN, Na2S, and (NH4)2Fe(SO4)2in vitro under anaerobic conditions. The reconstituted FP subcomplex showed EPR signals from two distinct species of iron-sulfur cluster. One resonance transition originates from a [2Fe-2S] cluster with g values of g = 1.92, 1.95, and 2.00 and slow spin relaxation, which was tentatively assigned to the cluster N1a. These EPR properties are very similar to those reported for the NQO2 subunit expressed alone (Yano, T., Sled', V. D., Ohnishi, T., and Yagi, T. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 494-499). The other originates from a [4Fe-4S] cluster with g values of g = 1.87, 1.94, and 2.04 and fast relaxing behavior, which are reminiscent of the cluster N3 in the membrane bound enzyme complex. After reconstitution with FMN, the FP subcomplex catalyzed electron transfer from NADH and from deamino-NADH to a variety of electron acceptors. The enzymatic properties of the FP subcomplex, reconstituted with FMN and iron-sulfur, correspond to those of the isolated P. denitrificans NADH-dehydrogenase complex.