Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Peabody Developmental Fine Motor Scale: an interrater reliability study.

This study examined the interrater reliability of two raters on the Fine Motor scale of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (Folio & Fewell, 1983). The sample comprised 32 children who were 4 or 5 years of age. Half of the children were considered to have normal development and half had an identified developmental delay. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients between the two sets of ratings were r = . 97 for the delayed group and r = . 77 for the normal group. Intraclass correlations were . 97 and . 76 for the delayed and normal groups, respectively. These figures appear to reflect the increased variance of the performance of the children with developmental delays. The percentage agreement between the two raters was greater for the group of normal subjects. The results suggest that the Fine Motor scale of the Peabody scales includes enough items to minimize the total score difference between two raters. Individual test items with poor agreement between the two raters were identified.
Tests of the responsiveness of the COPD assessment test following acute exacerbation and pulmonary rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) is an eight-item questionnaire suitable for routine clinical use that shows reliability and validity in stable and exacerbating COPD. METHODS Study 1 assessed CAT responsiveness to changes in health status in 67 patients during an exacerbation (days 1-14). Study 2 assessed CAT responsiveness in 64 patients undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation (days 1-42). Correlations between CAT and other outcome measures were examined. RESULTS In study 1, mean 14-day improvement in CAT score was -1.4 ± 5.3 units (P = .03). In patients judged to be responders (clinician defined) change in score was -2.6 ± 4.4; in nonresponders it was -0.2 ± 5.9. In study 2, the mean improvement in CAT score was -2.2 ± 5.3 (P = .002); the effect size for the change was -0.33. Effect size for changes in the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire-Self Administered Standardized (CRQ-SAS) form domain scores ranged from -0.02 to 0.34. Change in 6-min walk distance (6MWD) was 41 ± 55 m. CAT and CRQ-SAS domain scores correlated at baseline (r = -0.54 to -0.69, P < .0001) and in terms of change following pulmonary rehabilitation (r = -0.39 to -0.63, P < .01). Correlations were less strong between change in the CAT and St. George Respiratory Questionnaire for COPD in study 1 (r < 0.24) and for 6MWD (r < 0.11) in study 2. CONCLUSIONS These studies indicate that the CAT is sensitive to changes in health status following exacerbations and is as responsive to pulmonary rehabilitation as more complex COPD health status measures.
Performance analysis of zigzag map and hash function to generate random number

Discrete-time chaotic (DTC) map based true random number generators (TRNG) are cryptographic primitives, which its performance is scalable for the low power applications. In this paper, we analyzed zigzag as a discrete time chaotic map, which is utilized in TRNG. The zigzag map has an excellent chaotic behavior, its input and output values alternate between positive and negative values. To eliminate the correlation and bias of the resulting number sequence, we utilize hash function as post processing. The zigzag map output defines as the initial values of the hash function, which are restricted by a minimum value. The tests result indicate that the numbers generated by the proposed method have high entropy value, uncorrelated numbers and pass all NIST 800-22 the randomness statistical test suites.
Prevalence of uterine synechiae among infertile females in a Nigerian teaching hospital

Summary The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of uterine synechiae among infertile females in our setting. This was a retrospective review of 250 patients who underwent hysterosalpingography using 76% Urografin as part of infertility work-ups at the University of Teaching Hospital between January 1996 and December 2000. Those with uterine synechiae were closely evaluated. The incidence of uterine synechiae was 34 (13.6%). The peak incidence was in the age group 30 – 34 years. Uterine synechiae were less common at the extremes of reproductive years. The prevalence of uterine synechiae is high in our environment and will tend to increase due to promiscuity and criminal abortions by unqualified personnel.
Expression of Sox11 in adult neurogenic niches suggests a stage‐specific role in adult neurogenesis

In the mammalian brain, neural stem and progenitor cells in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus generate new neurons throughout adulthood. The generation of new functional neurons is a complex process that is tightly controlled by extrinsic signals and that is characterized by stage‐specific gene expression programs and cell biological processes. The transcription factors regulating such stage‐specific developmental steps in adult neurogenesis are largely unknown. Here we report that Sox11, a member of the group C Sox transcription factor family, is prominently expressed in the neurogenic areas of the adult brain. Further analysis revealed that Sox11 expression is strictly confined to doublecortin‐expressing neuronally committed precursors and immature neurons but that Sox11 is not expressed in non‐committed Sox2‐expressing precursor cells and mature neurons of the adult neurogenic lineage. Finally, overexpression of Sox11 promotes the generation of doublecortin‐positive immature neurons from adult neural stem cells in vitro. These data indicate that Sox11 is involved in the transcriptional regulation of specific gene expression programs in adult neurogenesis at the stage of the immature neuron.
QoS mechanisms for satellite communications

Bandwidth in Satellite systems is a resource typically scarce and expensive. To increase efficiency and contain costs of satellite communications, bandwidth on demand (BoD) mechanisms are often employed, able to make shared resource utilization efficient. Adopting the proper Quality of Service (QoS) approach is of paramount importance to allow the optimal response and guarantee target performance to the most widespread TCP/IP applications, in strict co-existence and in collaboration with BoD mechanisms. This paper addresses a performance evaluation when enabling QoS in DVB-RCS satellite architecture, harmonized with its specific BoD access scheme. The scope of the paper is to describe a solution of priority mapping to multiple queues with the aim of optimize performance experienced at application layer. The analysis has been performed using a satellite network emulator based on a cluster of Linux PCs and custom software, with a flexible setup in terms of Quality of Service and priority mappings.
Thermal influences on driven damped MEMS cantilevers

This work emphasizes the temperature dependence of the resonance frequency of uniform heated cantilevers through an alternating current in the lead on top of the structure. In the first part of the publication a theoretical study is carried out to determine the temperature distribution on uniformly heated U-shaped cantilevers. The theoretical results are supported by measurements performed with a laser vibrometer: The frequency shift due to the temperature gradient on the beam is calculated with the estimated temperature distribution along the U-shaped structure. The device exhibits a temperature dependence of the resonance frequency of about -27 ppm/K. The fit matches the data better than 2%, which is consistent with the theoretical predicted value of -28.7 ppm/K.
Dual Effects of Prolonged ACTH Stimulation on 4-Hydroxyaminoquinoline 1-Oxide-Induced Adrenocortical Lesions in Rats

The effects of a long-acting synthetic ACTH on 4-hydroxyaminoquinoline 1-oxide (4HAQO)-induced adrenocortical lesions were investigated in female rats. A total of 140 6-week-old rats were divided into 4 equal groups, given a single sc injection of 7 mg/kg 4HAQO or vehicle, followed by repeated sc administration of the synthetic ACTH or no further treatment. Subgroups of 10 rats in each group were sequentially sacrificed at weeks 20, 30, and 40. Adenomas and adenomatous nodules developed in the adrenal cortex of animals receiving 4HAQO and the chronic ACTH stimulation. Both lesions were located in the deeper zones of the adrenal cortex adjacent to the medulla and were composed of large-sized, clear-type cells. From week 20, middle zone, cortical cystic degeneration, which mimics the age-associated degenerative change named adrenal peliosis, was frequently observed in the adrenal glands of animals treated with 4HAQO alone. Its development was inhibited by ACTH. In the control animals, peliotic changes occurred at low incidence and only at the termination of experiment. These results indicate that long-term stimulation of ACTH promotes the development of adrenocortical tumors but suppresses the occurrence of adrenal peliosis in rats treated with 4HAQO.
Reconstructing graphs from a deck of all distinct cards

The graph reconstruction conjecture is looked at from a new perspec- tive. Given a graph G, three equivalence relations are considered on V (G): card equivalence, automorphism equivalence, and the equivalence of having the same behavior. A structural characterization of card equivalence in terms of automor- phism equivalence is worked out. Relative degree-sequences of subgraphs of G are introduced, and a new conjecture aiming at the reconstruction of G from the multiset of relative degree-sequences of its induced subgraphs is formulated. Finally, it is shown that graphs having a deck free from duplicate cards are re- constructible.
An Integrated Model of Juvenile Drug Use: A Cross-Demographic Groups Study

This study tests the applicability of an integrated model of deviance - social bonding and learning theories - to drug use among a representative sample of U.S. adolescents (12-17 years old). A structural equation model (SEM) was estimated across all subgroups (age, race, and gender) as well as the overall group. The relationships between exogenous variables (social bond and delinquent peer) and endogenous variables (delinquent peer and drug use) were significant and in the hypothesized direction for the overall group and for each subgroup. The results also showed some differences and similarities across demographic groups. The explained variance in substance use ranged from 0.27 to 0.48. Applications for future study are also discussed.
Technique to distinguish signal from statistical noise in PET imaging

The independent subset cross-comparison method (ISCC) subdivides a PET measurement into two or more statistically independent measurements, each of which is iteratively reconstructed in addition to the original data set. A lesion in the PET scan is expected to appear in the same position in each subset image, whereas statistical-noise artifacts are expected to appear in different places. The subset images are presented to a viewer for a comparison that involves the original image and the subset images. The ISCC method was tested in a PET/CT patient scan in which a known small hot spot was computationally inserted. ISCC correctly identified the inserted hot spot as a real object. The ISCC method was tested, using the formalism of localized receiver operating characteristics (LROC) with human observers who viewed 250 image sets from a mathematical simulation. This preliminary LROC analysis was ambiguous, not showing a clear advantage or disadvantage for the ISCC method. ISCC increased the observers' confidence in positive findings.
Crying and health: Popular and scientific conceptions

Abstract We summarize popular and pre-scientific conceptions of the relationship between crying, well-being and health, and we review the scientific literature on this topic. First, the focus is on whether crying brings relief and facilitates emotional recovery. Next, we discuss the evidence addressing whether crying or its chronic inhibition is associated with an increased risk of developing health problems. Finally, we address crying as a signal or symptom of disease. It is concluded that the question regarding whether crying brings relief has yielded seemingly contrasting findings, dependent on the design of the study. Concerning the second and third issues, there is a lack of sound studies. Little is known about the nature of the association between depression and crying. The evidence for a relationship between neurological disorders (in particular, stroke and multiple sclerosis) appears more convincing. There is also mainly anecdotal evidence of increased crying in a wide variety of health problems, which may reflect symptoms of disease, co-morbid depression, adjustment problems, or side effects of treatment. Some recent studies further suggest a positive effect of crying on health status in certain patient groups. More systematic and well-designed studies are needed to clarify the relationship between crying and health.
The Effect of Malaria and HIV Co-Infection on Anemia

AbstractMalaria and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are globally important public health concerns. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine the prevalence of malaria and HIV co-infections in people living in endemic countries, and (ii) to assess the effect of co-infection on anemia.Studies were searched on electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, Medline, Google Scholar, and African Journals Online. Observational studies, assessing the prevalence of co-infection and reporting its association with anemia, were included. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using a tool called the risk of bias assessment for non-randomized studies. Heterogeneity among studies was investigated with the I-square test. Pooled prevalence of the co-infection and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated using the random-effect model, reflected on heterogeneity among studies. Summary odds ratio (OR), summary standardized mean difference (SMD), and their corresponding 95% CIs were estimated, as appropriate. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were performed for robustness of results. Publication bias was assessed by visualization of a funnel plot.Twenty-three studies were included in the present study. Overall, the pooled prevalence of co-infection was 19% (95% CI: 15–23%, I2: 98.1%), showing 26% (95% CI: 20–32%, I2: 98.7%) in adults, 12% (95% CI: 7–17%, I2: 95.0) in pregnant women, and 9% (95% CI: 6–11%, I2: 68.6%) in children. Anemia was comparable between the monoinfected and co-infected adults (summary OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 0.93–2.37) and increased by 49% in co-infected pregnant women (summary OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.14–1.94). The mean hemoglobin concentration was significantly lower in the co-infected group than the monoinfected group (summary SMD: −0.47, 95% CI: −0.61 to −0.33). The results of meta-regression on the prevalence of co-infection using the publication year and total population as covariates showed the I2 value remained high implying a de facto random distribution of heterogeneity. An asymmetrical funnel plot indicated the presence of publication bias. Due to heterogeneity of the studies in this review, the results have to be interpreted with caution.The findings of this study suggest that the prevalence of malaria and HIV co-infection, particularly in pregnant women, requires special attention from healthcare personnel. Better understanding of the co-infection is crucial for designing treatment strategies. Future well-powered, prospective designs assessing the interaction between malaria and HIV are recommended.
Gain-scheduled static output feedback controller synthesis for discrete-time LPV systems

ABSTRACT This study is concerned with the problem of gain-scheduled static output feedback H∞ controller synthesis for discrete-time linear parameter varying systems. The scheduling parameters, which may affect all the system matrices, and their deviations are supposed to lie in a known hyper-rectangle. A design procedure is presented in terms of sequentially solving three parameter-dependent linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimisation problems. The parameter-dependent LMIs are solved through finite-dimensional LMI relaxations exploiting homogeneous polynomial matrices of arbitrary degree. One of the advantages of the new method lies in its less conservatism which is theoretically shown in comparison with some available approaches. By an iterative scheme, the performance of the method can be improved. Numerical examples reveal the effectiveness of the new method.
Prediction of antisense oligonucleotide Efficacy Using Aggregate motifs

Antisense oligonucleotide technology allows the targeted reduction of mRNA expression through the in vitro application of short (approximately 20 nt) DNA molecules. Oligonucleotides are valuable both in the study of gene regulation and for having potential therapeutic effects. In theory, a base sequence complementary to a region of the transcript would hybridize to its mRNA target. Nevertheless, in practice some complementary antisense oligonucleotides are more active and more potent than others in suppressing specific gene expression. We present a novel computational approach to modeling oligonucleotide efficacy that uses aggregate motifs, which are flexible tetramotifs that expand the predictive ability of the data descriptors and the attribute space. We also demonstrate our findings on the largest dataset yet reported in the literature. It was shown that the prediction accuracy was significantly enhanced, offering more than eightfold improvement compared to the traditional methods.
Pedestrian Detection Techniques using Sensor Fusion in Autonomous Vehicles

In the past decade, a lot of techniques have been continuously studied and applied in autonomous vehicles fields. For example, there are a few techniques such as Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), Advanced Smart Cruise Control (ASCC), Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) and Autonomous Emergency Braking system (AEB). In spite of the technical development, there are still the problems such as pedestrian accident. In this paper, we survey the previous techniques for pedestrian detection in autonomous vehicle. Furthermore, we introduce pros and cons of a camera, LIDAR and RADAR sensors, and explain the necessity of sensor fusion.
The development of the intratesticular excurrent duct system of donkey (Equus asinus) from birth to maturity

The testis of the donkey was completely descended into the scrotum around birth. It was covered by a thick tunica albuginea consisting of outer and inner fibrous layers in addition to middle vascular one. Discrete bundles of smooth muscle cells were demonstrated in the outer fibrous layer of the tunica albuginea. These cells give the tunica albuginea a contractile function, which may aid in sperm transport. The present study emphasized an irregular arrangement of the testicular lobules of the donkey during various stages of the postnatal life. Such arrangement does not allow some lobules to have direct contact with the mediastinum testis. The latter was located paraxially, toward the epididymal border and extended about two-thirds of the testicular length; it is thick at the head extremity and gradually faded out caudal wards. The connection between the seminiferous cords and the initial part of the straight tubules exhibited a sharp cut contact in neonates, but it demonstrated exfoliated supporting and germ cells, as well as crowded population of peritubular cells in suckling animals. In premature ones, the connection between the seminiferous tubules and straight testicular tubules was characterized by a peculiar structure appearance that attained more modification and development. This connection included two regions; terminal segment of the seminiferous tubule and a dilated initial part of the straight tubule. In mature stage, the terminal segment was composed of three regions with different cellular composition. The duct system of the donkey testis included the intralobular, interlobular, mediastinal and tunical segments in addition to the efferent ductules. From the seminiferous tubules to the efferent ductules, the lining epithelium was essentially the same in cellular composition; however these passages differed in size and configuration from region to another. Correspondence to: Hanan H. abdelhafeez,Assistant professor,Department of anatomy,Embryology and histology.Faculty of veterinary medicine, Assuit, Egypt, E-mail: hhmmzz91@gmail.com
Common Variants in CLDN2 and MORC4 Genes Confer Disease Susceptibility in Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis

A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified association with variants in X-linked CLDN2 and MORC4, and PRSS1-PRSS2 loci with chronic pancreatitis (CP) in North American patients of European ancestry. We selected 9 variants from the reported GWAS and replicated the association with CP in Indian patients by genotyping 1807 unrelated Indians of Indo-European ethnicity, including 519 patients with CP and 1288 controls. The etiology of CP was idiopathic in 83.62% and alcoholic in 16.38% of 519 patients. Our study confirmed a significant association of 2 variants in CLDN2 gene (rs4409525—OR 1.71, P = 1.38 x 10-09; rs12008279—OR 1.56, P = 1.53 x 10-04) and 2 variants in MORC4 gene (rs12688220—OR 1.72, P = 9.20 x 10-09; rs6622126—OR 1.75, P = 4.04x10-05) in Indian patients with CP. We also found significant association at PRSS1-PRSS2 locus (OR 0.60; P = 9.92 x 10-06) and SAMD12-TNFRSF11B (OR 0.49, 95% CI [0.31–0.78], P = 0.0027). A variant in the gene MORC4 (rs12688220) showed significant interaction with alcohol (OR for homozygous and heterozygous risk allele -14.62 and 1.51 respectively, P = 0.0068) suggesting gene-environment interaction. A combined analysis of the genes CLDN2 and MORC4 based on an effective risk allele score revealed a higher percentage of individuals homozygous for the risk allele in CP cases with 5.09 fold enhanced risk in individuals with 7 or more effective risk alleles compared with individuals with 3 or less risk alleles (P = 1.88 x 10-14). Genetic variants in CLDN2 and MORC4 genes were associated with CP in Indian patients.
Adiox ® for dioxin removal in wet scrubbers and semi-wet or dry absorbers

Adiox is a state-of-the-art dioxin removal technology that has established itself as a cost-effective way to reduce dioxin emissions to the atmosphere. Adiox is a construction material in which carbon particles are dispersed in a polymer such as polypropylene. Several types of components such as tower packings for wet scrubbers, demisters (droplet separators) and dry or semi-wet fixed bed fillings can be produced from Adiox material. The majority of the Adiox installations can be divided into three main categories: a) Adiox as police filter to reduce or eliminate the “memory effect” in scrubber systems with upstream dioxin removal in bag house filters. b) Adiox in combination with other dioxin removal technologies in order to improve the overall dioxin removal and increase the safety margins. c) Adiox as the primary dioxin removal system for meeting the EU waste incineration directive with an emission requirement of < 0.1 ng TEQ/m (n., d.g., 11% O2). At Mabjergvaerket in Denmark, wet Adiox scrubbers in combination with one electrostatic precipitator per line act as the main dioxin filter since the fall of 2004. The dioxin measurements carried out so far show stack concentrations far below the emission limit. If Adiox is employed in a dry absorber instead of a wet scrubber, the specific removal efficiency is higher, which leads to smaller equipment sizes. A full-scale dry absorber has been in operation at the Linkoping municipal waste incineration facility since the end of 2006. After use, Adiox can be incinerated, thereby destroying the dioxins.