Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Ultrasonography as a diagnostic tool in cases of quadriceps tendon rupture].

AIM Determination of the reliability of ultrasonography as a diagnostic tool for rupture of the quadriceps tendon and for follow-up after surgical repair. METHOD 11 patients (12 tendons) with a clinical suspicion of quadriceps tendon rupture were studied with ultrasonography in two planes. RESULTS In 9 cases we were able to confirm the results of the clinical examination using ultrasonography. In 2 cases we did not find a rupture of the quadriceps tendons ultrasonographically. Within the postoperative follow-up, the homogeneity and echogeneity normalised after the sixth week. CONCLUSION Using ultrasonography we are able to clearly diagnose ruptures of the quadriceps tendon and objectively assess the postoperative follow-up.
Spinal direct current stimulation modulates the activity of gracile nucleus and primary somatosensory cortex in anaesthetized rats

Non‐Technical Summary Stimulation of the human brain with direct current is a simple but effective neuromodulation technique that is becoming increasingly popular due to its potentiality for non‐invasively treating a variety of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Recently, this neuromodulation technique has been extended to the stimulation of the human spinal cord. Here we investigated the mechanisms of action of spinal direct current stimulation (sDCS) in anaesthetized rats. We found that sDCS can selectively modulate the spontaneous activity entering the brain through the spinal cord via the somatosensory system, consequently modulating both the internal state of the brain and its responsiveness to external somatosensory stimuli. These findings have at least two levels of significance: from a physiological perspective, they remark on the importance of the spinal cord in regulating the state of the brain; from a clinical perspective, they offer a mechanistic rationale for the development of sDCS as an effective bottom‐up neuromodulation technique.
RNA polymerase II transcriptional fidelity control and its functional interplay with DNA modifications

Abstract Accurate genetic information transfer is essential for life. As a key enzyme involved in the first step of gene expression, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) must maintain high transcriptional fidelity while it reads along DNA template and synthesizes RNA transcript in a stepwise manner during transcription elongation. DNA lesions or modifications may lead to significant changes in transcriptional fidelity or transcription elongation dynamics. In this review, we will summarize recent progress toward understanding the molecular basis of RNA Pol II transcriptional fidelity control and impacts of DNA lesions and modifications on Pol II transcription elongation.
Comparison of Early Maladaptive Schemas in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder with Healthy Individuals

Objective: Early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) fundamental beliefs that underpin stable and trait-like psychological disorders are chronic and relapsing. In our research, active schemas in Obssessive-Compulsive patients with Obssessive Compulsive Pesrsonality patients have been compared with healthy individuals.The purpose of this study was to compare early maladaptive schemas Young (2003, 1990) in OCD patients with OCPD patients and healthy subjects. Method: For this study, 38 patients with Obssessive Compulsive disorder and 44 patients with Obssessive Compulsive Personality disorder during the year who referred to medical centers and clinics in Kermanshah city were selected through structured interviews and the Yele Braown Obssessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), and 63 patients from diagnosis for mild problems who referred to the clinic were considered as controls. 15 early maladaptive schemas through Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF) were measured. Results: Analysis of variance showed that maladaptive schemas are different in the three groups. All maladaptive schemas except Self-sacrifice, and insufficient self-control in both group of patients were significantly higher than in healthy individuals. The results indicate that differences between individuals with obssessive-compulsive disorder and healthy control in schemas of emotional deprivation, mistrust, social isolation, Failure to achieve, Dependence, Vulnerability to harm, Subjugation, Emotional inhibition, and Unrelenting standards were statistically significant. The obssessive compulsive personality disorder group significantly obtained higher scores than the obssessive compulsive disorder group in 13 schemes. Also the obssessive compulsive personality disorder group obtained higher scores compared to the healthy control group in the total score of schemas. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that, in the OCD and OCPD patients, all maladaptive schemas except Self-sacrifice, and insufficient self-control indicated higher scores. The effect size in this study shows that in both disorders schemas and schemas of vulnerability to harm and illness to have the greatest impact. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015. v6n4s2p171
Closed Loop Control of Renewable Source Fed Asymmetrical PWM Full Bridge Converter

This paper presented a closed loop control of asymmetrical PWM full bridge converter; Renewable energy and distributed generation are getting more and more popular, wind turbines, and fuel cells. The renewable energy sources need the power electronics interface to the utility grid because of different characteristics between the sources and the grid. No matter what renewable energy source is utilized, extended voltage and power output, less maintenance and higher fault tolerance, the asymmetrical PWM full bridge converter are good, for utility interface of various renewable energy sources. This dissertation proposes a new PWM converter topology and control scheme. Compared to traditional converter, they have enhanced system reliability to no shoot-through problems and lower switching loss with the help of using power closed loop control. The closed loop control, it theoretically eliminates the inherent current zero-crossing distortion of the single-unit asymmetrical type PWM full bridge converter. In addition, the closed loop control can greatly reduce the ripple current or cut down the size of passive components by increasing the equivalent switching frequency. An asymmetrical full bridge PWM technique is proposed for closed loop control of renewable energy sources. The proposed approach is to cut down the switching loss of power control. At the same time, this PWM full bridge leads to current ripple reduction, and thus reducing ripple-related loss in filter components. PWM with feedback controlling is employed for the voltage control of the system. A power management system is designed for the proposed system to manage power flow among different sources.
Influence of two plant extracts derived from thyme and cinnamon on broiler performance.

This study was conducted to explore the use of essential oil (EO) in broiler nutrition as a natural growth promoter. Different levels of EO derived from thyme and cinnamon were added to a standard diet to determine its effects on feed intake, live weight gain, feed conversion ratio and blood constituents. Three hundred day-old broiler chicks (Arbor-Acres) were divided into five equal groups and treated as follows: No EO (control group), 100 ppm EO derived from thyme (group 2), 200 ppm EO derived from thyme (group 3), 100 ppm EO derived from cinnamon (group 4) and 200 ppm EO derived from cinnamon (group 5). The diets were prepared freshly each day. Experiments were carried out for 42 days. Results showed that chicks fed with 200 ppm EO derived from thyme and cinnamon had significantly higher (P<0.05) feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio, followed by chicks fed with 100 ppm EO derived from thyme and cinnamon compared with control group, which showed the lowest performance. Moreover, the chicks fed with ration containing EO derived from thyme and cinnamon had reduced (P<0.05) serum cholesterol. The total proteins increased significantly (P<0.05) for the groups consuming 200 ppm EO derived from thyme and cinnamon. In conclusion, EO could be considered as a potential natural growth promoter for poultry at the level of 200 ppm, depending on the kind of EO derived from herbal plants.
Ulex Europaeus Agglutinin-1 Is a Reliable Taste Bud Marker for In Situ Hybridization Analyses

Taste signals are received by taste buds. To better understand the taste reception system, expression patterns of taste-related molecules are determined by in situ hybridization (ISH) analyses at the histological level. Nevertheless, even though ISH is essential for determining mRNA expression, few taste bud markers can be applied together with ISH. Ulex europaeus agglutinin-1 (UEA-1) appears to be a reliable murine taste bud marker based on immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses. However, there is no evidence as to whether UEA-1 can be used for ISH. Thus, the present study evaluated UEA-1 using various histochemical methods, especially ISH. When lectin staining was performed after ISH procedures, UEA-1 clearly labeled taste cellular membranes and distinctly indicated boundaries between taste buds and the surrounding epithelial cells. Additionally, UEA-1 was determined as a taste bud marker not only when used in single-colored ISH but also when employed with double-labeled ISH or during simultaneous detection using IHC and ISH methods. These results suggest that UEA-1 is a useful marker when conducting analyses based on ISH methods. To clarify UEA-1 staining details, multi-fluorescent IHC (together with UEA-1 staining) was examined, resulting in more than 99% of cells being labeled by UEA-1 and overlapping with KCNQ1-expressing cells.
Sex Differences in the Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament, Medial Collateral Ligament, and Meniscal Injuries in Collegiate and High School Sports

Background: Previous research has noted sex-based differences in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury rates in young athletes, while little is known about medial collateral ligament (MCL) and meniscal injury rates in this population. The objective of this study was to compare injury rates for traumatic knee injuries (ie, ACL, MCL, and meniscal injuries) in collegiate and high school (HS) varsity student-athletes across multiple sports. Hypothesis: Knee injury rates vary by sex and across different sports and levels of competition. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Injury and athlete-exposure data were utilized from the National Athletic Treatment, Injury and Outcomes Network (NATION) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) during the 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 academic years. Analyses focused on ACL, MCL, and meniscal injuries. Injury rates and injury rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% CIs were calculated for basketball, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and baseball/softball. Results: The ACL injury rate was higher for female than male athletes at the collegiate (IRR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.81-3.41) and HS (IRR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.67-3.18) levels. At the collegiate level, the highest ACL IRR comparing female to male athletes was reported in softball/baseball (IRR, 6.61; 95% CI, 1.48-29.55). At the HS level, the highest ACL IRR was reported in basketball (IRR, 3.68; 95% CI, 1.91-7.10). The MCL injury rate was higher for female than male athletes at the HS level (IRR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.25-3.56) but lower for female than male athletes at the collegiate level (IRR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.59-0.92). The meniscal injury rate was lower for female than male athletes at the HS level (IRR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.31-0.71), while no differences by sex were seen at the collegiate level (IRR, 1.35; 95% CI, 0.90-2.02). Conclusion: Knee injury rates varied by sex across 5 different sports in the HS and collegiate settings. Female athletes sustained ACL injuries at a higher rate than male athletes at both the HS and collegiate levels in these 5 sports; however, there was not a distinct sex disparity in MCL and meniscal injuries. Future studies should examine the rates of concomitant and recurrent injuries to inform injury prevention and rehabilitation programs.
Current statistical model based on maximum entropy fuzzy clustering

In the view of the unfitness to the actual maneuver of targets that a fixed maneuvering frequency used in the current statistical model. Firstly, predicted measurements of special maneuvering frequency are clustered with the aid of maximum entropy fuzzy clustering. Then, the estimated means and covariance of the state are mixed by utilizing the fuzzy membership degree of the predicted measurements. Unscented kalman filter is employed to solving the nonlinearity of the measurement equations. Simulation results show that the proposed method has higher accuracy than some existing methods based on the current statistical model in the estimation.
Ethylene Rapidly Up-Regulates the Activities of Both Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins and Protein Kinase(s) in Epicotyls of Pea1

It is demonstrated that, in etiolated pea (Pisum sativum) epicotyls, ethylene affects the activation of both monomeric GTP-binding proteins (monomeric G-proteins) and protein kinases. For monomeric G-proteins, the effect may be a rapid (2 min) and bimodal up-regulation, a transiently unimodal activation, or a transient down-regulation. Pretreatment with 1-methylcyclopropene abolishes the response to ethylene overall. Immunoprecipitation studies indicate that some of the monomeric G-proteins affected may be of the Rab class. Protein kinase activity is rapidly up-regulated by ethylene, the effect is inhibited by 1-methylcyclopropene, and the activation is bimodal. Immunoprecipitation indicates that the kinase(s) are of the MAP kinase ERK1 group. It is proposed that the data support the hypothesis that a transduction chain exists that is separate and antagonistic to that currently revealed by studies on Arabidopsis mutants.
Community-based dietary phytate reduction and its effect on iron status in Malawian children

Abstract This study describes a community-based method used in rural Malawi to remove dietary phytate, an inhibitor of iron absorption, and notes an improvement in the iron status of ten children who participated in the trial. Phytate was removed by soaking maize flour in excess water with phytase and decanting the water before cooking the flour. Iron status, as measured by soluble transferrin receptor and zinc protoporphyrin, was improved but not normal.
Point of care diagnostics for sexually transmitted infections: perspectives and advances

Accurate and inexpensive point-of-care (POC) tests are urgently needed to control sexually transmitted infection epidemics, so that patients can receive immediate diagnoses and treatment. Current POC assays for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae perform inadequately and require better assays. Diagnostics for Trichomonas vaginalis rely on wet preparation, with some notable advances. Serological POC assays for syphilis can impact resource-poor settings, with many assays available, but only one available in the U.S. HIV POC diagnostics demonstrate the best performance, with excellent assays available. There is a rapid assay for HSV lesion detection; but no POC serological assays are available. Despite the inadequacy of POC assays for treatable bacterial infections, application of technological advances offers the promise of advancing POC diagnostics for all sexually transmitted infections.
Securing Provenance of Distributed Processes in an Untrusted Environment

Recently, there is much concern about the provenance of distributed processes, that is about the documentation of the origin and the processes to produce an object in a distributed system. The provenance has many applications in the forms of medical records, documentation of processes in the computer systems, recording the origin of data in the cloud, and also documentation of human-executed processes. The provenance of distributed processes can be modeled by a directed acyclic graph (DAG) where each node represents an entity, and an edge represents the origin and causal relationship between entities. Without sufficient security mechanisms, the provenance graph suffers from integrity and confidentiality problems, for example changes or deletions of the correct nodes, additions of fake nodes and edges, and unauthorized accesses to the sensitive nodes and edges. In this paper, we propose an integrity mechanism for provenance graph using the digital signature involving three parties: the process executors who are responsible in the nodes’ creation, a provenance owner that records the nodes to the provenance store, and a trusted party that we call the Trusted Counter Server (TCS) that records the number of nodes stored by the provenance owner. We show that the mechanism can detect the integrity problem in the provenance graph, namely unauthorized and malicious “authorized” updates even if all the parties, except the TCS, collude to update the provenance. In this scheme, the TCS only needs a very minimal storage (linear with the number of the provenance owners). To protect the confidentiality and for an efficient access control administration, we propose a method to encrypt the provenance graph that allows access by paths and compartments in the provenance graph. We argue that encryption is important as a mechanism to protect the provenance data stored in an untrusted environment. We analyze the security of the integrity mechanism, and perform experiments to measure the performance of both mechanisms. key words: provenance security, access control model, database encryption
lassical and fuzzy-genetic autopilot design for unmanned aerial vehicles

In this paper, an efficient strategy is proposed to design the altitude hold mode autopilot for a UAV which is non-minimum phase, and its model includes both parametric uncertainties and unmodeled nonlinear dynamics. This work has been motivated by the challenge of developing and implementing an autopilot that is robust with respect to these uncertainties. By combination of classic controller as the principal section of the autopilot and the fuzzy logic controller to increase the robustness in a single loop scheme, it is tried to exploit both methods advantages. The multi-objective genetic algorithm is used to mechanize the optimal determination of fuzzy logic controller parameters based on an efficient cost function utopilot AV enetic algorithm uzzy logic control onlinear dynamic that comprises undershoot, overshoot, rise time, settling time, steady state error and stability. Simulation results show that the proposed strategy performances are desirable in terms of the time response characteristics for both phugoid mode and short period mode, the robustness, and the adaptation of itself with respect to the large commands. obustness on-minimum phase ncertainty
Place of Death: Trends Over the Course of a Decade: A Population-Based Study of Death Certificates From the Years 2001 and 2011.

BACKGROUND In Germany, data on place of death is recorded from death certificates, but not further analyzed. Consequently, hardly any information is available at the population level regarding the distribution of place of death (e.g. home, hospital, palliative care unit, nursing home, hospice). METHODS We carried out a descriptive statistical analysis of the registered places of death in evaluated death certificates from selected areas of Westphalia-Lippe for the years 2001 and 2011. Factors affecting the place of death were determined with binary multivariate regression. RESULTS We analyzed 24 009 death certificates (11 585 for 2001 and 12 424 for 2011). The distribution of places of death for the overall population was as follows (2001 vs. 2011): at home, 27.5% vs. 23.0% (p<0.001); in the hospital, 57.6% vs. 51.2% (p<0.001); on a palliative care unit, 0.0% vs. 1.0%, in a care or nursing home, 12.2% vs. 19.0% (p<0.001); in a hospice, 2.0% vs. 4.6% (p<0.001); elsewhere, 0.6% vs. 0.6% (p = 0.985); not indicated, 0.1% vs. 0.6% (p<0.001). Independent factors affecting the place of death were age, sex, place of residence, and the presence of cancer or of dementia. CONCLUSION Most people in Germany die in institutions; the most common place of death is still the hospital, where more than half of all deaths take place. Only one death in four occurs at home. There is a marked secular trend away from dying at home or in the hospital, in favor of dying in a care or nursing home; death in palliative care units and hospices is also becoming more common.
Subthalamic stimulation in Parkinson disease: a multidisciplinary approach.

BACKGROUND High-frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus constitutes a therapeutic advance for severely disabled patients with Parkinson disease. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of continuous bilateral high-frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in patients with Parkinson disease. DESIGN A prospective study of patients with Parkinson disease treated at a university hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS Electrodes were implanted bilaterally in the subthalamic nucleus of 23 consecutive patients with Parkinson disease who responded well to levodopa but had severe motor complications. There were 16 men and 7 women (mean +/- SEM age, 53 +/- 2 years) who had a mean +/- SEM disease duration of 14.7 +/- 1.0 years. Targets were determined by 3-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging, combined with intraoperative electrophysiologic recordings and stimulation. RESULTS Six months after surgery, motor disability, levodopa-induced motor fluctuations, dyskinesias, and the daily dose of levodopa equivalent decreased significantly by 67%, 78%, 77%, and 61%, respectively, compared with the preoperative state. No significant morbidity was observed, except transient depression in 4 patients. CONCLUSIONS The beneficial effects of subthalamic stimulation depend on (1) the criteria used for patient selection, (2) the precision with which the subthalamic nucleus is targeted (dependent on the 3-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging and the intraoperative electrophysiologic and clinical assessments), and (3) the long-term postoperative adjustment of stimulation variables.
Quantized H∞ filter design for networked systems with random sensor delays

This paper considers the quantized H<inf>∞</inf> filtering problem of networked systems with random sensor delays. A quantized random delay model is adopted to study the relationship of the communication delay, quantization and the system performance. The resulting design guarantees that the error system exponentially mean-square stable and with a prescribed H<inf>∞</inf> performance bound. A numerical example is given to illustrated the effectiveness of the proposed H<inf>∞</inf> filtering strategy.
Pancreatic (cid:1) -Cell Lipoprotein Lipase Independently Regulates Islet Glucose Metabolism and Normal Insulin Secretion*

Lipid and glucose metabolism are adversely affected by diabetes, a disease characterized by pancreatic (cid:1) -cell dysfunction. To clarify the role of lipids in insulin secretion, we generated mice with (cid:1) -cell-specific overexpression ( (cid:1) LPL-TG) or inactivation ( (cid:1) LPL-KO) of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), a physiologic provider of fatty acids. LPL enzyme activity and triglyceride content were increased in (cid:1) LPL-TG islets; decreased LPL enzyme activity in (cid:1) LPL-KO islets did not affect islet triglyceride content. Surprisingly, both (cid:1) LPL-TG and (cid:1) LPL-KO mice were strikingly hyperglycemic during glucose tolerance testing. Impaired glucose tolerance in (cid:1) LPL-KO mice was present at one month of age, whereas (cid:1) LPL-TG mice did not develop defective glucose homeostasis until ap-proximately five months of age. Glucose-simulated insulin secretion was impaired in islets isolated from both mouse models. Glucose oxidation, critical for ATP production and