Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of the Korean Version of Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI): Multi-center Study for Subjects with Stroke

Objective: To develop a Korean version of Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI) for subjects with stroke and to test the reliability and validity of K-MBI. Method: Six senior physiatrists translated the 5th version of MBI into K-MBI and we administered K-MBI to 30 subjects with stroke. Fifteen different examiners working at the 5 different university hospitals evaluated video-recorded examination cases independently to test the reliability and validity of K-MBI. We analyzed intra- and inter-rater reliabilities of the K-MBI by the Kendall's coefficient of concordance and Spearman's correlation coefficients, respectively. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used for assessing internal consistency of the K-MBI and Spearman's correlation between the K-MBI and Brunnstrom stage was employed to evaluate the validity of the K-MBI. Results: The intra-rater reliabilities of physiatrists, resident physicians of rehabilitation medicine and occupational therapists were 0.93∼1.00, 0.87∼0.99, and 0.97∼1.00 (p＜ 0.01), respectively. The inter-rater reliabilities were 0.93∼0.98 (p＜0.01) and Cronbach's alpha was 0.84 (p＜0.01) as the internal consistency reliability of K-MBI. For construct validation study, each item of K-MBI had significant correlation with total score of K-MBI (r=0.54∼0.78, p＜ 0.01). Conclusion: The K-MBI is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring functional status of subjects with stroke. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2007; 31: 283-297)
Host Plant and Thermal Stress Induce Supernumerary Instars in Caterpillars

Abstract Environmental stressors may induce variation in the number of larval instars of holometabolous insects. Host plant quality and ambient temperature can both induce this life history shift in the silver-spotted skipper, Epargyreus clarus (Cramer 1775) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). To better understand this phenomenon, we raised larvae on high-quality (kudzu) or low-quality (wisteria) host plants in growth chambers under three temperature regimes (20, 26, and 32°C) that were either constant or diurnally fluctuating (T ± 5°C), and recorded survival and incidence of supernumerary instars. Larvae feeding on the low-quality host and/or experiencing thermal stress were more likely to show supernumerary development (SD). A subset of treatments yielded a mix of SD and TD (typical development) individuals, allowing for comparisons between phenotypes. Under the most stressful treatment (20 ± 5°C, wisteria), development time was 9 days longer in SD than in TD individuals; by contrast, at typical summer temperatures (26 ± 5°C), also on wisteria, total development time did not differ between these two phenotypes. Head capsules of both second and third instars were smaller in SD individuals. A retrospective logistic regression analysis indicated that third-instar head capsule size could be used to predict expression of the SD phenotype. By the ultimate instar, however, there were no detectable differences in head capsule size, and SD and TD individuals did not differ in pupal mass, strongly suggesting that the SD phenotype functions as a compensatory mechanism allowing E. clarus larvae to achieve the same size at metamorphosis (a strong fitness correlate) asTD larvae.
Sample size issues in multilevel logistic regression models

Educational researchers, psychologists, social, epidemiological and medical scientists are often dealing with multilevel data. Sometimes, the response variable in multilevel data is categorical in nature and needs to be analyzed through Multilevel Logistic Regression Models. The main theme of this paper is to provide guidelines for the analysts to select an appropriate sample size while fitting multilevel logistic regression models for different threshold parameters and different estimation methods. Simulation studies have been performed to obtain optimum sample size for Penalized Quasi-likelihood (PQL) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) Methods of estimation. Our results suggest that Maximum Likelihood Method performs better than Penalized Quasi-likelihood Method and requires relatively small sample under chosen conditions. To achieve sufficient accuracy of fixed and random effects under ML method, we established ‘‘50/50” and ‘‘120/50” rule respectively. On the basis our findings, a ‘‘50/60” and ‘‘120/70” rules under PQL method of estimation have also been recommended.
A Genetic Screen To Identify Genes Influencing the Secondary Redox Couple NADPH/NADP+ in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

NADPH is an important cofactor in the cell. In addition to its role in the biosynthesis of critical metabolites, it plays crucial roles in the regeneration of the reduced forms of glutathione, thioredoxins and peroxiredoxins. The enzymes and pathways that regulate NADPH are thus extremely important to understand, and yet are only partially understood. We have been interested in understanding how NADPH fluxes are altered in the cell. We describe here both an assay and a genetic screen that allows one to discern changes in NADPH levels. The screen exploits the secondary redox property of NADPH. At low levels of glutathione we show that the redox contributions of NADPH become critical for growth, and we have used this to develop a genetic screen for genes affecting NADPH homeostasis. The screen was validated in pathways that both directly (pentose phosphate pathway) and indirectly (glycolytic pathway) affect NADPH levels, and was then exploited to identify mitochondrial genes that affect NADPH homeostasis. A total of 239 mitochondrial gene knockouts were assayed using this screen. Among these, several genes were predicted to play a role in NADPH homeostasis. This included several new genes of unknown function, and others of poorly defined function. We examined two of these genes, FMP40 which encodes a protein required during oxidative stress and GOR1, glyoxylate reductase. Our studies throw new light on these proteins that appear to be major consumers of NADPH in the cell. The genetic screen is thus predicted to be an exceedingly useful tool for investigating NADPH homeostasis.
Impact of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus on the Risk of Newly Diagnosed Hip Fracture: A General Population‐Based Study

Hip fractures have serious consequences, including a 1‐year mortality rate of 30%. Population‐based studies on hip fractures in individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are scarce. Our objective was to assess the independent risk of hip fractures in patients with newly diagnosed SLE compared to the general population, accounting for baseline and time‐varying confounders.
Impact of ATM rs1801516 on late skin reactions of radiotherapy for breast cancer: Evidences from a cohort study and a trial sequential meta-analysis

The relationship between the ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) rs1801516 gene polymorphism and risk of radiation-induced late skin side effects remains a highly debated issue. In the present study, we assessed the role of ATM rs1801516 as risk factor for radiation-induced fibrosis and telangiectasia, using the LENT-SOMA scoring scale in 285 breast cancer patients who received radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery. A systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) was then conducted to assess reliability of the accumulated evidence in breast cancer patients. In our cohort study, no association was found between ATM rs1801516 and grade ≥ 2 telangiectasia (GA+AA vs GG, HRadjusted: 0.699; 95%CI: 0.273–1.792, P = 0.459) or grade ≥ 2 fibrosis (GA+AA vs GG, HRadjusted: 1.175; 95%CI: 0.641–2.154, P = 0.604). Twelve independent cohorts of breast cancer patients were identified through the systematic review, of which 11 and 9 cohorts focused respectively on the association with radiation-induced fibrosis and radiation-induced telangiectasia. Pooled analyses of 10 (n = 2928 patients) and 12 (n = 2783) cohorts revealed, respectively, no association of ATM rs1801516 with radiation-induced telangiectasia (OR: 1.14; 95%CI: 0.88–1.48, P = 0.316) and a significant correlation with radiation-induced fibrosis (OR: 1.23; 95%CI: 1.00–1.51, P = 0.049), which however did not remain significant after TSA adjustment (TSA-adjusted 95%CI: 0.85–1.78). These results do not support an impact of ATM rs1801516 on late skin reactions of radiotherapy for breast cancer, nevertheless further large studies are still required for conclusive evidences.
Identification of Hub Genes Using Co-Expression Network Analysis in Breast Cancer as a Tool to Predict Different Stages

Background Breast cancer has a high mortality rate and is the most common cancer of women worldwide. Our gene co-expression network analysis identified the genes closely related to the pathological stage of breast cancer. Material/Methods We performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and performed pathway enrichment analysis on genes from significant modules. Results A non-metastatic sample (374) of breast cancer from GSE102484 was used to construct the gene co-expression network. All 49 hub genes have been shown to be upregulated, and 19 of the 49 hub genes are significantly upregulated in breast cancer tissue. The roles of the genes CASC5, CKAP2L, FAM83D, KIF18B, KIF23, SKA1, GINS1, CDCA5, and MCM6 in breast cancer are unclear, so in order to better reveal the staging of breast cancer markers, it is necessary to study those hub genes. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes indicated that 49 hub genes were enriched to sister chromatid cohesion, spindle midzone, microtubule motor activity, cell cycle, and something else. Additionally, there is an independent data set – GSE20685 – for module preservation analysis, survival analysis, and gene validation. Conclusions This study identified 49 hub genes that were associated with pathologic stage of breast cancer, 19 of which were significantly upregulated in breast cancer. Risk stratification, therapeutic decision making, and prognosis predication might be improved by our study results. This study provides new insights into biomarkers of breast cancer, which might influence the future direction of breast cancer research.
International Journal for Quality research

The EFQM Excellence Model is a framework that helps organizations to achieve competitive advantage by measuring where they are on their path to excellence. However, it does not tell the organization what to do or how it should manage any of these areas. In this study, we suggest a structure to overcome this gap. We present a method, matrix reflections, to find a tool set that can be used for designing improvement approaches in order to reach desired results.
Spray-to-Spray Collision Breakup of Ultra High Injection Pressure Diesel Fuel

Mixture formation is highly influenced by the atomization process of the fuel spray in a direct injection IC engine. Accordingly, the subsequent processes of ignition, combustion and pollutant formation are also affected by the jet breakup inside the chamber. In order to achieve higher levels of droplet atomization, ultra high injection pressures are utilized. The focus of this paper is on the collision breakup process provided by two interacting fuel jets. The first step is to simulate a single spray injected into an initially quiescent constant volume chamber using the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach. Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations, accompanied by the turbulence model, are solved using an Eulerian formulation of the continuous phase. The discrete droplet phase is treated using a Lagrangian formulation together with spray sub-models. Results are validated via experimental results available in the literature. The second step is to study the effect of incidence angle and separation distance of interacting sprays on the spray parameters like tip penetration and Sauter mean diameter (SMD). Spray tip penetration is redefined based on the temporal development of the tip of the merged spray. Injection pressures up to 300 MPa were applied to an ambient air pressure of 1.27 MPa.
A Phenolic Acid Decarboxylase-Based All-Enzyme Hydrogel for Flow Reactor Technology

Carrier-free enzyme immobilization techniques are an important development in the field of efficient and streamlined continuous synthetic processes using microreactors. Here, the use of monolithic, self-assembling all-enzyme hydrogels is expanded to phenolic acid decarboxylases. This provides access to the continuous flow production of p-hydroxystyrene from p-coumaric acid for more than 10 h with conversions ≥98% and space time yields of 57.7 g·(d·L)−1. Furthermore, modulation of the degree of crosslinking in the hydrogels resulted in a defined variation of the rheological behavior in terms of elasticity and mesh size of the corresponding materials. This work is addressing the demand of sustainable strategies for defunctionalization of renewable feedstocks.
A Novel Saliva-Based miRNA Signature for Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis

Salivary microRNAs (miRNAs) are of high interest as diagnostic biomarkers for non-oral cancer. However, little is known about their value for colorectal cancer (CRC) detection. Our study aims to characterize salivary miRNAs in order to identify non-invasive markers for CRC diagnosis. The screening of 754 miRNAs was performed in saliva samples from 14 CRC and 10 healthy controls. The differential expressed miRNAs were validated by RT-qPCR in 51 CRC, 19 adenomas and 37 healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression models were performed to analyze the clinical value of these miRNAs. Twenty-two salivary miRNAs were significantly deregulated in CRC patients vs. healthy individuals (p < 0.05) in the discovery phase. From those, five upregulated miRNAs (miR-186-5p, miR-29a-3p, miR-29c-3p, miR-766-3p, and miR-491-5p) were confirmed to be significantly higher in the CRC vs. healthy group (p < 0.05). This five-miRNA signature showed diagnostic value (72% sensitivity, 66.67% specificity, AUC = 0.754) to detect CRC, which was even higher in combination with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels. Overall, after the first global characterization of salivary miRNAs in CRC, a five-miRNA panel was identified as a promising tool to diagnose this malignancy, representing a novel approach to detect cancer-associated epigenetic alterations using a non-invasive strategy.
Preserving US microbe collections sparks future discoveries

Collections of micro‐organisms are a crucial element of life science research infrastructure but are vulnerable to loss and damage caused by natural or man‐made disasters, the untimely death or retirement of personnel, or the loss of research funding. Preservation of biological collections has risen in priority due to a new appreciation for discoveries linked to preserved specimens, emerging hurdles to international collecting and decreased funding for new collecting. While many historic collections have been lost, several have been preserved, some with dramatic rescue stories. Rescued microbes have been used for discoveries in areas of health, biotechnology and basic life science. Suggestions for long‐term planning for microbial stocks are listed, as well as inducements for long‐term preservation.
Mesoscale Simulations of pH-Responsive Amphiphilic Polymeric Micelles for Oral Drug Delivery

It is of great significance to study the structure property and self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymer in order to effectively and efficiently design and prepare drug delivery systems. In this work, dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation method was used to investigate the structure property and self-assembly ability of pH-responsive amphiphilic block copolymer poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid)-b-poly(aminoethyl methacrylate) (poly(MMA-co-MAA)-b-PAEMA). The effects of different block ratios (hydrophilic PAEMA segment and pH-sensitive PMAA segment) in copolymer on self-assembly and drug loading capacity including drug distribution were extensively investigated. The increase of hydrophilic PAEMA facilitated the formation of a typical core-shell structure as well as a hydrophobic PMAA segment. Furthermore, the optimal drug-carrier ratio was confirmed by an analysis of the drug distribution during the self-assembly process of block copolymer and model drug Ibuprofen (IBU). In addition, the drug distribution and nanostructure of IBU-loaded polymeric micelles (PMs) self-assembled from precise block copolymer (PMMA-b-PMAA-b-PAEMA) and block copolymer (poly(MMA-co-MAA)-b-PAEMA) with random pH-responsive/hydrophobic structure were evaluated, showing that almost all drug molecules were encapsulated into a core for a random copolymer compared to the analogue. The nanostructures of IBU-loaded PMs at different pH values were evaluated. The results displayed that the nanostructure was stable at pH < pKa and anomalous at pH > pKa which indicated drug release, suggesting that the PMs could be used in oral drug delivery. These findings proved that the amphiphilic block copolymer P(MMA30-co-MAA33)-b-PAEMA38 with random structure and pH-sensitivity might be a potential drug carrier. Moreover, DPD simulation shows potential to study the structure property of PMs self-assembled from amphiphilic block copolymer.
A Depth-Adaptive Waveform Decomposition Method for Airborne LiDAR Bathymetry

Airborne LiDAR bathymetry (ALB) has shown great potential in shallow water and coastal mapping. However, due to the variability of the waveforms, it is hard to detect the signals from the received waveforms with a single algorithm. This study proposed a depth-adaptive waveform decomposition method to fit the waveforms of different depths with different models. In the proposed method, waveforms are divided into two categories based on the water depth, labeled as “shallow water (SW)” and “deep water (DW)”. An empirical waveform model (EW) based on the calibration waveform is constructed for SW waveform decomposition which is more suitable than classical models, and an exponential function with second-order polynomial model (EFSP) is proposed for DW waveform decomposition which performs better than the quadrilateral model. In solving the model’s parameters, a trust region algorithm is introduced to improve the probability of convergence. The proposed method is tested on two field datasets and two simulated datasets to assess the accuracy of the water surface detected in the shallow water and water bottom detected in the deep water. The experimental results show that, compared with the traditional methods, the proposed method performs best, with a high signal detection rate (99.11% in shallow water and 74.64% in deep water), low RMSE (0.09 m for water surface and 0.11 m for water bottom) and wide bathymetric range (0.22 m to 40.49 m).
Does a Different Household Registration Affect Migrants’ Access to Basic Public Health Services in China?

On the basis of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey Data of 2015, the author provides an analysis of how a different household registration impacts migrants’ access to preventive care provided by public health services, such as health records and medical knowledge, in areas of immigration. This study shows that eliminating the distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural permanent residence registration could raise the rate of establishing health files, but it has no significant effect on migrants’ health knowledge. In fact, encouraging those with non-agricultural registration to move to different counties that belong to the same city or to different cities that belong to the same province can notably eliminate the impact of a different household registration status. Improving the income level of low-income migrants can have the same impact. Recommendations to enable migrants to obtain basic public health services include abolishing the separation of agricultural and non-agricultural household registration, increasing the permanent settlement rate of resident migrants, promoting basic medical security systems across the whole country, strengthening career training, and enhancing the education level of migrants.
Comparison of Automatic vs. Manual Language Identification in Multilingual Social Media Texts

Multilingual speakers communicate in more than one language in daily life and on social media. In order to process or investigate multilingual communication, there is a need for language identification. This study compares the performance of human annotators with automatic ways of language identification on a multilingual (mainly German-Italian-English) social media corpus collected in South Tyrol, Italy. Our results indicate that humans and Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems follow their individual techniques to make a decision about multilingual text messages. This results in low agreement when different annotators or NLP systems execute the same task. In general, annotators agree with each other more than NLP systems. However, there is also variation in human agreement depending on the prior establishment of guidelines for the annotation task or not.
Competition and Banking Efficiency: Evidence from Tunisian Banking Industry

A growing body of literature argues that competition increases banking efficiency. Using large datasets for Tunisians banks, we offer new empirical evidence of this causal relationship over the period 1990 to 2009. We use a three pronged approach. First, we use concentration tests to assess the level of competition in the Tunisian banking industry. Second, we estimate the level of efficiency of these banks using the stochastic frontier approach. Building on these results, and to check for robustness of our findings, we estimate several specifications to examine the relationship between competition and efficiency. The Tunisian banking system shows a high competition with an increasing tendency for all specifications and approaches. The study also provides evidence for an increasing efficiency mainly for private banks. The empirical results show that efficiency and competition go hand in hand within the Tunisian banking industry. Finally, the study findings show robust support to suggest that private banks display a better efficiency than state owned ones.
Load Balancing Dynamic Source Routing Protocol Based on Multi-Path Routing

A HWMP improved routing protocol (HWMMRP) is proposed in this paper. The protocol adopts the integrated link state routing criterion algorithm LCCM providing small overhead, with factors such as bandwidth, queue length and noise interference fully considered. In order to solve the problem of the tree routing mechanism being easily congested at the root node, a multi-path multi-gateway shunting mechanism is applied. A multipath routing mechanism is also incorporated in the reactive routing mode. Both the new criteria and the protocol are simulated in the NS-2 environment, and are compared with comparable protocols. The experimental results show that our protocol can effectively avoid node congestion, and provides a better dynamic load balancing capability as well as a better performance than the standard HWMP and AODV protocols.
Abundance and distribution of the multi-functional root associated fungus

Meliniomyces variabilis Hambleton and Sigler is a fungal partner of the Ericaceae, forming ericoid mycorrhizal symbioses, and a member of the Rhizoscyphus Ericae Species aggregate. M. variabilis has been isolated from a range of non-ericaceous boreal plants where it has been observed to colonize roots endophytically. The present study derives species specific PCR primers to isolate M. variabilis from field samples of plant roots to investigate the host range of M. variabilis. Real-time PCR was utilized on samples from two sites to study factors that affect the abundance and distribution of M. variabilis on the host plants Kalmia polifolia and Picea mariana. This analysis expanded the host range of plants colonized by M. variabilis by five species, and one family. The above-ground plant community plays a significant factor in determining the host choice of M. variabilis by influencing it to either colonize a primary Ericaceous host or an alternate host. Date: April 14 nd , 2016