Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Shared and Independent Associations of Psychosocial Factors on Work Status Among Men With Subacute Low Back Pain

ObjectivesPsychosocial variables are acknowledged predictors of back disability, but multivariate studies are needed to understand their independent and overlapping effects. The objective of this prospective cohort study was to evaluate independent and shared associations of psychosocial variables on work status after first onset of low back pain (LBP) in working men. MethodsOne hundred forty male military personnel reporting subacute, first onset LBP (2 mo average duration) completed an interview-based and survey-based psychosocial assessment within the domains of job satisfaction, stress and coping, pain perceptions and beliefs, perceived functional disability, and mood disturbance. Work status was assessed at baseline, 6 and 12-month postpain onset. ResultsIn logistic regression analyses at baseline, work status was associated with pain interference and perceptions of physical impairment. Beyond 2 months, the extent to which pain was believed to interfere with function was the only significant predictor of subsequent changes in work status. Job dissatisfaction was associated with more impaired work status, but not after controlling for income. Depressive and anxious mood symptoms were prevalent but failed to explain additional variance in work status. DiscussionAfter first onset of men with subacute LBP, self-reported pain intensity and functional limitation account for most of the variance in work status explained by psychosocial factors; however, the resulting disability can be accompanied by mild to moderate mood symptoms. This suggests that interventions to improve function, if commenced early in the course of subacute pain, might prevent work disability.
A characteristic destabilization profile in parent-child interactions associated with treatment efficacy for aggressive children.

This study examined profiles of change in repeated mother-child interactions over the course of a 12 week treatment period for childhood aggression. The aim of this study was to investigate whether it was possible to detect the characteristic profile of change, typical for phase transitions, over the course of treatment, and whether this profile was associated with positive treatment outcomes. Entropy values were computed for six repeated real-time observations of each mother-child dyad, using a novel application of recurrence quantification analysis for categorical time series. Subsequent latent class growth curve analysis on the sequences of entropy values revealed two distinct classes of dyads, with one class showing a clear peak in entropy over the six measurement points. The latent class membership variables showed a significant systematic relationship with observed dyad improvement (as rated by clinicians). The class with the peak in entropy over the sessions consisted largely of treatment improvers. Further analysis revealed that improvers and non-improvers could not be distinguished based on content-specific changes (e.g. more positivity or less negativity during the interaction). The present study revealed a treatment-related destabilization pattern in real-time behaviors that was related to better treatment outcomes, and underlines the value of dynamic nonlinear time-series analysis (especially RQA) in the study of dyadic interactions in clinical contexts.
In Vivo and In Vitro Antimalarial Properties of Azithromycin-Chloroquine Combinations That Include the Resistance Reversal Agent Amlodipine

ABSTRACT Evidence of emerging Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapies, documented in western Cambodia, underscores the continuing need to identify new antimalarial combinations. Given recent reports of the resurgence of chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum parasites in Malawi, after the enforced and prolonged withdrawal of this drug, and indications of a possible synergistic interaction with the macrolide azithromycin, we sought to further characterize chloroquine-azithromycin combinations for their in vitro and in vivo antimalarial properties. In vitro 96-h susceptibility testing of chloroquine-azithromycin combinations showed mostly additive interactions against freshly cultured P. falciparum field isolates obtained from Mali. Some evidence of synergy, however, was apparent at the fractional 90% inhibitory concentration level. Additional in vitro testing highlighted the resistance reversal properties of amlodipine for both chloroquine and quinine. In vivo experiments, using the Peters 4-day suppressive test in a P. yoelii mouse model, revealed up to 99.9% suppression of parasitemia following treatment with chloroquine-azithromycin plus the R enantiomer of amlodipine. This enantiomer was chosen because it does not manifest the cardiac toxicities observed with the racemic mixture. Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analyses in this rodent model and subsequent extrapolation to a 65-kg adult led to the estimation that 1.8 g daily of R-amlodipine would be required to achieve similar efficacy in humans, for whom this is likely an unsafe dose. While these data discount amlodipine as an additional partner for chloroquine-based combination therapy, our studies continue to support azithromycin as a safe and effective addition to antimalarial combination therapies.
Influence of inter-quantum-well coulomb interaction on gain spectra of InGaN/GaN MQW structures

Semiconductor quantum well structures based on InGaN/GaN materials are characterized by the piezoelectric and spontaneous polarizations. At high level of excitations, fields caused by the polarizations are screened by carriers confined in quantum wells. In our work, we consider additional effect in multiple-quantum wells caused by Coulomb interactions of carriers positioned in neighboring quantum wells. It is shown that inter-quantum-well Coulomb interactions effects on absorption/gain spectra. It is shown that the double-quantum-well InGaN/GaN structure is characterized by reducing of the optical gain due to inter-quantum-well Coulomb interactions.
Characterization of the tuberculous granuloma in murine and human lungs: cellular composition and relative tissue oxygen tension

The granulomatous reaction is the hallmark of the host response to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite its apparent importance to host defence against the tubercle bacillus, the granulomatous response remains to be completely defined. The present study used histological, immunohistochemical and flow‐cytometric analyses to characterize pulmonic granulomatous tissues of tuberculous mice and humans. The kinetics of recruitment of neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells, and T and B lymphocytes into the lungs of mice infected aerogenically with the virulent Erdman strain of M. tuberculosis was evaluated in detail in both the acute and persistent phase of infection. A hypoxia‐sensing compound based on the 2‐nitroimidazole structure (EF5), together with immunohistochemical studies targeting endothelial cells were used to examine the relative oxygen tension in tuberculous granulomatous tissues in mice. The results have provided evidence that: (i) the granulomatous tissues are a highly organized structure whose formation is regulated by orderly recruitment of specific immune cells exhibiting distinct spatial relationship with one another; (ii) the granulomatous reaction, at least in the mouse, may represent an exaggerated response to the tubercle bacillus that can play a role in the development of immunopathology; (iii) B lymphoid aggregates are a prominent feature in both murine and human granulomatous tissues, although the immune cells that are most prominently associated with these clusters vary among the two species; (iv) murine tuberculous granulomatous tissues are relatively aerobic, suggesting that mouse models of persistent tuberculosis may not be suitable for the study of any hypoxic response of M. tuberculosis.
Spin waves and Quantum Phase Transitions in the near 1 D Ising system CoCl 2 ∙ D 2 O Bachelor Project

In this project we have studied quantum phase transitions and spin waves as well as the magnetic ordering temperature for the CoCl2· 2D2O crystal using neutron scattering and susceptibility measurements, respectively. The crystal is chosen for its Ising like behaviour. We used the FLEXX instrument at BENSC to measure spin waves and the quantum critical point. We found the critical field to be 16.10 ± 0.10 T, in good agreement with the value known from susceptibility measurements. We tried to determine the ordering temperature by fabricating an AC-Susceptometer. We did observe some signal deviation at the expected temperature, 17.5 K, but due to noise and unexpected background behaviour, the whole experimental setup requires improvements before this result is reliable. We finish of by evaluating the issues faced, assess the results and give our take on future improvements regarding both experiments. Resume I dette projekt har vi ved hjælp af hhv. neutronspredning og susceptibilitetsm̊alinger undersøgt spinbølger og kvantefase overgange samt ordningstemperaturen for krystallet CoCl2· 2D2O. Dette krystal er valgt pga. dens Ising lignende egenskaber. Vi har i Berlin ved BENSC m̊alt det kvante kritiske punkt til 16.10 ± 0.10 T med instrumentet FLEXX i god overensstemmelse med det kritiske felt bestemt ved susceptibilitetsm̊alinger. Vi har forsøgt at bestemme ordningstemperaturen ved at fremstille et AC susceptometer. Vi observered nogle anormaliter ved den forventede ordingstemperatur, 17.5 K men grundet støj og uventede baggrundssignal kræver opstillingen flere forbedringer før resultatet er troværdigt. Vi slutter opgaven af med evaluering af problemerne, vurdering af resultaterne samt et bud p̊a mulige forbedringer ved begge forsøg.
The MDR phenotype is associated with the expression of COX‐2 and iNOS in a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line

The presence of multiple drug resistance (MDR1) and angiogenic phenotypes negatively affect patients' prognosis with cancer even when treated with drugs that are not transported by the MDR1 gene product. It is possible to suggest a link between the MDR1 and angiogenic phenotypes. Because prostaglandins (PGs) and nitric oxide (NO) have been proposed to be involved in angiogenesis in vivo, the production of PGs and NO and the behavior of inducible NO synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase 1 (COX‐1), and inducible cyclooxygenase (COX‐2) were studied in parental drug‐sensitive (P5) liver cancer cell lines and in P5‐derived MDR1 cells P1(0.5). Immunohistochemical evaluation, Northern and Western blot analysis of COX‐2 and iNOS, and assessment of cell proliferation were performed in basal conditions and after the exposure to stimulants or to specific inhibitors of COX‐2 and iNOS. The messenger RNA and protein levels of COX‐2 and iNOS were in basal conditions higher in P1(0.5) cells than the parental P5 cells. The exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or epidermal growth factor (EGF) determined an increase of PG and NO production in both cell lines and this increase was strongly reduced by COX‐2 inhibitors such as celecoxib (CLX) and nimesulide (NIME). The inhibition of NO production by COX‐2 inhibitors suggests cross‐talk between COX‐2 and iNOS pathways. CLX and NIME also inhibited cell proliferation, but only in MDR1 cells. A specific inhibitor of iNOS, N6‐(1‐iminoethyl)‐L‐lysine, had only a mild effect on cell proliferation in both cell lines. In conclusion, these data support the hypothesis that the MDR1 and angiogenic phenotypes are linked to each other in human liver cancer cell lines.
Tele-Robotic Distributed Architecture for Sewer Exploration

An integrated distributed computing system for industrial tele-robotic tasks is discussed. Three main aspects are in focus: the architecture of the (network distributed computing system) on-board the robots, the tele-robotics assistance scheme in sewer exploration applications, and the robotic platforms. In this manuscript we present a focus in parallel hardware as the key issue to improve robot's tasks capabilities. The design of the robotic architecture for real world applications is in great extent a main concern to achieve a high robot's performance. The effectiveness and reliability critically depends on the presented distributed architecture and multi-sensor organization. Real results on tele-robotics environmental data collection are presented, as well as the tele-assistance proposed scheme.
Pain Treatment and Recovery After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

Objectives/Hypothesis: Early recovery and pain management after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) are largely unexplored regardless of the large number of ESSs performed by otorhinolaryngologists. In the present study, we evaluated whether scheduled administration of acetaminophen (paracetamol) for pain management after ESS would allow faster recovery to normal daily activities compared with acetaminophen administered on an as needed basis.
Temperature Measurement of Power Semiconductor Devices by Thermo-Sensitive Electrical Parameters—A Review

This paper proposes a synthesis of different electrical methods used to estimate the temperature of power semiconductor devices. The following measurement methods are introduced: the voltage under low current levels, the threshold voltage, the voltage under high current levels, the gate-emitter voltage, the saturation current, and the switching times. All these methods are then compared in terms of sensitivity, linearity, accuracy, genericity, calibration needs, and possibility of characterizing the thermal impedance or the temperature during the operation of the converter. The measurement of thermo-sensitive parameters of wide bandgap semiconductors is also discussed.
RAPID METHODS FOR THE DETECTION OF MOTILITY

When small tubes (75 by 10 mm), containing 1 or 2 ml of SIM medium (Difco) or Trypticase Agar Base (semisolid) (BBL), are preheated to 37 C, "stabinoculated" from a young agar slant culture, and incubated in a water bath at 37 C, motility may be observed in a fraction of the time required by the methods usually employed with these media. In a series of cultures which were studied, motility could be determined usually within 90 to 120 minutes. When small tubes (75 by 10 mm), containing 1 ml of nutrient broth, are preheated to 37 C and heavily inoculated from young nutrient agar slants or from colonies growing on agar plates, motility can be observed in hanging drop preparations within 15 to 30 minutes. In some cases, the freshly inoculated tubes may show motility.
An Intelligent Real-Time Monocular Vision-Based AGV System for Accurate Lane Detecting

An intelligent vision-based automated guided vehicle (AGV) system is presented in this paper. Embedded system and high performance algorithms are designed to accurately detect the artificial guide line and landmarks. Real-time two dimensional image captured by a CCD camera is processed by DSP (digital signal processor), including filtering, segmenting and labeling connected component. Then the vision system calculates relative distance and slope of guide line. In case of docking, the vision system detects artificial landmarks number placed at the side of path. The simulating results of image processing on Matlab software and experimental results on NHV-1 AGV both demonstrate the algorithms are efficient and robust.
Project Final Write-up : Generating Ad Hoc Curricula

Often in machine learning, proofs of convergence of learning algorithms assume that the data distribtuion is static over the course of learning. However, work on Curriculum Learning [1] has shown that in practice, altering the data distribution over the course of learning can improve results, at least in some cases. Specifically, starting with easier examples first and then progressing to harder examples can be beneficial, possibly even making a task learnable when it is not learnable from a reasonable amount of data using the standard strategy. This idea has proven useful in many contemporary networks, e.g. [3]. However, in many cases we lack explicit knowledge about the structure of the problem from which we could construct a curriculum. For example, on the MNIST task, how do we decide which examples are “easy” or “hard? ” Perhaps we could have human coders evaluate every image and call an image harder the more they disagree, but that would be prohibitively expensive. Is there a way we can craft curricula for a task while remaining more agnostic to what the task actually is (ideally just from the data vectors and labels)?
Intermodulation Distortion in Fifth-order Nonlinear RF Circuits/Subsystems under Multitone Excitation

A new analytic approach for modeling nonlinear RF circuits/subsystems, under multitone excitation is proposed. Particularly, the intermodulation (IM) distortion of fifth-order memoryless nonlinear systems is predicted under a randomly phase-modulated multitone excitation. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated by analyzing standard IM figures of merit such as MIMR and ACPR of a commercial RF power amplifier for different values of input power and number of input tones. The obtained results were compared to thirdorder models and have shown that restricting the analysis of highly nonlinear systems to third-order nonlinearity leads to optimistic results.
Expansion of megakaryocyte progenitors from human umbilical cord blood using a new two‐step separation procedure

Cord blood (CB) transplantation is primarily performed in children, rather than in adults, due to the low number of haemopoietic progenitor cells obtained from the small volume of a single CB collection. Prolonged thrombocytopenia is a major problem following CB transplantation. Efforts are currently underway to expand the number of CB progenitor cells ex vivo, in order to enable transplantation in adults and to decrease the period of thrombocytopenia. In this study we investigated different techniques for enrichment and expansion of megakaryocyte (Mk) progenitor cells and haemopoietic stem cells from CB. CBs from 20 normal deliveries were depleted of red blood cells (RBC) by dividing each sample and testing cell separation on 3% gelatin, Hespan, Ficoll‐Paque or a two‐step 3% gelatin followed by Ficoll‐Paque separation. The two‐step procedure was found to be superior to the other methods in enrichment of the Mk progenitor cells (CFU‐Mk) (34.3‐fold), while at the same time retaining the number of myeloid and erythroid progenitors, CD34+ and CD41+ cells. In short‐term (14 d) liquid culture of non‐adherent nucleated cells isolated by gelatin and Ficoll‐Paque, a 40‐fold expansion of clonable Mk progenitor cells was obtained in the presence of thrombopoietin (r‐hu‐TPO) and stem cell factor (r‐hu‐SCF). In similar cultures of isolated CD34+ cells, a 100‐fold clonable Mk progenitor was obtained at day 14. Therefore this new technique may facilitate the ex vivo expansion of Mk progenitor cells and be adopted for future use in CB transplantation.
A tale of two Paks

Paks (p21‐activated kinases) are effectors for the small GTPases Cdc42 (cell division cycle 42) and Rac that play fundamental roles in a wide range of cellular processes, including cell morphology, motility, survival, gene transcription, apoptosis and hormone signalling. These enzymes are widely expressed in numerous tissues and are activated by extracellular signals through GTPase‐dependent and ‐independent mechanisms. On the basis of structural and biochemical features, the Pak family members have been classified into two groups, comprising three members each. The two Pak groups have generally been considered as two halves of a single entity, but accumulating evidence indicates that this is not so. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of the structure, regulation and function of these kinases, emphasizing the many differences between these two groups of signalling proteins.
Effect of individualized exercise during maintenance haemodialysis on exercise capacity and health-related quality of life in patients with uraemia

Objective To investigate the effect of individualized exercise on exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in uraemic patients during maintenance haemodialysis (MHD). Methods Patients receiving MHD were divided randomly into a test group, who underwent recumbent cycling exercise during dialysis, and a control group, who performed simple stretching exercises. The same dialysis protocol was used for all study participants. At study start and after 12 weeks, exercise capacity was measured using tests of physical ability; HRQoL was measured using the kidney disease quality of life score (KDQOL-SF™). Results A total of 65 patients were included in the study: 33 in the control group and 32 in the test group. There were no significant differences in patient characteristics between the two groups at baseline. After 12 weeks, there were significant improvements in exercise capacity and in many of the items of the KDQOL-SF™ in the test group compared with the control group. Conclusion Individualized exercise during MHD significantly improved the exercise capacity and HRQoL for uraemic patients within a short time period, and could therefore be used as a simple, cost-effective therapeutic approach.
Effects of neonatal quinalphos exposure and subsequent withdrawal on free radical generation and antioxidative defenses in developing rat brain

Ten‐day‐old rat pups were given quinalphos (QP, 0.5 mg kg−1) orally up to postnatal days (PND) 21 or 45. A group of rats exposed to QP was withdrawn from the treatment at PND 21 and was killed at PND 45 for the withdrawal study. Acetylcholinesterase decreased in the brain and blood after QP exposure but recovered after withdrawal. Superoxide radical generation in brain was increased by 43%, 59% and 39% following exposure up to PND 21 and 45 and in the withdrawal group, respectively. Quinalphos did not alter hydrogen peroxide formation but increased hydroxyl radical (19%) production at PND 45. Quinalphos elevated the activities of superoxide dismutase by 30%, (although the increase from 0.24 to 0.31 was physiologically not significant) and catalase by 50% at PND 21, which up on withdrawal of the exposure at PND 22 recovered partially or completely at PND 45. However, the continuous exposure up to PND 45 decreased superoxide dismutase (63%) and catalase (31%) activities. Selenium‐independent glutathione peroxidase (GPx) was increased at PND 21 (31%) and PND 45 (152%) after QP exposure and there was complete recovery after withdrawal. Selenium‐dependent GPx, which was elevated slightly at PND 21, was also normalized after withdrawal. Prolonged exposure to QP did not alter the ascorbic acid content and produced a marked decrease in cerruloplasmin (46%) levels. Brain glutathione levels increased marginally in QP‐exposed rats and became normal in the withdrawal group. Quinalphos exposure up to PND 45 enhanced brain lipid peroxidation (28%) and decreased vitamin E levels (15%). It appears that neonatal QP exposure produces cerebral oxidative stress, which may result in deleterious effects on central nervous system function immediately and in later life. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Brief trauma intervention with Rwandan genocide-survivors using thought field therapy.

This randomized waitlist control study examined the efficacy of Thought Field Therapy (TFT) in reducing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms in survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Participants included 145 adult genocide survivors randomly assigned to an immediate TFT treatment group or a waitlist control group. Group differences adjusted for pretest scores and repeated measures anovas were statistically significant at p < . 001 for 9 of 10 TSI trauma subscales and for both severity and frequency on the MPSS, with moderate to large effect sizes. Reduced trauma symptoms for the group receiving TFT were found for all scales. Reductions in trauma symptoms were sustained at a 2-year follow-up assessment. Limitations, clinical implications, and future research are discussed.