Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling and Analysis on Energy Consumption of Hydraulic Quadruped Robot for Optimal Trot Motion Control

Energy consumption is an important performance index of quadruped robots. In this paper, the energy consumptions of the quadruped robot SCalf with a trot gait under different gait parameters are analyzed. Firstly, the kinematics and dynamics models of the robot are established. Then, an energy model including the mechanical power and heat rate is proposed. To obtain the energy consumption, a cubic spline interpolation foot trajectory is used, and the feet forces are calculated by using the minimization of norm of the foot force method. Moreover, an energetic criterion measuring the energy cost is defined to evaluate the motion. Finally, the gait parameters such as step height, step length, standing height, gait cycle, and duty cycle that influence the energy consumption are studied, which could provide a theoretical basis for parameter optimization and motion control of quadruped robots.
Influence of switch level of automatic cluster removers on milking performance and udder health

Summary The effect of a switch level of 200 or 400 g/min for automatic cluster removers on milking performance and udder health was measured with 71 first lactation cows in their first 36 weeks of lactation and with 64 older cows in their first 12 weeks of lactation. Early removal of the milking unit decreased machine-on time by 0·5 min, increased average milk flow rate slightly, improved teat condition significantly and reduced the change in teat end thickness during milking of first lactation cows. Early removal of the milking unit did not affect milk yield or composition, and the incidence and prevalence of subclinical mastitis were the same in the two groups. Fewer older cows developed clinical mastitis in the group switched at 400 g/min, but this was not significant. It is concluded that the milking unit can be detached at a milk flow rate of 400 instead of 200 g/min without having a negative influence on milk yield. Machine-on time is shortened and teat condition improved, and udder health does not seem to be affected.
Clinical development of a novel inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine based on attenuated Sabin poliovirus strains

Following achievement of polio eradication, the routine use of all live-attenuated oral poliovirus vaccines should be discontinued. However, the costs per vaccine dose for the alternative inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) are significantly higher and the current production capacity is not sufficient for worldwide distribution of the vaccine. In order to achieve cost–prize reduction and improve affordability, IPV production processes and dose-sparing strategies should be developed to facilitate local manufacture at a relatively lower cost. The use of attenuated Sabin instead of wild-type polio strains will provide additional safety during vaccine production and permits production in low-cost settings. Sabin-IPV is under development by several manufacturers. This article gives an overview of results from clinical trials with Sabin-IPV and discusses the requirements and challenges in the clinical development of this novel IPV.
Aging and spatial acuity of touch.

Spatial acuity of the skin of the fingertip deteriorates markedly with age, as assessed by 2-point thresholds measured with a forced-choice method in 80 subjects between the ages of 18 and 91 years. This loss of "minimum separable" acuity appears to be pervasive, demonstrably affecting many middle-aged and a great majority of the elderly persons tested. Mean threshold was 1.95 mm for young (18-33 years), 2.68 mm for middle-age (41-63 years), and 5.03 mm for elderly (66-91 years) subjects. Over half of the variance in 2-point threshold was attributable to age (r = .74). Threshold on the arm, measured in subsets of 15 young and 15 elderly, was also age-dependent, but (reckoned as a percentage) the difference is minor compared to the finger. Analysis implies that the perception of tactile patterns, in general, and tactile reading (braille, Optacon) by the sensory handicapped, in particular, could run into age-related difficulty by reason of impairment of spatial acuity at the most basic level.
Time Variations in the Equity Premium: Is It Habit Formation or Loss Aversion?

The large spread between equity returns and risk-free rates (the "equity premium puzzle") has been the subject of intense debate. Two main families of models claim to solve this puzzle: habit-formation models and loss-aversion models. The goal of this paper is to assess empirically which of them best fits the observed excess returns. In order to do this, I first show how to express both models as linear stochastic discount factor models. This gives explicit and testable constraints for the excess return variations. I then compare the theoretical evolution generated by these models with the observed path. I find that the constant relative risk aversion model and the external habit model are not likely to correspond to the observed data. The loss aversion model and the internal habit model could fit the observed excess return evolution.
Clinical features of second other-site primary cancers among sporadic colorectal cancer patients--a hospital-based study of 3,722 cases.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Although synchronous and metachronous colorectal cancers are now well known to all colorectal surgeons, second other-site primary cancers following colorectal cancer are unfamiliar to most colorectal physicians. Knowledge of the clinical characteristics of these second other-site primary cancers becomes important especially during their follow-up surveillance. METHODOLOGY Information from a computer database was retrieved. Medical records were reviewed and all histopathological data were confirmed. RESULTS Forty-seven (1.26%) patients developed second other-site primary cancers. Of these patients, 22 (46.8%) patients were diagnosed concordantly while 25 (53.2%) patients were discordant cases. Twelve of 25 (45%) discordant cases were found within one year postoperatively. Regarding the clinical features of these 47 patients, male patients more frequently develop discordant cases (p=0.031). A significantly higher proportion of Dukes' B patients developed second other-site primary cancer than that of patients of other stages (p=0.017). Liver, 8 (17%) cases, was the most common site followed by the prostate, 6 (13%), stomach, 6 (13%), lung, 5 (11%), head and neck cancers, 5 (11%), and kidney, 3 (6.4%). However, there was not a significantly increased risk for these sporadic colorectal patients statistically. CONCLUSIONS We described clinical features of second other-site primary cancers and emphasized that knowledge of these is important for their postoperative surveillance.
Learning styles: a review of theory, application, and best practices.

Much pedagogical research has focused on the concept of “learning styles. ” Several authors have proposed that the ability to typify student learning styles can augment the educational experience. As such, instructors might tailor their teaching style so that it is more congruent with a given student's or class of students' learning style. Others have argued that a learning/teaching style mismatch encourages and challenges students to expand their academic capabilities. Best practice might involve offering courses that employ a variety of teaching styles. Several scales are available for the standardization of learning styles. These scales employ a variety of learning style descriptors and are sometimes criticized as being measures of personality rather than learning style. Learning styles may become an increasingly relevant pedagogic concept as classes increase in size and diversity. This review will describe various learning style instruments as well as their potential use and limitations. Also discussed is the use of learning style theory in various concentrations including pharmacy.
[Growth, Macroeconomics, and Development]: Comments

differ: Measuring 'unmeasurable' influences. World Development 16(11, November):1271-1294. Schultz, T. Paul (1988). Education investments and returns. In Handbook of Development Economics, Chapter 13. H. Chenery and T.N. Srinivasan (eds.). New York: North-Holland. Serven, Luis, and Andres Solimano. (1989). Private investment and macroeconomic adjustment. World Bank Working Paper WPS339. Solimano, Andres. (1989). How private investment reacts to changing macroeconomic conditions: The case of Chile in the eighties. World Bank Working Paper WPS 212. Solow, Robert M. (1956). A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics 70(1):65-94. (1989). Growth theory. Mimeo, MIT. Summers, Robert, and Alan Heston. (1988). A new set of international comparisons of real product and price levels: Estimates for 130 countries, 1950-1985, Review of Income and Wealth, Series 34, No. 1 (March):1-25, and three accompanying computer diskettes. Swan, Trevor. (1956). Economic growth and capital accumulation. Economic Record 32:334-361. White, Halbert. (1980). A heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimator and a direct est for heteroskedasticity. Econometrica 48(May):817-838. Williamson, John. (1990). What Washington means by policy reform. In Latin American Adjustment. J. Williamson (ed.). Institute for International Economics. World Bank. (1988). Adjustment lending: An evaluation of ten years of experience. Country Economics Department. (1990a). Report on adjustment lending II: Policies for the recovery of growth. -". (1990b). Trends in Developing Economies 1990. Washington, D.C. -. (1990c). World Tables, 1989-90 edition. Washington, D.C. -". (1991). World Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press. KRUEGER
An Innovative Surgical Technique for Subretinal Transplantation of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigmented Epithelium in Yucatan Mini Pigs: Preliminary Results.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE To develop a safe and efficient surgical procedure for subretinal implantation into porcine eyes of a human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigmented epithelium (hESC-RPE) monolayer seeded onto a Parylene-C scaffold. This implant is referred to as CPCB-RPE1. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ultrathin Parylene-C scaffolds were seeded with hESC-RPE and surgically implanted into the subretinal space of Yucatan mini pigs (n = 8). The surgery consisted of pars plana vitrectomy, induction of a limited retinal detachment, and peripheral retinotomy for insertion of the monolayer using a novel tissue injector, followed by silicone oil tamponade injection, laser photocoagulation around the retinotomy site, and inferior iridectomy. Oral cyclosporine was administered from day 1 and during the entire follow-up period. Three months later, the animals were euthanized and the eyes and major organs were submitted for histological analysis. Adjacent sections underwent immunohistochemical analysis to detect human cells using anti-TRA-1-85 (human blood group antigen) antibody and DAPI antibodies. RESULTS The cell monolayer was immunopositive for TRA-1-85 3 months after implantation and migration from the Parylene-C scaffold was not detected. One eye had a mild inflammatory reaction around the implant that was negative for human biomarkers. No intraocular or systemic tumors were detected. CONCLUSION The hESC-RPE cells survived for 3 months in this animal model. The surgical procedure for subretinal implantation of CPCB-RPE1 is feasible and safe, without cell migration off the scaffold or development of ocular or systemic tumors.
Human and Murine Tissue-Engineered Colon Exhibit Diverse Neuronal Subtypes and Can Be Populated by Enteric Nervous System Progenitor Cells When Donor Colon Is Aganglionic.

PURPOSE Tissue-engineered colon (TEC) might potentially replace absent or injured large intestine, but the enteric nervous system (ENS), a key component, has not been investigated. In various enteric neuropathic diseases in which the TEC is derived from aganglionic donor colon, the resulting construct might also be aganglionic, limiting tissue engineering applications in conditions such as Hirschsprung disease (HD). We hypothesized that TEC might contain a diverse population of enteric neuronal subtypes, and that aganglionic TEC can be populated by neurons and glia when supplemented with ENS progenitor cells in the form of neurospheres. MATERIALS AND METHODS Human and murine organoid units (OU) and multicellular clusters containing epithelium and mesenchyme were isolated from both mouse and human donor tissues, including from normally innervated and aganglionic colon. The OU were seeded onto a biodegradable scaffold and implanted within a host mouse, resulting in the growth of TEC. Aganglionic murine and human OU were supplemented with cultured neurospheres to populate the absent ENS not provided by the OU to rescue the HD phenotype. RESULTS TEC demonstrated abundant smooth muscle and clusters of neurons and glia beneath the epithelium and deeper within the mesenchyme. Motor and afferent neuronal subtypes were identified in TEC. Aganglionic OU formed TEC with absent neural elements, but neurons and glia were abundant when aganglionic OU were supplemented with ENS progenitor cells. CONCLUSION Murine and human TEC contain key components of the ENS that were not previously identified, including glia, neurons, and fundamental neuronal subtypes. TEC derived from aganglionic colon can be populated with neurons and glia when supplemented with neurospheres. Combining tissue engineering and cellular replacement therapies represents a new strategy for treating enteric neuropathies, particularly HD.
Decision to delivery interval: A retrospective study of 1,000 emergency caesarean sections

Summary The monitoring of the time interval from decision to operate to delivery of the fetus (DDI) for emergency caesarean sections has become an important part of an obstetric department's continuous auditing and clinical governance. The accepted standard is that the DDI for emergency caesarean sections should be 30 minutes. Previous authors have questioned whether this 30-min benchmark is a realistic target for obstetric units. This study, the largest of its kind with 1000 subjects, shows that it is not feasible for busy obstetric units to reach this target in all emergency caesarean sections. Explanations for lengthy DDI and possible improvements are proposed.
Revue et Perspectives du Toucher Social en IHM

Le toucher est l’un des principaux canaux intervenant dans la communication non verbale. Il permet de transmettre des emotions et de renforcer les liens affectifs entre les personnes. Son utilisation a deja ete envisage en Interaction Homme-Machine comme un moyen d’interaction avec des dispositifs, mais rarement pour une communication emotionnelle directe entre individus. Cet article presente un etat de l’art du toucher social en IHM. Considerant les travaux en psychologie, en IHM, en haptique et de informatique affective, nous expliquons en premier lieu le role et l’importance du toucher social dans la communication et la transmission des emotions. Nous evoquons ensuite les technologies existantes et emergentes pour effectuer un toucher social et enfin nous presentons de nouvelles perspectives pour les interfaces en IHMs.
Effects of a Military Overseas Peacekeeping Deployment on Marital Quality, Satisfaction, and Stability

Changes in self-reported soldier marital satisfaction and marital quality were assessed at three points in time, 1994–1997, before, during, and after a 1995 peacekeeping deployment of approximately 100 married soldiers to the Sinai peninsula. Analysis shows a moderate decline in marital satisfaction during the deployment (effect size of 0.27–0.29) but no overall change in the long term. Marital quality did not change significantly over time. Marital stability rates were especially low for soldiers who reported that their marriage was in trouble prior to the deployment. It appears that stable marriages can survive 6-mo. deployments without long-term decrements in satisfaction or quality. How many couples will continue to accept voluntarily a military lifestyle that requires frequent sacrifices of marital satisfaction as may occur during separations and deployments remains an open question, even though intentions for retention did not appear correlated with marital satisfaction or changes in marital satisfaction over the deployment in this study.
Detecting Chemical Hazards in Foods Using Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Devices (μPADs): The Real-World Application

Food safety remains one of the most important issues in most countries and the detection of food hazards plays a key role in the systematic approach to ensuring food safety. Rapid, easy-to-use and low-cost analytical tools are required to detect chemical hazards in foods. As a promising candidate, microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) have been rarely applied to real food samples for testing chemical hazards, although numerous papers have been published in this field in the last decade. This review discusses the current status and concerns of the μPAD applications in the detection of chemical hazards in foods from the perspective of food scientists, mainly for an audience with a background in mechanical and chemical engineering who may have interests in exploring the potential of μPAD to address real-world food safety issues.
Immuno-regulatory antibodies for the treatment of cancer

Introduction: After years of limited success, progress of anti-cancer immuno-therapeutics has been considerable over the past decade. Key to this progress has been the application of new biological insights around the importance and nature of immune checkpoints that are able to reverse down-regulation of anti-tumor immunity. Areas covered: An overview of the preclinical and recent clinical trial data on key immuno-regulatory agents currently in development, including antibody targeting of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) on T-lymphocytes and its principal ligand (PD-L1) on tumor cells as well as immune agonists (e.g., anti-CD40). Expert opinion: Durable long-term responses in some patients with advanced melanoma, initially with ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4) and more recently antibodies targeting either PD-1 or PD-L1 in patients with melanoma and renal cancer, non-small-cell lung, bladder and head and neck cancers with less toxicity, have provided real optimism that immunotherapeutic approaches can improve outcomes in a wide range of cancer. The manageable tolerability of PD-1-pathway blockers and their unique mechanism of action are encouraging combination approaches. Current efforts focus on registration trials of single agents plus combinations in many different tumor types and treatment settings and identifying and developing predictive biomarkers of immunological response.
Endocytosis of androgen-binding protein, clusterin, and transferrin in the efferent ducts and epididymis of the ram.

The amount of androgen-binding protein (ABP) in luminal fluid from the central caput epididymidis of the ram, on a per sperm basis, remains the same as that in rete testis fluid (RTF) entering the ductuli efferentes, although greater than 85% of the testicular protein is absorbed in proximal sites. To determine if ABP is spared from endocytosis in proximal sites and if proteins are differentially and selectively absorbed at specific sites in the excurrent ducts, we studied the endocytosis of ABP, clusterin, transferrin, and a 26/35-kd dimer isolated from ovine RTF. Each protein was labeled with colloidal gold and microinjected into the lumen of a ductulus efferens and five specific sites in the ductus epididymidis; uptake was quantified by electron microscopy. Endocytosis of each protein, including ABP, was substantially greater in the ductuli efferentes than in any site in the ductus epididymidis. More ABP was endocytosed in proximal regions of the epididymis than any other protein studied. Endocytosis of the 26/35-kd dimer, like ABP, was greater in proximal sites of the epididymis, whereas endocytosis of clusterin and transferrin was greater in distal sites. Thus, there was a differential absorption, since proteins were endocytosed in one or another specific region of the epididymis, depending on the protein. ABP was endocytosed in the ductuli efferentes and caput epididymidis in amounts similar to or greater than other major testicular proteins, and was not spared from endocytosis in the proximal excurrent ducts. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Medical treatment of diabetic retinopathy with somatostatin analogues

Traditional management strategies for retinal neovascularisation accompanying proliferative diabetic retinopathy include photocoagulation laser therapy. The development of preventative pharmacological treatments aimed at replacing or delaying this acute intervention has been an active research area and somatostatin analogues have shown promise in reducing the progression of retinal vascular pathologies. This review summarises the present knowledge on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neovascularisation, and the rationale for the therapeutic use of somatostatin analogues as well as the results of two key recent clinical trials using octreotide. The potential use of octreotide and other somatostatin analogues in reducing the risk of severe visual impairment in proliferative diabetic retinopathy is discussed and pharmacological treatment regimens are proposed as an additional strategy or a less invasive alternative to laser therapy.
Potential Blood-based Biomarkers for Concussion

Mounting research in the field of sports concussion biomarkers has led to a greater understanding of the effects of brain injury from sports. A recent systematic review of clinical studies examining biomarkers of brain injury following sports-related concussion established that almost all studies have been published either in or after the year 2000. In an effort to prevent chronic traumatic encephalopathy and long-term consequences of concussion, early diagnostic and prognostic tools are becoming increasingly important; particularly in sports and in military personnel, where concussions are common occurrences. Early and tailored management of athletes following a concussion with biomarkers could provide them with the best opportunity to avoid further injury. Should blood-based biomarkers for concussion be validated and become widely available, they could have many roles. For instance, a point-of-care test could be used on the field by trained sport medicine professionals to help detect a concussion. In the clinic or hospital setting, it could be used by clinicians to determine the severity of concussion and be used to screen players for neuroimaging (computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging) and further neuropsychological testing. Furthermore, biomarkers could have a role in monitoring progression of injury and recovery and in managing patients at high risk of repeated injury by being incorporated into guidelines for return to duty, work, or sports activities. There may even be a role for biomarkers as surrogate measures of efficacy in the assessment of new treatments and therapies for concussion.