Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Criterion Validity of the Cervical Range of Motion (CROM) Goniometer for Cervical Flexion and Extension

Study Design. This study used a validity protocol. Objective. To estimate the criterion validity of the Cervical Range of Motion goniometer using a healthy population. Summary of Background Data. The results of the 1994 study by Mayo et al show that there are no validated tools currently available for clinically measuring the cervical range of motion. Numerous decisions regarding patient status and treatment are based wholly or in part on joint motion measurements. Because of current budgetary restrictions, clinicians are being asked to justify their interventions objectively, and to do so, they will need validated tools. Methods. The population consisted of 31 healthy participants ranging in age from 18 to 45 years. None had experienced cervical problems in the previous 3 months or were pregnant. Data collection took place at the radiology department. After participants were positioned on a stool, the cervical range of motion goniometer frame was set on their head by the physiotherapist. With the participant in this neutral position, the physiotherapist took the first Cervical Range of Motion measurement. The radiograph technologist obtained the radiograph immediately afterward. This procedure was repeated with the participant in fully flexed and fully extended positions. Results. A Pearson’s r correlation test was used to evaluate the criterion validity of the Cervical Range of Motion goniometer versus the radiographic method. The two measurements proved to be highly correlated (flexion: r = 0.97, P < 0.001; extension: r = 0.98, P < 0.001). Conclusions. For this population of healthy participants, the Cervical Range of Motion goniometer was found to be valid for measurements of cervical flexion and extension. Further research is needed on the validity of this instrument for other cervical spine movements.
Energy-Adaptive Lightweight Hardware Security Module using Partial Dynamic Reconfiguration for Energy Limited Internet of Things Applications

Data security is the main challenge in Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Security strength and the immunity to security attacks depend mainly on the available power budget. The power-security level trade-off is the main challenge for low power IoT applications, especially, energy limited IoT applications. In this paper, multiple encryption modes that provide different power consumption and security level values are hardware implemented. In other words, some modes provide high security levels at the expense of high power consumption and other modes provide low power consumption with low security level. Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration (DPR) is utilized to adaptively configure the hardware security module based on the available power budget. For example, for a given power constraint, the DPR controller configures the security module with the security mode that meets the available power constraint. ZC702 evaluation board is utilized to implement the proposed encryption modes using DPR. A Lightweight Authenticated Cipher (ACORN) is the most suitable encryption mode for low power IoT applications as it consumes the minimum power and area among the selected candidates at the expense of low throughput. The whole DPR system is tested with a maximum dynamic power dissipation of 10.08 mW. The suggested DPR system saves about 59.9% of the utilized LUTs compared to the individual implementation of the selected encryption modes.
Intravenous infusion of bombesin reduces food intake in humans.

Infusion of bombesin into healthy young men at two dosages (1.33 and 4.0 ng.kg-1.min-1) resulted in a significant 135-g reduction in intake of a yogurt and fruit blend, compared with saline infusions, at the higher dose, but only a 20-g (nonsignificant) reduction at the lower dose. There were no overt side effects, although half of the subjects reported a slightly elevated (mean elevation = 0.5 on a 1-5 category scale) sick sensation when receiving bombesin at the higher dose, but not when receiving saline. At the higher dose, the mean palatability of the test meal was reduced by 0.5 units on a nine-point scale of liking. This study demonstrates for the first time in humans that a slow intravenous infusion of bombesin can decrease spontaneous food intake when infused at the rate of 4 ng.kg-1.min-1 beginning at the onset of a meal. These results confirm that the short-term satiety effect of peripherally administered bombesin previously reported in animals can be obtained in humans.
Symptoms of Memory Loss as Predictors of Cognitive Impairment?: The Use and Reliability of Memory Ratings in a Clinic Population

BackgroundSymptoms of memory loss are very common with estimated prevalence between 22% and 50% in those older than 65 years of age. Those with symptoms of memory loss and impaired performance on memory tests are at high risk of progression to Alzheimer disease. The relative importance of different aspects of the clinical history in predicting cognitive impairment is uncertain. MethodsFifty-six patients with symptoms of memory loss were recruited from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. A clinician recorded type and duration of memory symptoms as perceived by the patient and their informant, and use of memory aids. All patients subsequently underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychologic testing. Findings(i) Informant, but not patient, ratings of memory were associated with performance on tests of memory function and with hippocampal size on MRI. (ii) Decreased use of memory aids and shorter duration of memory symptoms were more common in those with memory impairment. InterpretationIn a clinical setting, information gathered from the history was associated with cognitive impairment on memory testing and brain appearances on MRI. The history from a close informant is particularly important being more strongly predictive of cognitive impairment (P=0.0002) than subjective symptoms, use of memory aids or duration of symptoms.
Two Regions of the Human Platelet F11-Receptor (F11R) Are Critical for Platelet Aggregation, Potentiation and Adhesion

Summary The F11 receptor (F11R) was first identified on the surface of human platelets as a target for a stimulatory monoclonal antibody (M.Ab.F11) that induces secretion, followed by exposure of fibrinogen receptors and aggregation. Cloning of the gene of F11R has revealed that this protein is a cell adhesion molecule (CAM), a member of the Ig superfamily and an ortholog of the murine protein called junctional adhesion molecule (JAM). The present study has identified two domains through which M.Ab. F11 triggers a platelet response culminating with aggregation. M.Ab. F11-mediated platelet adhesion, and the potentiation of collagen and ADP-induced platelet aggregation by M.Ab. F11, were found to involve the same two domains. A F11R recombinant protein (sF11R) completely inhibited platelet aggregation, adhesion and potentiation induced by M.Ab. F11, indicative that the active conformation of the external domain of F11R is present in the soluble, secreted recombinant protein. Furthermore, a specific peptide containing the sequence of the N-terminal amino acids S-1 to C-23 of F11R, and a peptide with the sequence of K-70 to C-82 in the 1st immunoglobulin-like (Ig) fold of F11R, both inhibited M.Ab. F11-induced aggregation, adhesion and potentiation of the aggregation of human platelets. Modeling of the 3D structure of the extracellular domain of the human platelet F11R suggests that these two regions form an active site within the conformation of this CAM. The sequence of these functional domains of F11R (in the N-terminus and 1st Ig-fold) provide the basis for new drug development in the treatment of certain types of thrombocytopenia and inflammatory thrombosis.
Cylindrical Cochlear Electrode Array for Use in Humans

This report describes the fabrication of a flexible multichannel electrode array suitable for use in humans. The conductors, pads, and stimulating tips are made of platinum on a polyimide substrate. Photolithographic techniques are employed in the fabrication of the electrode on a planar surface in the form of a film. The film is rolled subsequently into a cylinder of diameter 0.50 mm and the cylinder is filled with medical grade silicone rubber. The stimulation pads then form rings around the cylinder. In vitro and in vivo tests are ongoing with good results so far.
A Matter of Degree: Europeanization, ILO Treaty Ratification and Labour Standards in Europe

Abstract The EU and the ILO have invested large amounts of resources in the past 20 years in promoting core labour standards. This article examines the products on these investments, by analysing the linkage between the protection of collective labour rights, countries’ statuses in the EU, ratification of the ILO’s fundamental conventions and ILO monitoring. The article argues that labour standards were formulated to counteract competitive pressures aggravated by economic integration, by creating minimum standards. The ILO created minimum standards by designating eight conventions as fundamental conventions, and monitoring countries’ compliance. The EU promoted the ILO’s minimum standards, using hard and soft legal instruments, among its members and partner countries. The article hypothesize that these instruments have led to Europeanization and harmonization of labour standards beyond the circles of EU members and EU candidate countries. It tests these hypotheses by analysing data on labour standards in 42 European countries. The results indicate that strengthened relations with the EU are positively associated with subsequent labour standards. The article concludes in pointing out policy and theoretical implications. Namely that the EU’s external action in Europe is a promising venue of EU influence and that Europeanization is a matter of degree rather than category.
Operation of three-phase modular multilevel converter (MMC) with reduced number of arms

Conventional three-phase MMC consists of six-arms, each arm is controlled to generate unipolar voltage ranging from zero to Vdc where Vdc is the input DC voltage. Each arm voltage has two components (DC and AC components). In this work, the operation of MMC with reduced number of arms (four arms only), correspondingly reduced cost is presented. This mode can be also used with the conventional three-phase MMC in case of faulty leg. In the presented approach, only two legs (i.e. four arms) are considered, where two out of the three phases are connected to these legs, while the third phase is tapped from the mid-point of the DC supply. To assure generating three-phase output voltages, the AC components in the presented approach will depend on the line-voltages. As the voltage per arm is limited to Vdc, the peak of line-voltage in the suggested mode is limited to 0.5 Vdc, i.e. the generated phase voltages will have a peak of 0.5Vdc/√3 (i.e. 57.7% compared to conventional three-phase MMC with same input voltage). A detailed illustration of the operational concept of the proposed architecture is presented in this work. The simulation results of the suggested approach is presented to validate the proposed concept.
The law and practice of fact-finding before the International Court of Justice

Court. This article examines the Court's practice with respect to first, the mode of appointment and method of examining experts assisting the Court in factfinding; and second, the standard of review employed in analysing a scientific fact to arrive at a judicial decision. In doing so, the article also refers to jurisprudence of the World Trade Organization to draw parallels and best practices therefrom. This analysis is aimed at Public international law; International View Item
Plasticity of Macrophage Function during Tumor Progression: Regulation by Distinct Molecular Mechanisms1

Recent studies have shown that macrophages play an important part in both tumor initiation and various key steps in growth and metastasis. These cells show a remarkable degree of plasticity during tumor development with a “switch” in macrophage phenotypes occurring during the course of tumor progression. During chronic inflammation they appear to predispose a given tissue to tumor initiation by the release of factors that promote neoplastic transformation. Following this, their phenotype shifts more toward one that is immunosuppressive and supports tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. In this review, we discuss the evidence for this plasticity of macrophage functions, the specific signaling mechanisms that may be regulating it, and the new targets for anticancer therapies highlighted by these findings.
Sarcolipin regulates sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) by binding to transmembrane helices alone or in association with phospholamban

Phospholamban (PLN), a regulator of sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPases (SERCAs), interacts with both the cytosolic N domain and transmembrane helices M2, M4, M6, and M9 of SERCA. Amino acids in the transmembrane domain of PLN that are predicted to interact with SERCA1a are conserved in sarcolipin (SLN), a functional PLN homologue. Accordingly, the effects of critical mutations in SERCA1a, PLN, and NF-SLN (SLN tagged N-terminally with a FLAG epitope) on NF-SLN/SERCA1a and PLN/NF-SLN/SERCA1a interactions were compared. Critical mutations in SERCA1a and NF-SLN diminished functional interactions between SERCA1a and NF-SLN, indicating that NF-SLN and PLN interact with some of the same amino acids in SERCA1a. Mutations in PLN or NF-SLN affected the amount of SERCA1a that was coimmunoprecipitated in each complex with antibodies against either PLN or SLN, but not the pattern of coimmunoprecipitation. PLN mutations had more dramatic effects on SERCA1a coimmunoprecipitation than SLN mutations, suggesting that PLN dominates in the primary interaction with SERCA1a. Coimmunoprecipitation also confirmed that PLN and NF-SLN form a heterodimer that interacts with SERCA1a in a regulatory fashion to form a very stable PLN/NF-SLN/SERCA1a complex. Modeling showed that the SLN/SERCA1a complex closely resembles the PLN/SERCA1a complex, but with the luminal end of SLN extending to the loop connecting M1 and M2, where Tyr-29 and Tyr-31 interact with aromatic residues in SERCA1a. Modeling of the PLN/SLN/SERCA1a complex predicts that the regulator binding cavity in the E2 conformation of SERCA1a can accommodate both SLN and PLN helices, but not two PLN helices.
Impact of surface orientation on Vth variability of FinFET

We have investigated the impact of surface orientation on the Vth variability of Si- and Ge-FinFET using both the analytical solution of Schrödinger equation and atomistic simulation. Our study indicates that, for ultra-scaled FinFET, the importance of tch variation increases due to the quantum-confinement effect. The Si-(100) and Ge-(111) surface show lower Vth sensitivity to tch variation as compared with other orientations. On the contrary, the quantum-confinement effect reduces the Vth sensitivity to Leff, and Si-(111) and Ge-(100) surface show lower Vth sensitivity as compared with other orientations. Our study may provide insights for device design and circuit optimization using advanced FinFET technologies.
Night and darkness: interaction after dark

Many of us work and socialize late into the night, some increasingly so. However, most information technology is still designed in the daytime and largely to be used in the light. Little thought is given to its behavior in darkness, even if the technology itself can sense darkness, or sleep. The aim of the workshop outlined below is to examine night and darkness as a starting point for designing ubiquitous computing. We aim to explore if and how the behavior of our technology should change as night falls. The workshop will use the topics of darkness, safety, 'nighttime people' and nighttime activities to think about new design opportunities for interaction design and ubiquitous computing. Practicing what we preach, so to speak, the workshop participants will also critique their ideas and designs in the dark, in Florence.
The Safety of Intravenous Cyclophosphamide in the Treatment of Rheumatic Diseases.

BACKGROUND The therapeutic effects of cyclophosphamide (CP) in the treatment of systemic rheumatic diseases are related to its immune suppressive activity. However effective, the application of CP is restricted due to multiple adverse effects. OBJECTIVES This retrospective study was conducted to determine the frequency of adverse effects attributed to CP toxicity. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study involved 65 patients (17 male; 48 female) receiving intravenous CP between October 2007 and December 2010. The mean age at onset was 51.2 years (range 19-77 years). The most common diagnoses were systemic sclerosis (20), systemic lupus erythematosus (13) and vasculitis (13). The indications for treatment with CP were interstitial lung disease in the course of systemic diseases (33), vasculitis (24), glomerulonephritis (5) and changes in the central nervous system (3). The patients were administered 400-1000 mg CP in intravenous infusions at 2-16 week intervals, with the addition of sodium 2-sulfanylethanesulfonate (mesna) before and after each pulse. RESULTS Out of 65 patients 40 (60%) reported adverse effects: infections in 24 (37%), nausea in 19 (29%), vomiting in 11 (17%), abdominal pain in 7 (11%) and pancytopenia in one, leading to cessation of the therapy. No association was found between the frequency of side effects and the treatment duration (p = 0.632), age (p = 0.852), diagnosis (p = 0.171) or nominal dose (p = 0.321). CONCLUSIONS As knowledge about CP continues to increase, this medication remains a safe way to treat many rheumatic diseases.
The effect of electrostatic screening of Rogowski coils designed for wide-bandwidth current measurement in power electronic applications

Rogowski current transducers are ideal for monitoring pulsed and transient currents in power electronic applications as they have a high bandwidth and low insertion impedance. It is sometimes necessary to fit an electrostatic shield to the Rogowski coil. Large dV/dt disturbances in close proximity to the coil produce measurement interference due to capacitive coupling. A shield eliminates this coupling. However Rogowski coils are not normally fitted with an electrostatic shield since the resulting increase in coil capacitance reduces the high frequency bandwidth. Also the coil is bulkier, less flexible and more difficult to manufacture. There are applications where local dV/dt disturbances are so large that fitting a screen is a necessity. This paper examines the compromise between the high frequency performance of the Rogowski transducer and the effective electrostatic shielding of dV/dt interference. A theoretical model for the mechanism by which large close coupled sources of dV/dt affect the behaviour of the Rogowski coil is presented. In addition the paper describes a model for the high frequency performance of a shielded Rogowski coil. These models are verified using a purpose built test rig capable of generating large dV/dt disturbances in excess of 40 kV/us.
Risk Factors for Loss of Ipsilateral Residual Hearing After Hybrid Cochlear Implantation

Objective Residual low-frequency acoustic hearing benefits cochlear implantees in difficult listening situations such as understanding speech in noise and music appreciation. Most subjects retain functional residual hearing in the operated ear. A small number of patients, however, will lose significant ipsilateral residual hearing after short-electrode cochlear implantation. The objectives of this retrospective series are to determine whether predisposition to hearing loss after implantation exists in a subset of patients and to assess the functional impact of this hearing loss on clinical measures of combined electric and acoustic hearing. Study Design Retrospective case series. Setting Multicenter clinical trial; tertiary care facility. Patients Hearing preservation cochlear implant recipients. Main Outcome Measure Frequency-averaged ipsilateral hearing loss at 1 year after activation. Results Eighty-five patients from the Hybrid S8 FDA trial had serial postoperative audiometric measurements. Twenty-two of these patients, implanted at the home institution, provided additional medical data. Univariate analysis (Pearson’s, Spearman’s, Student’s t test) showed that the severity of hearing loss at 1 year after activation was significantly correlated with age, male gender, and noise-induced hearing loss as the etiology of hearing impairment. A multivariate regression model corroborated these variables. No other medical factors were predictive. Clinical measures of speech perception (Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant and Hearing in Noise Test) worsened with hearing loss in ipsilateral but not bilateral listening conditions. Conclusion Age, male gender, and a history of noise-induced hearing loss correlate with the severity of hearing loss at 1 year after activation. Even the most severely affected patients benefit from bilateral electric and acoustic inputs.
Intrinsic fat suppression in TIDE balanced steady‐state free precession imaging

A novel fat‐suppressed balanced steady‐state free precession (b‐SSFP) imaging method based on the transition into driven equilibrium (TIDE) sequence with variable flip angles is presented. The new method, called fat‐saturated (FS)‐TIDE, exploits the special behavior of TIDE signals from off‐resonance spins during the flip angle ramp. As shown by simulations and experimental data, the TIDE signal evolution for off‐resonant isochromats during the transition from turbo spin‐echo (TSE)‐like behavior to the true fast imaging with steady precession (TrueFISP) mode undergoes a zero crossing. The resulting signal notch for off‐resonant spins is then used for fat suppression. The efficiency of FS‐TIDE is demonstrated in phantoms and healthy volunteers on a 1.5T system. The resulting images are compared with standard TrueFISP data with and without fat suppression. It is demonstrated that FS‐TIDE provides a fast and stable means for homogenous fat suppression in abdominal imaging while maintaining balanced SSFP‐like image contrast and signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). The scan time of FS‐TIDE is not increased compared to normal TrueFISP imaging without fat suppression and identical k‐space trajectories. Because of the intrinsic fat suppression, no additional preparation is needed. Possible repetition times (TRs) are not firmly limited to special values and are nearly arbitrary. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
MR lymphangiography with intradermal gadofosveset and human serum albumin in mice and primates

To investigate MR lymphangiography in mice and primates with intradermal Gadofosveset and human serum albumin. Gadofosveset is a US FDA approved small molecule Gadolinium (Gd) chelate (957 Da) which reversibly binds serum albumin and temporally behaves as a macromolecule. As the structure of albumin varies among species, the affinity of Gadofosveset is optimized for human albumin. In this study, Gadofosveset premixed with 10% human serum albumin (HSA) was injected intradermally in mice and monkeys, and then MR lymphangiography was performed on a 3.0 Tesla clinical scanner.