Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Randomized cross-over comparison of cervical-spine motion with the AirWay Scope or Macintosh laryngoscope with in-line stabilization: a video-fluoroscopic study.

BACKGROUND The AirWay Scope (AWS) is a fibreoptic device that allows for intubation without alignment of the oral, pharyngeal, and tracheal axes. It may be useful for patients with an unstable cervical-spine (C-spine) or when C-spine movement is undesirable. This study was conducted to fluoroscopically evaluate upper C-spine movement during tracheal intubation with the AWS and or the Macintosh laryngoscope with in-line stabilization (ILS). METHODS Thirteen patients with a normal C-spine and scheduled for elective surgery agreed to simulation of an unstable C-spine and ILS. Two attempts at laryngoscopy were allowed. Laryngoscopy was performed with the Macintosh laryngoscope, then with the AWS, or vice versa. The movement of the upper C-spine during intubation was examined by measuring the angles formed by adjacent vertebrae from the occiput to C4. Time to achievement of intubation was also recorded. RESULTS The AWS significantly decreased median movement of the C-spine at the occiput/C1, C1/C2, and C3/C4 concentrations (P=0.041, 0.0079, and 0.0050, respectively), resulting in a significant decrease in cumulative upper C-spine movement (13.5 degrees with the AWS compared with 30.5 degrees with the Macintosh laryngoscope, P<0.01). Intubation time did not differ [23.8 (SD 16.7) s with the AWS; 17.9 (6.4) s with the Macintosh]. CONCLUSIONS In comparison with the use of the Macintosh laryngoscope, the AWS decreased median upper C-spine movement during intubation under ILS in patients with normal C-spine.
DRAFT 1 Objective Analysis of Subjective Feedback Structures : The Problem of Consistency in Explaining Model Behavior

Real-world concepts can be operationalized into variety of feedback structures which may be mathematically identical but diverse in the number of feedback loops. Factors including model purpose, the modelers’ perspective and the intended audience all influence the final layout of a feedback rich model. One challenge in the analysis of model behavior is to account for the variations in the appearance of its structure and the feedback loops. This paper focuses on consistency in explaining model behavior and illustrates some of the issues related to the cancellation problem and figure-8 loops. Both conditions can potentially lead to poor and even contradictory explanations of model behavior based on its idiosyncratic feedback structure. The paper concludes by illustrating how the pathway participation approach addresses these two issues and calls for comparative studies to using alternative approaches to model analysis to better understand the general principles and subtleties in connecting the structure to the behavior and explaining observed dynamics. Different methods in formal analysis can learn from one another and expedite the development of user-friendly tools to aid model analysis that serve a wider audience. Introduction At the heart of system dynamics are consistent, coherent and dynamically correct causal explanations about how the system’s structure influences its behavior over time. It has been persuasively argued that intuitive understanding of dynamic systems is prone to error (Forrester, 1994; Peterson et al, 1994). Although simulation reveals the dynamics of complex systems and facilitates performing “what if” analysis, it is insufficient in providing consistent explanations about why the system does what it does. Significant progress has been made in the last several decade in developing tools and methods that can enhance modelers’ intuition on dynamics consequences of feedback structures. Yet more challenges are in the way. (Richardson, 1996; Sterman, 2000) One of the difficulties facing formal model analysis is that real-world concepts can be operationalized into a variety of feedback structures, which may be mathematically identical1, but diverse in the number of feedback loops. Such diversity can potentially lead to inconsistent and incorrect stories about how the structure contributes to the behavioral dynamics. “Non-dynamic” feedback loops (Lyneis and Lyneis, 2006), “phantom” loop (Kampmann and Oliva, 2006, 2008) and “figure-8” loops (Mojtahedzadeh, 1997; 1 Mathematically identical models are defined, here, as models that may differ the number of feedback loops they contain, but have the same reduced form. Reduced form of dynamic models can be obtained by substitution of auxiliary variables into the corresponding net rate equations (Sterman 2000, p. 203).
Resolving bridging references in unrestricted text

Our goal is to develop a system capable of treating the largest possible subset of definite descriptions in unrestricted written texts. A previous prototype resolved anaphoric uses of definite descriptions and identified some types of first-mention uses, achieving a recall of 56%. In this paper we present the latest version of our system, which handles some types of bridging references, uses WordNet as a source of lexical knowledge, and achieves a recall of 65%.
Surgical treatment of primary intramedullary spinal cord tumors in adult patients.

BACKGROUND Primary spinal cord intramedullary tumors are rare and present with insidious symptoms. Previous treatment protocols emphasized biopsy and radiation/chemotherapy but more aggressive protocols have emerged. OBJECTIVE To report our experience. METHOD Forty-eight patients were diagnosed with primary intramedullary tumors. The cervical cord was involved in 27% and thoracic in 42% of patients. Complete microsurgical removal was attempted whenever possible without added neurological morbidity. RESULTS Complete resection was obtained in 33 (71%) patients. Neurological function remained stable or improved in 32 patients (66.7%). Ependymoma was the most frequent tumor (66.7%). CONCLUSION Neurological outcome is superior in patients with subtle findings; aggressive microsurgical resection should be pursued with acceptable neurological outcomes.
Management de l'innovation

Aborde un domaine emergeant en gestion, l'innovation participative, c'est-a-dire les innovations proposees hors mission par l'ensemble des acteurs de l'entreprise. Ces innovations supposent une participation active de l'innovateur tout au long du processus de developpement. S'appuie sur une etude de terrain chez EDF-GDF Services.
Environment: Critical Essays in Human Geography

Contents: Introduction Part I Nature and Society: New Directions for Environmental Geography: Environmental appreciation: localities as a humane art, D. W. Meinig Introduction: the ecology of subsistence, Bernard Nietzschmann Population, resources and the ideology of science, David Harvey Geography, Marx and the concept of nature, Neil Smith and Phil O'Keefe On the poverty of theory: natural hazards research in context, Michael Watts Prospect, perspective and the evolution of the landscape idea, Denis Cosgrove. Part II Culture/Economy/Power: Thickening the Critical Turn in Environmental Geography: The matter of nature, Margaret Fitzsimmons Contesting terrain in Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands, Donald Moore The nature of metaphors in cultural geography and environmental history, David Demeritt Earth honoring: Western desires and indigenous knowledges, Jane M. Jacobs Human geography and the 'new ecology': the prospects and promise of integration, Karl S. Zimmer The nature of produced nature: materiality and knowledge construction in Marxism, Noel Castree Culture and nature at the Adelaide Zoo: at the frontiers of 'human' geography, Kay Anderson ZoA polis, Jennifer Wolch Buried epistemologies: the politics of nature in (post)colonial British Columbia, Bruce Willems-Braun Nature and fictitious capital: the historical geography of an agrarian question, George Henderson Rethinking environmental racism: white privilege and urban development in Southern California, Laura Pulido. Part III Beyond Dualism: Relational Histories and Ontologies: Hybrid geographies: rethinking the 'human' in human geography, Sarah Whatmore Privatizing water, producing scarcity: the Yorkshire drought of 1995, Karen J. Bakker The African origins of Carolina rice culture, Judith Carney Indeterminacy in-decisions a " science, policy and politics in the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) crisis, Steve Hinchliffe Resource curse? Governmentality, oil and power in the Niger delta, Nigeria, Michael Watts Turfgrass subjects: the political economy of urban monoculture, Paul Robbins and Julie Sharp Living cities: towards a politics of conviviality, Steve Hinchliffe and Sarah Whatmore Name index.
Familial clustering of seizure types within the idiopathic generalized epilepsies

Objective: To examine the genetic relationships among epilepsies with different seizure types—myoclonic, absence, and generalized tonic-clonic—within the idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGEs). Background: Careful phenotype definition in the epilepsies may allow division into groups that share susceptibility genes. Examination of seizure type, a phenotypic characteristic less complex than IGE syndrome, may help to define more homogeneous subgroups. Methods: Using the approach that found evidence of distinct genetic effects on myoclonic vs absence seizures in families from the Epilepsy Family Study of Columbia University, the authors examined an independent sample of families from Australia and Israel. They also examined the familial clustering of generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCs) within the IGEs in two combined data sets. Families were defined as concordant if all affected members had the same type of seizure or IGE syndrome, as appropriate for the analysis performed. Results: The proportion of families concordant for myoclonic vs absence seizures was greater than expected by chance in the Australian families. In addition, GTCs clustered in families with IGEs to a degree greater than expected by chance. Conclusions: These results provide additional evidence for distinct genetic effects on myoclonic vs absence seizures in an independent set of families and suggest that there is a genetic influence on the occurrence of generalized tonic-clonic seizures within the idiopathic generalized epilepsies.
A type IB topoisomerase with DNA repair activities

Previously we have characterized type IB DNA topoisomerase V (topo V) in the hyperthermophile Methanopyrus kandleri. The enzyme has a powerful topoisomerase activity and is abundant in M. kandleri. Here we report two characterizations of topo V. First, we found that its N-terminal domain has sequence homology with both eukaryotic type IB topoisomerases and the integrase family of tyrosine recombinases. The C-terminal part of the sequence includes 12 repeats, each repeat consisting of two similar but distinct helix-hairpin-helix motifs; the same arrangement is seen in recombination protein RuvA and mammalian DNA polymerase β. Second, on the basis of sequence homology between topo V and polymerase β, we predict and demonstrate that topo V possesses apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site-processing activities that are important in base excision DNA repair: (i) it incises the phosphodiester backbone at the AP site, and (ii) at the AP endonuclease cleaved AP site, it removes the 5′ 2-deoxyribose 5-phosphate moiety so that a single-nucleotide gap with a 3′-hydroxyl and 5′-phosphate can be filled by a DNA polymerase. Topo V is thus the prototype for a new subfamily of type IB topoisomerases and is the first example of a topoisomerase with associated DNA repair activities.
Flavivirus Activation of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Delineates Key Elements of TLR7 Signaling beyond Endosomal Recognition1

TLR7 senses RNA in endosomal compartments. TLR7 expression and signaling have been demonstrated in plasmacytoid and myeloid dendritic cells, B cells, and T cells. The regulation of TLR7 signaling can play a crucial role in shaping the immune response to RNA viruses with different cellular tropisms, and in developing adjuvants capable of promoting balanced humoral and cell-mediated immunity. We used unique characteristics of two ssRNA viruses, dengue virus and influenza virus, to delineate factors that regulate viral RNA-human TLR7 signaling beyond recognition in endosomal compartments. Our data show that TLR7 recognition of enveloped RNA virus genomes is linked to virus fusion or uncoating from the endosome. The signaling threshold required to activate TLR7-type I IFN production is greater than that required to activate TLR7-NF-κB-IL-8 production. The higher order structure of viral RNA appears to be an important determinant of TLR7-signaling potency. A greater understanding of viral RNA-TLR7 activity relationships will promote rational approaches to interventional and vaccine strategies for important human viral pathogens.
Zebrafish no isthmus reveals a role for pax2.1 in tubule differentiation and patterning events in the pronephric primordia.

Pax genes are important developmental regulators and function at multiple stages of vertebrate kidney organogenesis. In this report, we have used the zebrafish pax2.1 mutant no isthmus to investigate the role for pax2.1 in development of the pronephros. We demonstrate a requirement for pax2.1 in multiple aspects of pronephric development including tubule and duct epithelial differentiation and cloaca morphogenesis. Morphological analysis demonstrates that noi(- )larvae specifically lack pronephric tubules while glomerular cell differentiation is unaffected. In addition, pax2.1 expression in the lateral cells of the pronephric primordium is required to restrict the domains of Wilms' tumor suppressor (wt1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression to medial podocyte progenitors. Ectopic podocyte-specific marker expression in pronephric duct cells correlates with loss of expression of the pronephric tubule and duct-specific markers mAb 3G8 and a Na(+)/K(+) ATPase (&agr;)1 subunit. The results suggest that the failure in pronephric tubule differentiation in noi arises from a patterning defect during differentiation of the pronephric primordium and that mutually inhibitory regulatory interactions play an important role in defining the boundary between glomerular and tubule progenitors in the forming nephron.
Centre of pressure sway characteristics during static one-legged stance of athletes from different sports

Abstract The frequency of one-legged stance and two-legged stance differs considerably among sports. We therefore expect the balance ability of athletes from different sports to vary. This study compared the sway characteristics during a static one-legged stance of soccer players, basketball players, swimmers, and non-athletes. The centre of pressure sway during one-legged stance of ten male participants representing each of the four groups was measured using a stabilometer. Centre of pressure sway was assessed by four sway factors: sway velocity, anterior-posterior sway, horizontal sway, and high-frequency sway. None of the four groups of participants showed significant differences in body sway between standing on the dominant leg and standing on the non-dominant leg. The soccer players had more high-frequency sway and less anterior-posterior sway and horizontal sway than the basketball players, swimmers, and non-athletes. These results suggest that soccer players have superior ability to maintain a stable one-legged stance. Further study is required to determine how much of the superior balance ability in soccer players is innate and how much is developed through training, as well as to determine the relationship between balance ability and playing performance.
Effect of acute tryptophan depletion on noradrenaline and dopamine in the rat brain

In human subjects, the acute tryptophan (TRP) depletion (ATD) paradigm has been shown to have effects on mood and cognition. It is assumed that these effects are mediated through the serotonin system. In this study, we have examined the effects of ATD on the central concentrations of the monoamine transmitters, noradrenaline (NA) and dopamine (DA) as well as on serotonin (5-HT). Effects on NA and DA could also affect mood and cognition. Following oral administration of TRP-containing (TRP+) and TRP-free (TRP−) amino acid mixtures, neurotransmitter concentrations and free plasma TRP concentrations were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection. Free plasma TRP was significantly and substantially reduced (79%) in rats given a TRP— amino acid mixture when compared with those given a TRP+ mixture. ATD also significantly decreased 5-HT and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid in the frontal cortex, remaining cortex and hippocampus, but did not significantly reduce these in the striatum. Furthermore, ATD did not significantly alter the concentration of NA and DA in any brain region examined. This study demonstrates that the administration of a TRP− amino acid mixture in rats can reduce free plasma TRP to levels comparable to those reported in human studies. These results indicate that behavioural and cognitive changes produced by ATD in preclinical or clinical studies are likely to be due to specific effects on the serotonergic system.
FGF and FGFR signaling in chondrodysplasias and craniosynostosis

The first experimental mouse model for FGF2 in bone dysplasia was made serendipitously by overexpression of FGF from a constitutive promoter. The results were not widely accepted, rightfully drew skepticism, and were difficult to publish; because of over 2,000 studies published on FGF‐2 at the time (1993), only a few reported a role of FGF‐2 in bone growth and differentiation. However, mapping of human dwarfisms to mutations of the FGFRs shortly, thereafter, made the case that bone growth and remodeling was a major physiological function for FGF. Subsequent production of numerous transgenic and targeted null mice for several genes in the bone growth and remodeling pathways have marvelously elucidated the role of FGFs and their interactions with other genes. Indeed, studies of the FGF pathway present one of the best success stories for use of experimental genetics in functionally parsing morphogenetic regulatory pathways. What remains largely unresolved is the pleiotropic nature of FGF‐2. How does it accelerate growth in one cell then stimulate apoptosis or retard growth for another cell in the same type of tissue? Some of the answers may come through distinguishing the FGF‐2 protein isoforms, made from alternative translation start sites, these appear to have substantially different functions. Although we have made substantial progress, there is still much to be learned regarding FGF‐2 as a most complex, enigmatic protein. Studies of genetic models in mice and human FGFR mutations have provided strong evidence that FGFRs are important modulators of osteoblast function during membranous bone formation. However, there is some controversy regarding the effects of FGFR signaling in human and murine genetic models. Although significant progress has been made in our understanding of FGFR signaling, several questions remain concerning the signaling pathways involved in osteoblast regulation by activated FGFR. Additionally, little is known about the specific role of FGFR target genes involved in cranial bone formation. These issues need to be addressed in future in in vitro and in vivo approaches to better understand the molecular mechanisms of action of FGFR signaling in osteoblasts that result in anabolic effects in bone formation. J. Cell. Biochem. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Executive Decree Authority: Calling Out the Tanks or Filling Out the Forms?

This power to act according to discretion for the public good, without the prescription of the law and sometimes even against it, is that which is called prerogative; for since in some governments the law-making power is not always in being and is usually too numerous, and so too slow for the dispatch requisite to execution, and because, also, it is impossible to foresee and so by laws to provide for all accidents and necessities that may concern the public… therefore there is a latitude left to the executive power to do many things of choice which the laws do not prescribe . JOHN LOCKE (1986: CH. XIV) Hear me! I am your new President. From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be… Swedish. (Murmurs in the crowd.) Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside – so we can check. Furthermore, all children under sixteen years old are now… sixteen years old. COMANDANTE ESPOSITO, UPON SEIZING THE PRESIDENCY OF THE TINY LATIN AMERICAN REPUBLIC OF SAN MARCOS, IN WOODY ALLEN'S 1971 FILM, BANANAS INTRODUCTION Locke's case for prerogative would surely be received favorably by Russian President Boris Yeltsin or Argentine President Carlos Menem in defense of their use of executive decree.
MIC_FS : A novel model for feature selection by mutual information guided by clustering

Feature selection is an important problem for pattern classification systems. There are many methods for feature selection available, in which the feature selection method based on mutual information proposed by authors of Ref. [13] is one of the more effective approaches. However, it is often difficult to compute the mutual information for the continuous data whether using discretization strategy or directly employing density estimation method(e.g., Parzen windows). So, in this paper, we propose a novel model for feature selection by mutual information guided by clustering(MIC_FS). According to MIC_FS, a novel algorithm for feature selection(AMICFS) is introduced. In newly developed algorithm AMICFS, the mutual information between two features can be directly induced by the unsupervised fuzzy c-means clustering, and meanwhile the significance of features and the relevancy between features are simultaneously considered, hence a more effectively ranked feature list can be efficiently obtained in most cases. The experiments on 6 real-life benchmark datasets show that AMICFS is better or comparable as compared to Fisher Score.
Identification of the fibronectin sequences required for assembly of a fibrillar matrix

During extracellular matrix assembly, fibronectin (FN) binds to cell surface receptors and initiates fibrillogenesis. As described in this report, matrix assembly has been dissected using recombinant FN polypeptides (recFNs) expressed in mammalian cells via retroviral vectors. RecFNs were assayed for incorporation into the detergent- insoluble cell matrix fraction and for formation of fibrils at the cell surface as detected by indirect immunofluorescence. Biochemical and immunocytochemical data are presented defining the minimum domain requirements for FN fibrillogenesis. The smallest functional recFN is half the size of native FN and contains intact amino- and carboxy- terminal regions with a large internal deletion spanning the collagen binding domain and the first seven type III repeats. Five type I repeats at the amino terminus are required for assembly and have FN binding activity. The dimer structure mediated by the carboxy-terminal interchain disulfide bonds is also essential. Surprisingly, recFNs lacking the RGDS cell binding site formed a significant fibrillar matrix. Therefore, FN-FN interactions and dimeric structure appear to be the major determinants of fibrillogenesis.
Effective test generation and adequacy assessment for JavaScript-based web applications

Modern web applications rely heavily on JavaScript and client-side runtime manipulation of the DOM (Document Object Model) tree. However, JavaScript is loosely typed, dynamic, and challenging to analyze and test. We propose an automated technique to generate regression test cases at two complementary levels: (1) individual JavaScript functions, and (2) DOM event sequences. Moreover, to assess the quality of the test cases we propose a mutation testing technique that leverages static and dynamic program analysis to guide the mutation generation process towards parts of the code that are error-prone or likely to influence the program's output.