Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Western Saudi adolescent age estimation utilising third molar development

Objective: The aim of this study was to establish reference data on third molar morphology/development for age estimation in Western Saudi adolescents, between ages 14 and 23 years of old. Materials and Methods: The orthopantomograms of 130 individuals (males and females), were examined, and the stage of third molar development were evaluated. Results: Mean ages, standard deviations, and percentile distributions are presented for each stage of development. The mean estimated age for all participants (n = 130) was 219.7 months, and this differed significantly (P < 0.05) from the mean chronological age (226.5 months). Deviations of predicted age from real age showed 28.5% of all participants had their age estimated within 1 year (±12 months) of their chronological age. Most (43%) had their age underestimated by more than 12 months and the remaining 28.5% had their age overestimated by more than 12 months of their chronological age. Differences in left-right symmetry information of third molars were detected and were higher in the maxilla (92%) than in the mandible (82%). For all molars reaching stage "H" most individuals (males and females) were over the age 18 years of old. Males reach the developmental stages earlier than females. Conclusion: Third molar tooth development can be reliably used to generate mean age and the estimated age range for an individual of unknown chronological age. Further studies with large populations are needed for better statistical results.
Quantitative analysis of neuronal nitric oxide synthase‐immunoreactive neurons in the mouse hippocampus with optical disector

A detailed quantitative analysis of immunocytochemically identified nonprincipal neurons containing neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) was performed on the mouse hippocampus, with particular reference to the dorsoventral gradient. The present study applied two variations of a stereologic technique, the optical disector—one that used confocal laser‐scanning microscope optical sections to examine colocalization of nNOS and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67), and the other that used conventional thick sections to examine numerical densities (NDs) and cell sizes of nNOS‐immunoreactive (IR) neurons. Colocalization analysis indicated that practically all nNOS‐IR neurons (97.6%) were GAD67‐IR, whereas a part of the GAD67‐IR neurons (about 30%) were nNOS‐IR in the whole hippocampus at both dorsal and ventral levels. The percentages of GAD67‐IR neurons containing nNOS were higher in the dentate gyrus (DG, about 50%), and lower in the Ammon's horn (about 20%). Laminar analysis revealed that the majority of GAD67‐IR neurons contained nNOS in the stratum lacunosum‐moleculare of the CA3 region (about 60%) and in the molecular layer of the DG (about 80%). The NDs of nNOS‐IR neurons in the whole hippocampus showed a dorsoventral gradient, which increased from dorsal (1.6 × 103/mm3) to ventral (2.2 × 103/mm3) levels. The NDs were relatively higher in the principal cell layers, where about 40% of nNOS‐IR neurons were situated both in the Ammon's horn and DG. The mean cell sizes of nNOS‐IR neurons showed no remarkable laminar differences or dorsoventral gradient in the Ammon's horn, but they were extensively larger in the hilus of the DG than in other layers. These results indicate that nNOS‐IR neurons in the mouse hippocampus represent a subpopulation of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic neurons and suggest that the laminar distributions of nNOS‐IR neurons related to possible functional heterogeneity of GABAergic neurons in each hippocampal layer. J. Comp. Neurol. 410:398–412, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Emissions of Escherichia coli Carrying Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Resistance from Pig Farms to the Surrounding Environment

The dissemination of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) from food-producing animals to the surrounding environment has attracted much attention. To determine the emissions of ESBL-producing E. coli from pig farms to the surrounding environment, fecal and environmental samples from six pig farms were collected. In total, 119 ESBL-producing E. coli were isolated from feces, air samples, water, sludge and soil samples. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that the ESBL-producing isolates were resistant to multiple antibiotics and isolates of different origin within the same farm showed similar resistance phenotypes. Both CTX-M and TEM ESBL-encoding genes were detected in these isolates. CTX-M-14 and CTX-M-15 were the predominant ESBL genes identified. ESBL producers from feces and environmental samples within the same farm carried similar CTX-M types. The results indicated that the ESBL-producing E. coli carrying multidrug resistance could readily disseminate to the surrounding environment.
Manganese deficiency alters the patterning and development of root hairs in Arabidopsis

Manganese (Mn) is the second most prevalent transition metal in the Earth's crust but its availability is often limited due to rapid oxidation and low mobility of the oxidized forms. Acclimation to low Mn availability was studied in Arabidopsis seedlings subjected to Mn deficiency. As reported here, Mn deficiency caused a thorough change in the arrangement and characteristics of the root epidermal cells. A proportion of the extra hairs formed upon Mn deficiency were located in atrichoblast positions, indicative of a post-embryonic reprogramming of the cell fate acquired during embryogenesis. When plants were grown under a light intensity of >50 μmol m−2 s−1 in the presence of manganese root hair elongation was substantially inhibited, whereas Mn-deficient seedlings displayed stimulated root hair development. GeneChip analysis revealed several candidate genes with potential roles in the reprogramming of rhizodermal cells. None of the genes that function in epidermal cell fate specification were affected by Mn deficiency, indicating that the patterning mechanism which controls the differentiation of rhizodermal cells during embryogenesis have been bypassed under Mn-deficient conditions. This assumption is supported by the partial rescue of the hairless cpc mutant by Mn deficiency. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) analysis revealed that, besides the anticipated reduction in Mn concentration, Mn deficiency caused an increase in iron concentration. This increase was associated with a decreased transcript level of the iron transporter IRT1, indicative of a more efficient transport of iron in the absence of Mn.
The development of a brief group intervention (Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy) for patients with medically unexplained somatic symptoms: a pilot study

The primary aim of this equivalence study was to compare the outcome of a brief group therapeutic intervention, based on the principles of dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT) with an intervention based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in patients suffering from medically unexplained somatic symptoms (MUSS). Participants were 89 patients (aged 18 to 62) who were offered 20 sessions of either DIT or CBT, as central part of a treatment package, consisting of art therapy, psychomotor therapy, social therapy and physical therapy. Measurements were conducted at baseline, 10 weeks and 20 weeks, using self-rating scales measuring the level of anxiety and depression, the severity of medically unexplained symptoms and quality of life. Results showed that CBT and DIT were comparable. The conclusion was that it is recommended to design a larger scale randomised controlled trial to further elaborate the short-term and long-term effects of this novel psychodynamic group therapy for MUSS patients.
Measurement of Microvascular Transport Parameters of Macromolecules in Tissues and Organs of Intact Animals

A critical analysis is presented of two widely used approaches to measurement of microvascular transport of large molecules in intact animals: (1) measurement of lymph flow and macromolecular solute concentration relative to plasma, and (2) tissue accumulation of tracer macromolecules. To demonstrate the advantages and limitations of each method, experimental results which permit direct comparison of the two methodologies are reviewed and analyzed, and sources or error in each pointed out. It is concluded that both approaches are valid under the appropriate conditions: steady state for lymph, initial transient state for tissue uptake. These conditions are mutually exclusive, but complementary. When the requirements for neither lymph collection or tissue accumulation alone can be satisfied experimentally, a combination of the two approaches can yield valid results.
Fingerprint-MDS based algorithm for indoor wireless localization

Indoor wireless localization has emerged as a key wireless network technology and has been used for a variety of applications. In this paper, we examine the possibility to use one RF-based fingerprint system for indoor wireless localization, and show that there is room for improvement in its location sensing approach. We propose an indoor wireless localization solution by improving a fingerprinting localization algorithm with Multidimensional Scaling (MDS). In our approach, we configure RFID readers to receive signal strengths from both RFID tags and reference points, and use a fingerprinting localization algorithm for initial location estimation. We preprocess the received signal strength information to obtain the pairwise distances' estimation between the RFID tags and the reference points. Having estimated the pairwise squared distances, we apply MDS to reconstruct the RFID tags' distribution, and we subsequently use Procrustes analysis to refine the previously obtained fingerprinting location estimation. Simulation results show that our proposed localization algorithm improves the localization accuracy of the fingerprinting approach under different wireless network conditions.
On 'Deep Evaluation' for Individual Computational Grammars and for Cross-Framework Comparison

A rather difficult point in grammar engineering evaluation is how to test and compare for analytic adequacy. A test design for 'deep' grammars is here proposed, where a parse is considered valid only if the assignment of syntactic and semantic structures that it displays obey certain conditions. The set of grammatical sentences in the test suite is construed as leaf types in a construction ontology, where the top types introduce the discriminants according to which constructions are categorized. These discriminants conform to notions shared across linguistic frameworks, and the validity conditions are defined within a well-known space of analytic parameters. One may envisage that with such a design, a meeting point can emerge for comparing frameworks with regard to agreed-upon aspects of linguistic content, and individual grammars with regard to their analytic aims and actual achievements relative to the aims. In Phillip Pullman's His dark materials, humans in one of the worlds have their soul partly realized as a little animal always accompanying them, sharing their thinking and emotions, but still behaving partly as independent agents; they are called daemons.
Effects of protein, mucin, and human tears on adherence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to hydrophilic contact lenses

Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from a corneal ulcer was examined for its ability to adhere to hydrophilic contact lenses with adsorbed organic films. Generally, adherence was enhanced by mucin, lactoferrin, lysozyme, immunoglobulin A, bovine serum albumin, and a mixture of these macromolecules. The water content of the lenses also influenced bacterial adherence and protein adsorption. Adherence to lenses coated with human tear films was more complex; both enhanced and inhibited adherence were observed on lenses obtained from different individuals.
Blood pressure and cardiovascular parameters during sleep arousals

Sleep arousal is generally known as a transient episode of wakefulness into the sleepiness. Sleep arousals can be classified based on their association and accompany with pathological episodes. In this paper, our objective was to find out whether various types of sleep arousals influence on blood pressure and Heart Rate Variability (HRV). We analysed continuous Diastolic and Systolic Blood Pressures (DBP and SBP), Pulse Transit Time (PTT) as well as High and Low Frequency components (HF and LF) of HRV in different types of arousals. We developed Slope Index (SI) to determine whether a feature was ascending or descending before, during and after the occurrence of a sleep arousal. Slope Index Positive Percentage (SIPP) was created and computed for all features to find out the percentage of arousals with an ascending trend of a cardiovascular feature. In pre-arousal epochs, we obtained SIPPDBP= 48.9%, SIPPSBP = 48.2% and SIPPLF = 41%. Whilst during the arousal episodes, the SIPPDBP, SIPPSBP and SIPPLF increased to 57.2%, 57.4% and 78.9%, correspondingly. This means that during arousal occurrence these parameters were likelier to rise. Whereas SIPP of PTT and HF component of HRV during arousals were less than prearousal. This indicated PTT and HF were highly probable to drop during the arousal than to rise. The high SIPPDBP and SIPPSBP parameters, approximately 76%, during the arousals indicates that sleep arousals may cause a sudden increase in blood pressure.
Reducing medication regimen complexity: a controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To determine if a visual intervention (medication grid) delivered to physicians can reduce medication regimen complexity. DESIGN Nonrandomized, controlled trial. SETTING Veterans Affairs medical center. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS Eight hundred thirty-six patients taking at least 5 medications at the time of admission and the 48 teams of physicians and students on the general medicine inpatient service. INTERVENTION For intervention patients, a medication grid was created that displayed all of the patients' medicines and the times of administration for 1 week. This grid was delivered to the admitting resident soon after admission. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS For the patients of each team of physicians, we calculated the change in the average number of medications and doses from admission to discharge. The number of medications in the intervention group decreased by 0.92 per patient, and increased by 1.65 in the control group (P <.001). The mean number of doses per day in the intervention group decreased by 2.47 per patient and increased by 3.83 in the control group (P <.001). CONCLUSIONS This simple intervention had a significant impact on medication regimen complexity in this population. Apparently, physicians were able to address polypharmacy when the issue was brought to their attention.
Adiposity and insufficient MVPA predict cardiometabolic abnormalities in adults.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study is to compare the extent to which different combinations of objectively measured sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity contribute to cardiometabolic health. DESIGN AND METHODS A population representative sample of 5268 individuals, ages 20-85 yr, was included from the combined 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey datasets. Activity categories were created on the combined basis of objectively measured SB and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) tertiles. Cardiometabolic abnormalities included elevated blood pressure, levels of triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, C-reactive protein, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance value, and low HDL cholesterol level. Body mass index and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry-derived percent body fat and android adiposity were also compared across groups. Predictors for a metabolically abnormal phenotype (≥3 cardiometabolic abnormalities or insulin resistance) were determined. RESULTS Adults with the least SB and greatest MVPA exhibited the healthiest cardiometabolic profiles, whereas adults with the greatest SB and lowest MVPA were older and had elevated risk. Time spent in SB was not a predictor of the metabolically abnormal phenotype when MVPA was accounted for. Adults with the highest MVPA across SB tertiles did not differ markedly in prevalence of obesity, adiposity, and/or serum cardiometabolic risk factors; however, less MVPA was associated with substantial elevations of obesity and cardiometabolic risk. Android adiposity (per kilogram) was independently associated with the metabolically abnormal phenotype in both men (odds ratio, 2.36 (95% CI, 1.76-3.17), P < 0.001) and women (odds ratio, 2.00 (95% CI, 1.63-2.45), P < 0.001). Among women, greater SB and less lifestyle moderate activity and MVPA were each independently associated with the metabolically abnormal phenotype, whereas only less MVPA was associated with it in men. CONCLUSIONS MVPA is a strong predictor of cardiometabolic health among adults, independent of time spent in SB.
The use of signs and the coding of prefix markers by teachers at a school for the deaf.

The use of aspects of an artificially devised manual code in a black school for the deaf was examined. The encoding of prefixes, bound with the noun class system, in Tswana as used by seven teachers was studied as well as the consistency of the teachers to code lexical items. Results indicated the absence of signed prefix markers, inconsistency in signing lexical items and much variability among teachers in the signs used. The educational and research implications are discussed.
Non-fragile H∞ output tracking control for fishpond physiology ecosystems

Using the delta operator approach, the problem of designing non-fragile H∞ output tracking controller for fishpond physiology ecosystems is studied in a unified framework. The purpose of this problem addressed is to design a output tracking controller such that the closed-loop system is asymptotically stable and achieves tracking control performance for all admissible additive controller gain variations. The considered controller gain variation type is more general than the existing norm-bounded gain uncertainties. An improved version of bounded real lemma is also presented. A sufficient condition for the existence of such a controller is obtained in terms of linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique. Finally, a numerical example based on linearize model of a fishpond physiology ecosystem is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Applying Behavior Management Strategies in a Sport-Coaching Context

Sport coaching is a multifaceted profession with many responsibilities. Coaches can have a profound effect on athletes that can be both positive and negative. Coaches have the ability to motivate athletes and increase their self-esteem. Conversely, negative effects of coaching may include athlete drop-outs, injuries, and loss of confidence. Coaches need to manage the coaching environment and create positive surroundings to ensure that athletes achieve their optimum potential. Managing a coaching environment refers to how coaches establish and maintain order. This paper explores the literature on behavior management in education and sport settings and aims to contribute to sport-coaching knowledge. General coaching tips for managing athlete behavior are suggested along with examples of potential coaching strategies.
Face Recognition using SIFT Descriptor under Multiple Paradigms of Graph Similarity Constraints

Biometric systems are considered as human pattern recognition systems that can be used for individual identification and verification. The decision on the authenticity is done with the help of some specific measurable physiological or behavioral characteristics possessed by the individuals. Robust architecture of any biometric system provides very good performance of the system against rotation, translation, scaling effect and deformation of the image on the image plane. Further, there is a need of development of real-time biometric system. There exist many graph matching techniques used to design robust and real-time biometrics systems. This paper discusses two graph matching techniques that have been successfully used in face biometric traits.
A randomized controlled trial of the effect of an intensive 1-year care management program on measures of health status in independent, community-living old elderly: the Eldercare project.

BACKGROUND Primary care practitioners are familiar with the frail elderly and commonly have to deal with their multi-morbidity and their functional decline, both physically and mentally. However, there are well elderly with high quality of life and very few co-morbidities who seldom seek medical care. OBJECTIVE To determine if a nurse-based program of home-delivered care, linked directly with the primary care practitioner or primary care team, would improve quality of life, symptoms, satisfaction with care and utilization of community and medical services, in independent community living old elderly. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. SETTING St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. PARTICIPANTS Two hundred and thirty-six independent, community-dwelling, cognitively functioning, people aged 80 years and older. INTERVENTION A nurse-based program of care, carried out in the patients home, that involved a detailed assessment of needs, the development of a plan to meet the needs, and up to eight visits to the patients home during a 1-year period to facilitate the meeting of those needs. CONTROL GROUP Usual care MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS Quality of Life measured using the SF-36 and the CASP-19 scales; symptomology using the Comorbidity Symptom Scale; patient satisfaction using the PSQ-18; and assessment of health care services (community services, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, use of diagnostic services and family doctor visits) through patient recall, family physician chart review and assessment of hospitalization records. RESULTS There were no statistical or meaningful differences between the intervention and control groups in any of the outcomes measured. CONCLUSION The intensive, home-delivered, program of care for the well old elderly did not have an impact on the outcomes measured.
A Fast ULV Logic Synthesis Flow in Many-$V_{t}$  CMOS Processes for Minimum Energy Under Timing Constraints

Ultra-low-voltage (ULV) logic offers the opportunity to operate at the minimum-energy point (MEP) for applications with low-to-medium speed requirements. Unfortunately, the critical design constraint of achieving a reliable timing closure at the target frequency of the application becomes very complex in the wide design space of ULV including supply (Vdd) and threshold (Vt) voltage selection as well as netlist optimizations from the synthesis. In this paper, we propose a fast synthesis flow to accurately predict the Vdd/Vt MEP under strict timing constraints. Compared to an exhaustive search for the MEP under timing constraints based on numerous library recharacterizations and synthesis steps for all Vdd/Vt pairs, the proposed ULV flow dramatically speeds up the design process. Indeed, it requires a single library recharacterization and only three synthesis steps. Results obtained for several ITC'99 benchmarks under a wide range of timing constraints from 0.1 to 30 MHz in 65-nm LP/GP CMOS demonstrate that the proposed flow has a less than 10% energy penalty with respect to the absolute MEP computed with an exhaustive search and energy savings enhanced up to 2.4× compared to a conventional flow with Vdd scaling only.