Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New technique for producing uniform partial lacerations of tendons

Previous experimental studies of partial flexor tendon lacerations have used tendons cut by hand with magnification and a scalpel. When we biomechanically tested chicken flexor tendons lacerated by hand through 75% of their cross‐sectional area, the tensile strength of the residual tendons varied substantially among specimens from different chickens as well as between digit matched pairs of tendons from the same animal. A device was designed that uses standard scalpel blades to create a uniform tendon laceration by leaving a constant area of tendon intact regardless of original tendon size or shape. With the instrument we have called the “tenotome,” a second group of chicken flexor tendons were lacerated through 75% of their cross‐sectional area. Biomechanical testing of the tendons cut with the tenotome showed significantly less variation when compared with the tendons cut by hand. Use of the tenotome permits the establishment of a more uniform model for partial flexor tendon injuries, and potentially decreases the number of specimens needed to demonstrate statistical significance.
HIGHER EDUCATION INTERVENTIONS IN THE EU FUNDING CONTEXT DURING 2007 – 2013 PROGRAMING PERIOD IN BULGARIA

This article presents an analysis of the interventions supporting specific public policies, in the field of higher education, in Bulgaria. These fall within the framework of the European Union structural funds of the 2007 – 2013 program. The paper identifies the types of operations and financial allocations according to their mode of intervention, and reports on the impact of their implementation. It concludes with recommendations for the new operational program, “Science and education for smart growth 2014 – 2020. ”
Protective effects of a thromboxane synthetase inhibitor, a thromboxane antagonist, a lipoxygenase inhibitor and a leukotriene C4, D4 antagonist on myocardial injury caused by acute myocardial infarction in the canine heart.

We studied the effects of a thromboxane A2 synthetase inhibitor (RS-5186), a thromboxane A2 antagonist (ONO-3708), a 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor (AA-861) and a peptidoleukotriene antagonist (ONO-1078) on infarct size, polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration, gross myocardial hemorrhage and arrhythmias in the canine coronary occlusion (2 hour)-reperfusion model (5 hour). The infarct size and risk area were determined by a double staining technique. Thirty minutes prior to occluding the coronary arteries, dogs were randomly assigned to one of the following five groups: the thromboxane A2 synthetase inhibitor group (n = 11) receiving RS-5186 10 mg/kg i.v. , the thromboxane A2 antagonist group (n = 12) receiving continuous intravenous infusion of ONO-3708 1 microgram/kg/min, the lipoxygenase inhibitor group (n = 11) receiving AA-861 3 mg/kg i.v. , the peptidoleukotriene antagonist group (n = 11) receiving continuous intravenous infusion of ONO-1078 1 microgram/kg/min and the vehicle control group (n = 15). Except for ONO-3708, all the other drugs reduced the infarct size (RS-5186: 26.3 +/- 2.4% of risk area (mean +/- SEM), AA-861: 21.8 +/- 1.3%, ONO-1078: 22.5 +/- 4.4% vs control: 54.0 +/- 6.4%, p less than 0.01 respectively) as well as reducing the area of gross myocardial hemorrhage (RS-5186: 3.9 +/- 2.6% of infarct size, AA-861: 5.1 +/- 2.4%, ONO-1078: 5.2 +/- 2.5% vs control: 22.3 +/- 3.9%, p less than 0.01 respectively). RS-5186 and AA-861 reduced the intensity of polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration into the infarcted area, however, neither ONO-3708 nor ONO-1078 had any significant influence. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Coping strategies as related to medical and demographic data in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Montel S, Albertini L, Spitz E. Coping strategies as related to medical and demographic data in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Acta Neurol Scand: 2012: 125: 135–141. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Differences between pelvic skin and bone landmark identification in different seated positions on spinal-cord injured subjects

The purpose of this paper was to determine the differences between internal and external pelvic landmark locations in different seating positions. A computer tool developed for the registration of two series of images was used to obtain the internal geometry. First, images of the pelvis were acquired by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for each subject, in a supine position; internal landmarks were then identified on the images. Second, ultrasound images of the iliac crests were acquired in four seated positions. A registration algorithm was applied to obtain the transformation matrix between the two image reference systems. The MRI anatomical landmarks were, therefore, transferred into the ultrasound referential, to obtain their three-dimensional (3-D) location in the different seating positions. The external landmarks in those seated positions were identified with a 3-D digitizer. The results revealed that generally the internal and external coordinates of corresponding landmarks are statistically different. The differences are not only due to soft tissue thickness but also to different interpretations of the landmarks' locations between the supine and the seated postures. However, these differences generally did not affect significantly the accuracy with which orientation indexes can be estimated (pelvic tilt, obliquity, transverse rotation). Correlations were found between the internal and external coordinates, implying that linear regressions can be established.
GENDER STUDY ON METAPHOR USE IN ECONOMIC NEWS DISCOURSE

ABSTRACT The study aimed at analyzing and comparing gender metaphor use in English Economic discourse. It tries to see gender characteristics in linguistic metaphor, conceptualization and motivation. With corpus data gained from The Jakarta Post, a qualitative descriptive method is employed. A tripartite discourse analysis model, inspection of micro, meso and macro level of analysis which developed by Koller (2004, 2008) is utilized. The corpus data is obtained through metaphor annotation procedure, namely MIPVU (Metaphor Identification Procedure Verjie Universitiet). Further, the data is extracted through inference method of NMT (Neural Theory of Metaphor). The result shows that gender share similarity and differences in metaphor use. In this case, gender linguistic realization use some similar lexical metaphor and some is gender specific lexical metaphor choices. Those similarity and differences of lexical metaphor are yielding similar and different gender conceptualization. Further, all men and women economic news discourses are count with online LIWC parameter. Then, the result shows that men and women economic new discourses are also distinctive. Under critical discourse inspection, gender metaphor use is also revealing gender identity and gender role which rising the issues of gender equity. Keywords: Gender, metaphor, economic news discourse
A NEW APPROACH OF ROMANIA'S MONETARY INTEGRATION - AN ADJUSTED MODEL

Recent crisis evolutions have changed both the hypothesis in terms of monetary integration inside the Euro Zone for future members, but also the type of approach needed in order to achieve two major objectives' sets. These aims can be described as sustainability and medium and long term macroeconomic volatility control. This paper envisages pointing out Romania's necessary approach concerning the Euro adoption process based on a set of variables determining a so called convergence array. Components are determined leaving from the depth of the real convergence and catching-up process, from the structural analysis of the Romanian economy and its GDP evolution during recent years and getting to the out-put variation, foreign debt directing towards more or less productive investments. In order to get a clearer perspective of Romania's growth perspective, we test the OeNB's Forecasting Model for Selected CESEE Countries for Romania.
Phenomenology and Course of Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Background The diagnostic category of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) was originally intended to describe residual anxiety states. Over the years clinical criteria have been refined in an attempt to describe a unique diagnostic entity. Given these changes, little is known about the clinical course of this newly defined disorder. This study investigates the longitudinal course, including remission and relapse rates, for patients with DSM–III–R defined GAD. Method Analysis of the 164 patients with GAD participating in the Harvard Anxiety Research Program. Patients were assessed with a structured clinical interview at intake and re-examined at six month intervals for two years and then annually for one to two years. Psychiatric Status Ratings were assigned at each interview point. Kaplan–Meier curves were constructed to assess likelihood of remission. Results Comorbidity was high, with panic disorder and social phobia as the most frequently found comorbid disorders. The likelihood of remission was 0.15 after one year and 0.25 after two years. The probability of becoming asymptomatic from all psychiatric symptoms was only 0.08. Conclusions This prospective study confirms the chronicity associated with GAD and extends this finding to define the one and two year remission rates for the disorder. Likelihood of remission for GAD and any other comorbid condition after one year was half the annual remission rate for GAD alone.
Female Gender Is Associated With Impaired Quality of Life 1 Year After Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Objective To evaluate gender-related differences in quality of life (QOL) and cognitive function 1 year after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) after adjusting for known baseline differences. Materials and Methods Two hundred eighty patients (96 women and 184 men) underwent neurocognitive and QOL evaluation at baseline (preoperatively) and at 1 year after CABG. Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the relationship of gender to follow-up QOL and cognitive function. Measures used to evaluate QOL were IADL, DASI, work activities (SF-36), social activities, social support, general health perception (SF-36), CESD, STAI, and symptom limitations. Cognitive function was measured with a battery of performance-based neuropsychological tests, reduced to a four-cognitive domain scores with factor analysis, and a self-report measure of cognitive difficulties. Covariates in multiple regression models included age, years of education, marital status, Charlson Comorbidity Index, hypertension, diabetes, race, and baseline QOL/cognitive status. Results Female patients showed significantly worse outcome than male patients at 1 year follow-up in several key areas of QOL. After adjusting for baseline differences, women are at greater risk for increased cognitive difficulties (p = 0.04) and anxiety (p = 0.03), as well as impaired DASI (p = 0.02), IADL (p = 0.03), and work activities (p = 0.02). Cognitive sequelae attributable to bypass surgery were similar between men and women. Conclusions Even after adjusting for known risk factors for compromised QOL and cognitive functioning, women do not show the same long-term quality benefits of CABG surgery that men do.
Factors that influence the volatile organic compound content in human breath

Background. Thousands of endogenous and exogenous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are excreted in each breath. Inflammatory and deviant metabolic processes affect the level of endogeneous VOCs, which can serve as specific biomarkers for clinical diagnosis and disease monitoring. Important issues that still need to be tackled are related to potential confounding factors like gender and age and endogenous and exogenous factors, like f.i. smoking. Methods. The aim of this study was to systematically access the effect of endogenous and exogenous factors on VOC composition of exhaled breath. In the current study breath samples from 1417 adult participants from the LifeLines cohort, a general population cohort in the Netherlands, were collected and the total content of VOCs was measured using gas chromatography-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry. Breath samples were collected in Groningen and transferred to carbon tubes immediately. These samples were then shipped to Maastricht and measured in batches. VOCs profiles were correlated to 14 relevant characteristics of all participants including age, BMI, smoking and blood cell counts and metabolic parameters as well as to 16 classes of medications. Results. VOCs profiles were shown to be significantly influenced by smoking behavior and to a lesser extent by age, BMI and gender. These factors need to be controlled for in breath analysis studies. We found no evidence whatsoever in this 1417 subjects’ cohort that white blood cell counts, cholesterol or triglycerides levels have an influence on the VOC profile. Thus they may not have to be controlled for in exhaled breath studies. Conclusion. The large cohort of volunteers used here represents a unique opportunity to gauge the factors influencing VOCs profiles in a general population i.e. the most clinically relevant population. Classical clinical parameters and smoking habits clearly influence breath content and should therefore be accounted for in future clinical studies involving breath analysis.
TrojanGuard: Simple and effective hardware Trojan mitigation techniques for Pipelined MPSoCs

Hardware Trojans are a major concern due to the damage caused by their stealth. One popular utilization of Multiprocessor System on Chips (MPSoCs) is the Pipelined MPSoC (PMPSoC) architectures. They are used in applications from video surveillance to consumer electronics. We present a method that detects the presence of Trojans in third party IP cores of PMPSoCs, by continuous monitoring and testing, and recovers by switching the infected core with another core. We implemented the system on a commercial cycle accurate multiprocessor simulation environment. Our system incurs about 2× area and leakage power, and 1.5× dynamic power overheads, without any adverse impact on throughput compared to the state of the art that uses Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR) and therefore incurs at least 3× overhead.
Enalaprilat-Mediated Activation of Kinin B1 Receptors and Vasodilation in the Rat Isolated Perfused Kidney

The present study evaluated whether enalaprilat (the active form of enalapril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor) activates B1 receptors. We observed that the levels of B1 receptor mRNA and protein expression were upregulated in the kidneys of diabetic rats. Bradykinin (BK)-induced renal vasodilation decreased in isolated perfused kidneys of diabetic rats, but des-Arg9-BK-induced renal vasodilation increased. Enalaprilat also produced vasodilation in the isolated perfused kidneys of control and diabetic rats. The response to des-Arg9-BK or enalaprilat was blocked by Lys-(des-Arg9, Leu8)-BK (a B1 receptor antagonist) and N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase). These results suggest that enalaprilat activates B1 receptors and stimulates the production of nitric oxide in the kidneys of both control and diabetic rats.
Workability, endurance and energy shifts in consolidation and memory in aggressive and non-aggressive animals and and Neurochemical profile

Aggression is a motivational behaviour which has a definite direction. On the other hand, we can consider it as a reason of social degradation or it can be viewed as a population and civilization suppressor. Insensive researches are being carried out in resent years in order to define the characteristic mechanisms of aggression, for example, to determine the emotional condition of the subject. Emotions are specific objective changes typical for viability which are identified through biochemical, electrophysiological, motor functions (2,4,9). This is why the objective of our work is to determine endurance and workability in aggressive and non-aggressive animals.
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura with the use of efalizumab for psoriasis

by M. tuberculosis but are absent from BCG vaccine strains and from most nontuberculous mycobacteria. There is no crossreactivity in previously vaccinated patients. The test is reported to have greater sensitivity and specificity than Mantoux testing (QFG-T: 89% and 98Æ1%; Mantoux: 72% and 82%). We performed a pilot study of 11 patients (age range 27– 56 years, eight male, three female,) with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis who qualified for anti-TNF-a therapy in accordance with NICE guidance. All patients were of white ethnicity. The QuantiFERON -TB Gold test was performed and compared to Mantoux testing (Table 1). Eight QFT-G tests were negative; three were indeterminate, none were positive. Of the negative tests, all had negative Mantoux tests except one male patient with a Mantoux test of 20 mm diameter. He had been previously vaccinated with BCG but had no risk factors for exposure. Tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis was avoided on the basis of his negative QFT-G. The cost of each test was £58. This compares with the projected cost of unnecessary chemoprophylaxis for 2 months of approximately £750. This feasibility study confirms that the QuantiFERON -TB Gold test is useful for tuberculosis screening prior to antiTNF-a therapy, potentially saving patients from unnecessary chemoprophylaxis. There are direct cost saving implications of the test and indirect savings through a reduction in multiple hospital visits required for the Mantoux method. The QuantiFERON -TB Gold test is currently licensed in the United States for screening for tuberculosis. Its use as a screening tool for anti-TNFa therapy is documented in rheumatology patients; routine use in U.K. tuberculosis screening remains under evaluation. We believe this novel assay should replace traditional Mantoux testing when screening patients for anti-TNF-a therapy.
The Fate of Trichohyalin

Trichohyalin (THH) is a major structural protein of the inner root sheath cells and medulla layer of the hair follicle and, to a lesser extent, of other specialized epithelia. THH is a high molecular weight insoluble α-helix-rich protein that forms rigid structures as a result of postsynthetic modifications by two Ca2+-dependent enzymes, transglutaminases (TGases) (protein cross-linking) and peptidyl-arginine deiminase (conversion of arginines to citrullines with loss of organized structure). The modified THH is thought to serve as a keratin intermediate filament matrix protein and/or as a constituent of the cell envelope. In this paper, we have explored in vitro the order of processing of THH to fulfill these functions, using an expressed truncated, more soluble form THH-8. THH-8 is a complete substrate for three known TGases expressed in epithelia, but the kinetic efficiency with TGase 3 is by far the greatest. Following maximal conversion of its arginines to citrullines, THH-8 is cross-linked even more efficiently by TGase 3, using most glutamines partially and all lysines. In addition, we show that insoluble aggregates of THH-8 or native pig tongue THH can be solubilized following peptidyl-arginine deiminase modification. Together, these data suggest an in vivo model in which THH located in insoluble cytoplasmic droplets is first modified by peptidyl-arginine deiminase which denatures it and makes it more soluble. This renders it available for efficient cross-linking by TGase 3 to form highly cross-linked rigid structures in the cells. This temporal order of reaction is supported by the observation that THH is expressed in hair follicle cells before the TGase 3 enzyme.
KGEval: Accuracy Estimation of Automatically Constructed Knowledge Graphs

Automatic construction of large knowledge graphs (KG) by mining web-scale text datasets has received considerable attention recently. Estimating accuracy of such automatically constructed KGs is a challenging problem due to their size and diversity. This important problem has largely been ignored in prior research – we fill this gap and propose KGEval. KGEval uses coupling constraints to bind facts and crowdsources those few that can infer large parts of the graph. We demonstrate that the objective optimized by KGEval is submodular and NP-hard, allowing guarantees for our approximation algorithm. Through experiments on real-world datasets, we demonstrate that KGEval best estimates KG accuracy compared to other baselines, while requiring significantly lesser number of human evaluations.
Gender Differences in Preference for Learning Environment Among Aviation Education Students

Author: Eric M. Moyer Title: Gender Differences in Preference for Learning Environment Among Aviation Education Students Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Degree: Master of Science in Human Factors and Systems Year: 2003 This study investigated whether differences existed between sex, male and female, for the preference of three different syllabi describing three different learning environments. Learning environments consisted of collaborative, and individual, with the individual sub-divided into competitive, and individual while co-varying participants for credit hours. 264 surveys were administered to students in freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes in order to collect preference, and demographic data. The surveys were presented as three fictional syllabi differing only in class grading format, and a paragraph on the instructional philosophy of the professor. Instructional philosophies described the proposed environment of the class by enforcing the individual, competitive, or collaborative instructional methods. According to recent literature, women were predicted to prefer collaborative classroom environments to individual/competitive classroom environments and males were predicted to prefer competitive/individual over collaborative classroom environments. Limitations for the present study were discussed as well as suggestions for future research.