Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Assessment of Static Balance in Patients after Total Hip Replacement in the Period of 2-3 Years after Surgery

Introduction The aim of this study was to assess static balance of patients after Total Hip Replacement (THR) compared with the age-matched, asymptomatic control group, considering the subject's gender and the time since the surgery. Materials and Methods The Total Hip Replacement (THR) group consisted of 55 subjects (mean age: 56.3 ± 8.7 years) and the control group consisted of 48 subjects (mean age: 58 ± 6.2 years). For the assessment of static balance, a stabilometric force platform was used. All subjects performed two 30-second trials in the double-leg stance position with eyes opened and closed. In the study group, the stabilometric assessment was performed once within the period of 24 to 36 months after the surgery. Results Subjects from the study group had significantly increased mediolateral COP velocity in the test with eyes opened, as well as the values of most of the COP parameters (excluding COP path area) in the test with eyes closed, compared to the control group. Higher values of the selected COP parameters were observed in the male subjects from the study group. Conclusion In contrast to a number of papers, our study revealed some deficits in static balance in patients after THR up to 2-3 years after surgery.
Adoption, Acceptability, and Effectiveness of a Mobile Health App for Personalized Prostate Cancer Survivorship Care: Protocol for a Realist Case Study of the Ned App

Background By 2030, prostate cancer will be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in North America. To mitigate this impending challenge, comprehensive support mechanisms for disease- and treatment-specific changes in health and well-being must be proactively designed and thoughtfully implemented for streamlined survivorship care. mHealth apps have been lauded as a promising complement to current outpatient treatment and monitoring strategies, but have not yet been widely used to support prostate cancer survivorship needs. A realist evaluation is needed to examine the impact of such apps on the prostate cancer survivorship experience. Objective We seek to gain an understanding of how an mHealth app for prostate cancer survivorship care called Ned (No Evident Disease) is adopted and accepted by patients, caregivers, and clinicians. We also aim to determine the effect of Ned on health-related quality of life, satisfaction with cancer care, unmet needs, self-efficacy, and prostate cancer-related levels of anxiety. Methods The Ned case study is a 12-month mixed-methods embedded single-case study with a nested within-group pre-post comparison of health outcomes. We will give 400 patients, 200 caregivers, and 10 clinicians access to Ned. Participants will be asked to complete study assessments at baseline, 2 months, 6 months, and 12 months. We will conduct 30 semistructured qualitative interviews with patients (n=20) and their caregivers (n=10) poststudy to gain insight into their experience with the app. Results We recruited our first survivor in October 2017 and anticipate completing this study by May 2019. Conclusions This will, to our knowledge, be the first realist case study to evaluate an app for prostate cancer survivorship care. Prostate cancer survivors are set to increase in number and longevity, heightening the need for integrated survivorship solutions to provide them with optimal and durable outcomes. The knowledge gained from this study will comprehensively inform how and why Ned works, for whom, and in what circumstances. Understanding the impact of digital health interventions such as Ned on how survivors care for themselves is critical to realizing patient-centered care.
Developmental plasticity of GABAergic neurotransmission to brainstem motoneurons

Critical homeostatic behaviours such as suckling, swallowing and breathing depend on the precise control of tongue muscle activity. Perinatal nicotine exposure has multiple effects on baseline inhibitory GABAergic neurotransmission to hypoglossal motoneurons (XIIMNs), consistent with homeostatic compensations directed at maintaining normal motoneuron output. Developmental nicotine exposure (DNE) alters how GABAergic neurotransmission is modulated by acute activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which may provide insight into mechanisms by which nicotine exposure alters motor function under conditions that result in increased release of GABA, such as hypoxia, or endogenous acetylcholine, as occurs in the transition from NREM to REM sleep, or in response to exogenous nicotine.
Oxidative Stress as a Critical Factor in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Pathogenesis.

SIGNIFICANCE Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by liver triacylglycerol build-up, has been growing in the global world in concert with the raised prevalence of cardiometabolic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipemia. Redox imbalance has been suggested to be highly relevant to NAFLD pathogenesis. Recent Advances: As a major health problem, NAFLD progresses to the more severe nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) condition and predisposes susceptible individuals to liver and cardiovascular disease. Although NAFLD represents the predominant cause of chronic liver disorders, the mechanisms of its development and progression remain incompletely understood, even if various scientific groups ascribed them to the occurrence of insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, inflammation, and apoptosis. Nevertheless, oxidative stress (OxS) more and more appears as the most important pathological event during NAFLD development and the hallmark between simple steatosis and NASH manifestation. CRITICAL ISSUES The purpose of this article is to summarize recent developments in the understanding of NAFLD, essentially focusing on OxS as a major pathogenetic mechanism. Various attempts to translate reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging by antioxidants into experimental and clinical studies have yielded mostly encouraging results. FUTURE DIRECTIONS Although augmented concentrations of ROS and faulty antioxidant defense have been associated to NAFLD and related complications, mechanisms of action and proofs of principle should be highlighted to support the causative role of OxS and to translate its concept into the clinic. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 519-541.
Preoperative Anxiety, Postoperative Pain, and Behavioral Recovery in Young Children Undergoing Surgery

OBJECTIVE. Findings from published studies suggest that the postoperative recovery process is more painful, slower, and more complicated in adult patients who had high levels of preoperative anxiety. To date, no similar investigation has ever been conducted in young children. METHODS. We recruited 241 children aged 5 to 12 years scheduled to undergo elective outpatient tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Before surgery, we assessed child and parental situational anxiety and temperament. After surgery, all subjects were admitted to a research unit in which postoperative pain and analgesic consumption were assessed every 3 hours. After 24 hours in the hospital, children were discharged and followed up at home for the next 14 days. Pain management at home was standardized. RESULTS. Parental assessment of pain in their child showed that anxious children experienced significantly more pain both during the hospital stay and over the first 3 days at home. During home recovery, anxious children also consumed, on average, significantly more codeine and acetaminophen compared with the children who were not anxious. Anxious children also had a higher incidence of emergence delirium compared with the children who were not anxious (9.7% vs 1.5%) and had a higher incidence of postoperative anxiety and sleep problems. CONCLUSIONS. Preoperative anxiety in young children undergoing surgery is associated with a more painful postoperative recovery and a higher incidence of sleep and other problems.
Oral Mucosa Model for Electrochemotherapy Treatment of Dog Mouth Cancer: Ex Vivo, In Silico, and In Vivo Experiments

Electrochemotherapy (EQT) is a local cancer treatment well established to cutaneous and subcutaneous tumors. Electric fields are applied to biological tissue in order to improve membrane permeability for cytotoxic drugs. This phenomenon is called electroporation or electropermeabilization. Studies have reported that tissue conductivity is electric field dependent. Electroporation numerical models of biological tissues are essential in treatment planning. Tumors of the mouth are very common in dogs. Inadequate EQT treatment of oral tumor may be caused by significant anatomic variations between dogs and tumor position. Numerical models of oral mucosa and tumor allow the treatment planning and optimization of electrodes for each patient. In this work, oral mucosa conductivity during electroporation was characterized by measuring applied voltage and current of ex vivo rats. This electroporation model was used with a spontaneous canine oral melanoma. The model outcomes of oral tumor EQT is applied in different parts of the oral cavity including near bones and the hard palate. The numerical modeling for treatment planning will help the development of new electrodes and increase the EQT effectiveness.
Influence of family dynamics on burden among family caregivers in aging Japan

Background. Long-term care for the elderly is largely shouldered by their family, representing a serious burden in a hyper-aging society. However, although family dynamics are known to play an important role in such care, the influence of caring for the elderly on burden among caregiving family members is poorly understood. Objective. To examine the influence of family dynamics on burden experienced by family caregivers. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study at six primary care clinics, involving 199 caregivers of adult care receivers who need long-term care. Participants were divided into three groups based on tertile of Index of Family Dynamics for Long-term Care (IF-Long score), where higher scores imply poorer relationships between care receivers and caregiving family: best, <2; intermediate, 2 to <5; worst, ≥5. The mean differences in burden index of caregivers (BIC-11) between the three groups were estimated by linear regression model with adjustment for care receiver’s activity of daily living and cognitive function. Results. Mean age of caregivers was 63.2 years (with 40.7% aged ≥ 65 years). BIC-11 scores were higher in the worst IF-Long group (adjusted mean difference: 4.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.2 to 7.5) than in the best IF-Long group. We also detected a positive trend between IF-Long score and BIC-11 score (P-value for trend <0.01). Conclusion. Our findings indicate that family dynamics strongly influences burden experienced by caregiving family members, regardless of the care receiver’s degree of cognitive impairment. These results underscore the importance of evaluating relationships between care receivers and their caregivers when discussing a care regimen for care receivers.
Self-Reported Sleep Disturbance Mediates the Relationship Between PTSD and Cognitive Outcome in Blast-Exposed OEF/OIF Veterans

Objectives:To examine the contribution of sleep disturbance to cognitive performance following blast exposure. Design:Correlational research evaluating self-reported sleep disturbance as a mediator of the association between the primary blast-related comorbidities of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder and cognitive outcome. Participants:One hundred sixty Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans with a history of blast exposure assigned to 1 of 3 groups (no TBI, mTBI without loss of consciousness, and mTBI with loss of consciousness). Main Outcome Measures:Neuropsychological measures and self-report of sleep disturbance. Results:Increased posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology was associated with worse performance in multiple cognitive domains. This association was mediated in part by self-reported sleep disturbance. Traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness was associated with lower manual dexterity, but this association was not mediated by sleep disturbance. Conclusions:Our results highlight the importance of sleep disturbance as a factor contributing to cognitive outcome in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. They point to the importance of considering sleep problems in the diagnosis and treatment of cognitive deficits in veterans with blast exposure.
Apnea of prematurity: challenges and solutions

Apnea of prematurity is a developmental disorder that frequently affects preterm infants, especially those with lower gestational age. Even if apnea of prematurity is by definition a self-limiting condition, it can cause serious problems during the hospital stay and can potentially have long-term neurological and cognitive consequences depending on the severity and inten- sity of the episodes. The diagnosis of apnea of prematurity can be made only after excluding a number of diseases of the preterm infant in which apnea may be an epiphenomenon. Etiological diagnosis is essential for selection of appropriate treatment, which may be nonpharmacological or involve use of drugs.
Universality for Random Tensors

We prove two universality results for random tensors of arbitrary rank D. We first prove that a random tensor whose entries are N^D independent, identically distributed, complex random variables converges in distribution in the large N limit to the same limit as the distributional limit of a Gaussian tensor model. This generalizes the universality of random matrices to random tensors. We then prove a second, stronger, universality result. Under the weaker assumption that the joint probability distribution of tensor entries is invariant, assuming that the cumulants of this invariant distribution are uniformly bounded, we prove that in the large N limit the tensor again converges in distribution to the distributional limit of a Gaussian tensor model. We emphasize that the covariance of the large N Gaussian is not universal, but depends strongly on the details of the joint distribution.
CERAMIC TILE'S SURFACE QUALITY ESTIMATION USING IMAGE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES

Surface defects classification and identification is very common task in all surface finish based product industries. Surface finish products industries includes primarily tiles, ceramic, plywood, metal products, pottery industries etc. In the proposed work, the surface inspection task has been focused on tile’s surface quality. Tile’s surface normally suffers from cracks, holes, spots and corner defects. In order to bring the defects at identifiable level, the surface image is processed to some threshold level so that the image could be binarized in order to get the surface defects visible for image processing techniques based measurements. One of the important tasks in tile’s surface defects identification is to segment the real defects from the tile’s design pattern.
Human placental growth hormone is increased in maternal serum at 20 weeks of gestation in pregnancies with large-for-gestational-age babies

Abstract To investigate the relationship between maternal serum concentrations of placental growth hormone (GH-V), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and 2, IGF binding proteins (IGFBP)-1 and 3 and birth weight in appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA), large-for-gestational-age (LGA) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) cases in a nested case-control study. Maternal serum samples were selected from the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) biobank in Auckland, New Zealand. Serum hormone concentrations were determined by ELISA. We found that maternal serum GH-V concentrations at 20 weeks of gestation in LGA pregnancies were significantly higher than in AGA and SGA pregnancies. Maternal GH-V concentrations were positively correlated to birth weights and customized birth weight centiles, while IGFBP-1 concentrations were inversely related to birth weights and customized birth weight centiles. Our findings suggest that maternal serum GH-V and IGFBP-1 concentrations at 20 weeks' gestation are associated with fetal growth.
Formulation Development of Solid Dispersions of Bosentan using Gelucire 50/13 and Poloxamer 188

Article history: Received on: 03/06/2016 Revised on: 27/06/2016 Accepted on: 19/07/2016 Available online: 26/09/2016 The objectives of the present research work are to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of bosentan. Solid dispersions of bosentan were prepared by fusion method by using two selected hydrophilic meltable carriers vis à-vis gelucire 50/13 and poloxamer 188. Sylysia 350 was used as an adsorbent. Solid dispersions were evaluated for solubility, phase solubility, flowability, compressibility, Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Solubility studies showed 8 and 10 fold increase in solubility for gelucire 50/13 and poloxamer 188 based solid dispersions respectively. The Gibbs free energy ΔGtr° values were all negative for gelucire 50/13 (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 % w/v) and poloxamer 188 (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 % w/v) indicating spontaneous nature of solubilisation. FT-IR and DSC spectra showed that drug and carriers are compatible with each other. Solid dispersions exhibiting highest solubility were compressed into immediate release tablets by using sodium starch glycolate as superdisintegrant. In vitro dissolution studies, exhibited more than 90 % drug dissolution in 1 h. Gelucire 50/13 and poloxamer 188 plays a significant role in enhancement of drug solubility and dissolution. The adsorbent, sylysia 350 may be used to impart good flow and compressibility to solid dispersions. Among the two carriers, poloxamer 188 exhibited better solubility and dissolution enhancement potential.
Can you engineer privacy ? On the potentials and challenges of applying privacy research in engineering practice

Industrial-size data spills, leaks about large-scale secret surveillance programs, and personal tragedies due to inappropriate flows of information are guaranteed to have at least one consequence: engineers will be increasingly expected to integrate privacy solutions into the systems they are building or maintaining (see, e.g., [1]. Yet, the task of engineering systems to address privacy concerns can be complex. The seeming unwieldiness of the engineering task becomes evident in the concept of privacy itself and how this concept is negotiated. As a legal concept, privacy is defined rather vaguely. That vagueness, some argue, is part of its protective function. The open ended definition allows people to invoke privacy as a category to protect their personal lives and autonomy from intrusions by others – including the state that endows them with citizenship rights and runs surveillance programs. European Data Protection Directive (DPD) or Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs) on the other hand are procedural measures, e.g., like notice and choice, data retention limitation, subject access rights. These principles are seen to be instrumental to making the collection and processing activities of organizations transparent. Although less ambiguous, data protection principles still need to be translated into technical requirements and are vulnerable to narrow interpretations. Moreover, FIPPs fall short of mitigating all the privacy concerns of the users’ towards a given organization. They also do not address privacy concerns users may have with respect to other users, with people in their social environments and towards a greater public. Scholars from various fields have stepped up to the challenge of clearing the murky waters of privacy. Legal scholars and philosophers have proposed taxonomies of privacy violations [2] and a holistic framework for evaluating appropriate flows of information based on contextual social norms [3]. Social scientists and ethnographers have studied groups of people, online and offline, to develop better informed understandings of users’ needs. But, how are engineers supposed to integrate and translate these frameworks into existing engineering
Assessing the importance of a self-generated detachment process in river biofilm models

1. Epilithic biofilm biomass was measured for 14 months in two sites, located up- and downstream of the city of Toulouse in the Garonne River (south-west France). Periodical sampling provided a biomass data set to compare with simulations from the model of Uehlinger, Burher and Reichert (1996: Freshwater Biology, 36, 249–263.), in order to evaluate the impact of hydraulic disturbance. 2. Despite differences in application conditions (e.g. river size, discharge, frequency of disturbance), the base equation satisfactorily predicted biomass between low and high water periods of the year, suggesting that the flood disturbance regime may be considered a universal mechanism controlling periphyton biomass. 3. However modelling gave no agreement with biomass dynamics during the 7-month long low water period that the river experienced. The influence of other biomass-regulating factors (temperature, light and soluble reactive phosphorus) on temporal biomass dynamics was weak. 4. Implementing a supplementary mechanism corresponding to a temperature-dependent self-generated loss because of heterotrophic processes allowed us to accurately reproduce the observed pattern: a succession of two peaks. This case study suggests that during typical summer low water periods (flow stability and favourable temperature) river biofilm modelling requires self-generated detachment to be considered.
Knowledge Spillovers and Entrepreneurial Activity : An Agent-Based Approach to Modeling Schumpeterian Growth for Developing Countries

Though the process of knowledge spillovers was a prominent topic in the early endogenous growth models of Romer (1986) and Lucas (1988), more recent modeling has eschewed explicit knowledge spillover mechanisms in favor of a greater emphasis on innovation and research and development (R&D) expenditure. The Schumpeterian models of Aghion and Howitt (1992), among others, have identified innovative activity as the crucial link between R&D expenditure and total factor productivity (TFP) growth. However, the difficulty of including knowledge spillovers in conventional mathematical models has likely contributed to the topic’s decreased presence in the growth literature. Despite this diminished focus, the topic of knowledge spillovers at a regional level has been preserved in the “new economics of urban and regional growth” recognized by Glaeser (2000). This channel of literature has consisted primarily of empirical studies investigating the link between the geographic density of productive activities and industry growth, though recent years have seen greater efforts to explore how spillovers can be converted into “economically meaningful” knowledge. Through these developments, the knowledge spillover literature has begun to align with the Schumpeterian approach through a shared emphasis on the role of entrepreneurs for engaging in innovative activities. It should be noted that the Schumpeterian growth models of Aghion and Howitt include implicit knowledge spillovers in the growth of a sector-wide “leading-edge” productivity parameter. However, they do not consider how spillover mechanics might lead to the rise of new entrepreneurs. In the “new economics” literature, knowledge spills over not only through R&D activity, but also through the interactions of individuals in densely populated areas such as cities. The “effectiveness” of these spillovers is dependent on those individuals who can capably apply this knowledge to productive activity such as entrepreneurship. Once again, the possibility of developing this process in growth models has likely been hindered by the incompatibility of conventional models to such complex patterns of interaction.