Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the effectiveness of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Interferential Therapy on the upper trapezius in myofascial pain syndrome: A randomized controlled study

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and Interferential Therapy (IFT) both in combination with hot pack, myofascial release, active range of motion (AROM) exercise and a home exercise program on myofascial pain syndrome patients with upper trapezius myofascial trigger point (MTrP). Design: One hundred and five patients with an upper trapezius MTrP were recruited to this single-blind randomized controlled trial. Following random allocation of patients to three groups, three therapeutic regimes—control-standard care [hot pack, AROM exercises, myofascial release and a home exercise program with postural advice], TENS-standard care and IFT-standard care—were administered eight times during four weeks at regular intervals. The pain intensity (PI) and cervical range of motions (ROMs) (cervical extension, lateral flexion to contralateral side and rotation to ipsilateral side) were measured at baseline, immediately after the first treatment, before the eighth treatment and one week after the eighth treatment. Results: The immediate and short-term improvements were marked in the TENS group (n=35) compared to IFT group (n=35) and control group (n=35) with respect to PI and cervical ROMs (P<0.05). IFT group showed significant improvement on these outcome measurements than the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The TENS with standard care facilitate recovery better than IFT in the same combination.
Scalable Symbolic Control from Signal Temporal Logic Specifications

Many safety-critical systems must achieve highlevel task specifications with guaranteed safety and correctness. Much recent progress towards this goal has been made through controller synthesis from signal temporal logic (STL) specifications. Existing approaches, however, either consider some a priori discretization of the state-space, deal only with a convex fragment of STL, or are not provably complete. We propose a scalable, provably complete algorithm that directly synthesizes continuous trajectories to satisfy non-convex STL specifications. We separate discrete task planning and continuous motion planning on the fly and harness highly efficient satisfiability modulo theories (SMT) and linear programming (LP) solvers to find dynamically feasible trajectories for high dimensional systems that satisfies non-convex STL specifications. The proposed design algorithms are proved sound and complete, and simulation results demonstrate the scalability of our approach.
High prevalence of neonatal vitamin D deficiency - rationale for reevaluation of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy

It could be expected that Polish pregnant women and their offspring are vitamin D deficient due to latitude (49-55EN) and low vitamin D intake. As parathormone (PTH) is a marker of vitamin D deficiency in adults it is important to evaluate this correlation also among newborn infants. Material and method : Serum level of 25-hydroksyvitamin D (25-OHD), calcium, phosphates, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), intact parathormone (iPTH), calciuria and phosphaturia were measured in 41 term, appropriate for gestational age newborns before introduction of vitamin D supplementation. Comparison of measured parameter were done according to birth season. Results : Multivitamins were used during pregnancy regularly (> 3 months) by 80% mothers. The average daily vitamin D intake was 420 IU ± 80 IU/d. Mean neonatal 25-OHD concentration was 10.5 ± 4 ng/ml. Vitamin D deficiency defined as < 20 ng/ml of 25-OHD was found in all infants. No differences were observed in biochemical parameters despite of gender, birth season and maternal multivitamins intake. Conclusions : Vitamin D deficiency is common in Polish newborns irrespective of the birth season. Vitamin D supplementation in neonates should be started in the first few days of life. Parathormon seems not to be a reliable marker of vitamin D deficiency in newborns. Vitamin D intake in dose 400 IU during pregnancy is inadequate.
Confirmation of Isolated Cu2+ Ions in SSZ-13 Zeolite as Active Sites in NH3-Selective Catalytic Reduction

NH3-Selective Catalytic Reduction (NH3-SCR) is a widely used technology for NOx reduction in the emission control systems of heavy duty diesel vehicles. Copper-based ion exchanged zeolites and in particular Cu-SSZ-13 (CHA framework) catalysts show both exceptional activity and hydrothermal stability for this reaction. In this work, we have studied the origin of the SCR activity of Cu-SSZ-13 as evidenced from a combination of synchrotron-based and laboratory techniques. Synchrotron-based in situ XAFS/XRD measurements were used to provide complementary information on the local copper environment under realistic NH3-SCR conditions. Crucial then to the catalytic activity of Cu-SSZ-13 is the local environment of the copper species, particularly in the zeolite. Cu-SSZ-13 contains mononuclear Cu2+ species, located in the face of the double-6-ring subunit of the zeolite after calcination where it remains under reaction conditions. At lower temperatures (with low activity), XAFS and XRD data revealed a conformatio.
Matrix variate regressions and envelope models

Modern technology often generates data with complex structures in which both response and explanatory variables are matrix valued. Existing methods in the literature can tackle matrix‐valued predictors but are rather limited for matrix‐valued responses. We study matrix variate regressions for such data, where the response Y on each experimental unit is a random matrix and the predictor X can be either a scalar, a vector or a matrix, treated as non‐stochastic in terms of the conditional distribution Y|X. We propose models for matrix variate regressions and then develop envelope extensions of these models. Under the envelope framework, redundant variation can be eliminated in estimation and the number of parameters can be notably reduced when the matrix variate dimension is large, possibly resulting in significant gains in efficiency. The methods proposed are applicable to high dimensional settings.
SIMULATION OF FLEXURAL STRESSES ON LAYERED NATURAL FIBRE/EPOXY COMPOSITE BEAMS

Biobased fibre reinforcements (hemp, jute, flax) derived from agricultural waste and forestry are increasing its potential towards advanced composites promoting environmental benefits and thermal recycling (including a reduction in CO2 emissions and the fossil fuel depletion). Currently, there is a growing interest of natural fibres due to its lower density, and higher modulus-to-density ratios compared to glass and carbon fibre reinforcements. The present work was intended to understand how the flax fibre layups and oreintation affect the behavior of laminated composites in bending. Unidirectional [0]2S, cross-ply [0/90]S, and angle-ply [+45/-45]S laminates made up of flax fibre reinforced epoxy composites are considered to study flexural stresses and mid-span deflections. Basic principles of the classical beam theory (CBT) are applied for obtaining analytical solutions, which were also compared with the finite element simulation results.
The endogeneity bias in the relation between cost-of-debt capital and corporate disclosure policy

Abstract The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we provide a discussion of the problems associated with endogeneity in empirical accounting research. We emphasize problems arising when endogeneity is caused by (1) unobservable firm-specific factors and (2) omitted variables, and discuss the merits and drawbacks of using panel data techniques to address these causes. Second, we investigate the magnitude of endogeneity bias in Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions of cost-of-debt capital on firm disclosure policy. We document how including a set of variables which theory suggests to be related with both cost-of-debt capital and disclosure and using fixed effects estimation in a panel data-set reduces the endogeneity bias and produces consistent results. This analysis reveals that the effect of disclosure policy on cost-of-debt capital is 200% higher than what is found in OLS estimation. Finally, we provide direct evidence that disclosure is impacted by unobservable firm-specific factors that are also correlated with cost of capital.
Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously

Review: Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously By Kent E. Portney Reviewed by Elery Hamilton-Smith Charles Sturt University, Australia Kent E. Portney. Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. 284 pp. ISBN 0-262-16213-X. US$25.95 This is an extremely valuable and timely book. Although sustainability is self-evidently a catch-cry of both environmentalists and political leaders, its implementation is uneven, and often nothing but a rhetorical screen to hide the fact that nothing has been done to achieve a more sustainable society. Portney commences with a conceptual review of the ideas underlying sustainability. The comprehensiveness and clarity of this review is such that the book is worthy of attention for this chapter alone. Portney fully recognizes that a sustainability program will face considerable difficulties in achieving genuine implementation, will contain ambiguity and even apparent contradiction, and certainly must embrace environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Then, although the focus of this study is upon cities, Portney emphasizes that real sustainability must embrace consideration of the wider geographic context of city areas. Although not quite so explicitly, Portney also recognizes that any sustainability initiative must walk hand-in- hand with its own history. A second chapter reviews the methodological issues in measuring the strength of any city's commitment to sustainability. All too often, the accountability of any sustainability program gets lost in its own complexity. Portney's framework is based in a deceptively simple set of indicators, but all can be measured in practice and all demonstrate a high degree of referential validity. Such an approach can, if effectively implemented, provide a high degree of transparency and so force a high degree of accountability. Successive chapters each deal with the key dimensions of environment and energy, economic development, the place of community, equity, and social justice. These each exhibit still more of the rigorous approach taken by the author in the opening chapters. Finally, eight sites with substantial sustainability commitment are described in depth and a final chapter provides a national overview and further questions that arise from what is really happening. On one hand, I find a sense of optimism from the very promising results achieved by some cities, each in their own way. On the other, there is still a great deal that is not
Socially Responsible Consumers: Profile and Implications for Marketing Strategy

Recognizing the practical and theoretical necessity of understanding the mechanisms governing the penetration of socially responsible consumption in the minds of consumers, the authors of this article have devised a behaviour-based scale for measuring socially responsible consumption, while providing a detailed description of consumer profiles from most to least socially responsible. Using a sample of 752 respondents representative of the province of Quebec (Canada), this study identifies six profiles of consumers that vary in terms of socially responsible consciousness. Findings presented will help businesses operating in this booming market sector to enhance marketing strategies accordingly.
Telecollaborative games for youngsters : impact on motivation

The present paper describes a case study on the effects of telecollaborative games on learners’ motivation. 12 learners from a Dutch and a British secondary school participated in the study. Different games, which included gamification elements, were developed on OpenSim. The overall educational goals of the games were to enhance cultural awareness and intercultural communication of German as a foreign language. Three different cross-cultural groups played the telecollaborative games in two different sessions. Data from pre- and post-surveys were gathered for measuring the impact of telecollaborative games on learners’ motivation. At the end of the game sessions, focus group discussions were organised for evaluating the experience. The results indicate that telecollaborative games have a positive impact on learners’ motivation.
How to model the "meaning" of intonation: Some insights from an interactional perspective

The role of prosody for the interpretation of discourse is a matter of ongoing debate. Especially for intonation, most researchers agree that there is some impact of intonation on the interpretation of discourse (cf. the “Linguist’s theory of intonational meaning” (Ladd 1996)). Many approaches within intonational phonology aim to ascribe invariant meanings to certain elements of intonation like the pitch accent or the nucleus. On the basis of spontaneous dialogue the present paper argues that there is no invariant meaning of intonation and that co-occurring devices on other linguistic levels as well as the context have to be taken into account to model intonational meaning potentials.
In vitro bioactive response of VERO-cells on polymethyl-methacrylate craniofacial implants altered with hydroxy-apatite/carboxymethylcellulose

In Ecuador, intraoperative fabrication of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) craniofacial-implants is the norm when small sizes and simple geometry implants are required; this method has high infection risk, is inaccurate and unaesthetic. In this work we present a process for preoperative fabrication of craniofacial-implants using PMMA. For this study, a tomographic image of the head of a subject with a parietotemporal defect was used, the defect was then reconstructed using Blender® and Auto- desk-Inventor® to generate a model of the implant. A 3D-printed model was used to fabricate a silicon-rubber mold; finally the im- plant was produced by casting. PMMA was also altered with Hy- droxyapatite/Carboxymethyl-cellulose (Hap/CMC) in order to im- prove its bioactivity. VERO-cells were then used to test prolifera- tion and adhesion on different combinations of PMMA/Hap/CMC. Results showed that probes altered with 5%-Vol Hap and 10%-Vol CMC had significantly better cell-growth when compared to unal- tered-PMMA (Tukey HSD); in contrast, materials altered solely with carboxymethylcellulose showed cell-growth inhibitions/death. Overall, this manufacture approach showed highly aesthetic and functional outcomes when the final implant was compared against the 3D-printed skull defect, which renders this method as a viable option for the fabrication of PMMA implants meant to replace missing bone-flaps. Likewise, in vitro tests with Vero-cells suggest an improvement of implant-bioactivity with the addition of 5%-Vol hydroxyapatite and 10%-Vol CMC. Keywords—Craniofacial, polymethylmethacrylate, 3D- printing, VERO, bioactivity.
Evaluating the Prevalence of Small for Gestational Age and Its Associated Risk Factors

Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses have birth weights below 10th percentile or abdominal circumference less than 10th percentile for gestational age Objectives: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of SGA and its associated risk factors in Iran. Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective study. A total of 341 pregnant women were evaluated in fetal health care clinic of perinatology from January 2013 to January 2014. Results: Of 312 pregnant women, 33 had SGA fetuses. The average of body mass index (BMI) was lower in SGA group than non-SGA. Pulsatility index has no stastical meaningful between SGA and nonSGA groups. In Gestational age had no difference between 2 groups. Severe SGA (< 3rd centile estimated fetal weight) was observed in 2.6% of all cases. Conclusions: In conclusion, the prevalence of SGA was approximately one tenth of all pregnancies. SGA incidence was associated with nulliparity and more frequently seen in lower age group.
Caste differentiation in lower termites

Social insects are prominent model organisms of evolutionary biology. Their castes are an example of phenotypic plasticity and differential gene expression produces strong differences among their traits. The highly structured life of social insects is characterized by reproductive division of labor and complexity of communication. For instance, in social Hymenoptera or termites the presence of a reproductive inhibits the development of other reproductives within the nest. These feedback mechanisms ensure an adapted and self-regulating caste differentiation within an insect society. While substantial progress has been achieved in explaining ultimate causes of social behavior, the proximate mechanisms behind the division into reproducing and non-reproducing castes are poorly understood in molecular terms. Especially, the maintenance of reproductive primacy by fertile individuals (in termites: king and queen) remains a mystery. In this thesis the proximate basis of reproductive division of labor in lower wood-dwelling termites was investigated on the molecular (differential gene expression between neotenic queens and non-reproducing workers) and chemical (cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in correlation to fertility) level. To investigate possible functions of the identified genes over expressed in neotenic queens I establish RNA interference (RNAi) for lower wood-dwelling termites. This RNAi approach might help to gain further insights into the reproductive division of labor by probing gene function of those genes. This thesis presents the first data on the relationship between queen/worker castes and genes expression as well as on differences in chemical odor profiles associated with fertility in termites. It contributes to the emerging field of sociogenomics and provides a step forward to understand the proximate basis of a key characteristic of insects� sociality - the reproductive division of labor.
Charge Pumping in Mesoscopic Systems coupled to a Superconducting Lead

We derive a general scattering-matrix formula for the pumped current through a mesoscopic region attached to a normal and a superconducting lead. As applications of this result we calculate the current pumped through (i) a pump in a wire, (ii) a quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime, and (iii) a ballistic double-barrier junction, all coupled to a superconducting lead. Andreev reflection is shown to enhance the pumped current by up to a factor of 4 in the case of equal coupling to the leads. We find that this enhancement can still be further increased for slightly asymmetric coupling.
Measurement and Partitioning of Evapotranspiration for Application to Vadose Zone Studies

Partitioned evaporation and transpiration is important for validating vadose zone models. New partitioning approaches overcome spatiotemporal limitations of previous methods. Some techniques can be applied to existing data to increase E and T observations. Intercomparisons of approaches at a variety of field sites are needed to better assess each approach.
THE EFFECTS OF PROGESTRONE ON THE IN-VITRO EXPRESSION OF P0, S100 AND KROX20 GENES IN ADIPOSE-DERIVED STEM CELLS

Krox20 لولس رد ميهد رارق يسررب دروم يهاگشيامزآ طيارش رد يبرچ تفاب زا هتفرگرب يداينب ياه . يـسررب شور : لولس يبرجت هعلاطم نيا رد ،غلاـب ييارحـص شوـم لاـنيوگنيا هيحان يبرچ تفاب زا هدش هتفرگ يميشنازم يداينب ياه رگ رارق يسررب دروم يرتموتيسولف اب دييات تهج تف دن . لولـس سپـس اـتب ريثاـت تـحت ادـتبا يميشـنازم يداـينب ياـه لولس همادا رد و دنتفرگ رارق ديسا كييونيتر سپس و لوناتاوتپاكرم هورگ ود لماش فلتخم هورگ راهچ رد هلصاح ياه و دـشر ياـهروتكاف يواـح شياـمزآ هورـگ ود و نورتـسژورپ نودـب دـشر ياـهروتكاف يواح يفنم و تبثم لرتنك رتسژورپ دندش ميسقت نو . لماش ناوش لولس ياهركرام نايب S100, P0, Krox20 زارـميلپ هريجنز شنكاو زا هدافتسا اب رد مك همين سوكعم ي ) (semi-quantitative PCR دنديدرگ يسررب . هتفاي اه : لولس تـفاب زا هتفرگرب يميشنازم يداينب ياه يتنآ يبرچ نژ يحطس ياه CD90 ، CD73 و CD31 ومن نايب ار دند . هورگ رد نژ ،هناگراهچ ياه ياه S100, P0, Krox20 رد هورگ دندش نايب نورتسژورپ يواح ياه . نژ نايب تبسن ياه S100 و Krox-20 هورگ رد تبسـن نورتسژورپ يواح ياه دوب رتمك نورتسژورپ نودب تبثم لرتنك هورگ هب ) 0001 / 0 P< ( . هجيتن يريگ : يياـقلا لـماع كـي ناوـنع هب نورتسژورپ م ي ب ببس دناوت ي نا نژ اه ي S100, P0, Krox20 لولس رد اه ي نب ي دا ي برچ ي دوش .
Design and Realization of a Wideband Microstrip Filter Using Signal-Interaction Techniques

─ The signal-interaction techniques are adopted in this paper to design a novel wideband microstrip filter. The signal is transmitted from input port to the output one through two transmission paths in parallel which is composed of a wideband 180° inverter based on microstrip line and a 3/4 transmission line. Besides, two /4 shorted-ended lines is employed to improve the passband transmission performance of the BPF (Bandpass Filter). It is demonstrated from the simulation and measurement results of the novel BPF that three transmission zeros leading to the good harmonic suppression performance are achieved for the BPF operating from 0.99 to 2.51 GHz with 3-dB fractional bandwidth of 86.8%. Index Terms ─ Passband, phase inverter, transmission path, transmission pole, transmission Zero.
What Makes Cultural Heredity Unique? On Action‐Types, Intentionality and Cooperation in Imitation

The exploration of the mechanisms of cultural heredity has often been regarded as the key to explicating human uniqueness. Particularly early imitative learning, which is explained as a kind of simulation that rests on the infant ' s identifi cation with other persons as intentional agents, has been stressed as the foundation of cumulative cultural transmission. But the question of what are the objects of this mechanism has not been given much attention. Although this is a pivotal point, it still remains obscure. I will characterize the notion of action-types and show why they are the genuine objects of cultural heredity. However, this answer is in confl ict with the concept of imitation, and the problem arises that, if imitation is conceptualized as simulation and explained in terms of the cognition of infants, the objects of cultural transmission seemingly cannot be passed on by imitation. In order to solve this problem, I propose reconsidering the concept of imitation and to conceptualize imitation as a cooperative activity of infants and adults. Only humans write novels, do mathematics, cook meals of several courses, build computers, play music, create works of symbolic art, fi ll in tax return forms and, more than that, can parody all these things. In the light of these unique human capacities, the assumption of the continuity of biological evolution, which generates only gradual differences, seems to be misguided. Therefore, it is widely believed that an explanation of the anthropogeny and the cognitive capacities of humans cannot advance without reference to cultural processes. Especially the exploration of possible mechanisms of cultural transmission, that is, the heredity of acquired capacities, has often been regarded as the key to explicating human evolution and its specifi cities. This brings the cognitive ontogeny of humans as creators, bearers and re-creators of culture into the focus of interest — in other words: the problem of cultural heredity or, to be more specifi c, the adoption of culture by children. Particularly the capacity to imitate has been stressed as one foundation of the uniqueness of human cultural evolution. A promising way of explicating imitation as the mechanism to adopt not only short-lived behavioural episodes, but long-lived skills, habits, attitudes and (practical) knowledge as essential parts of cultural practices, is to conceptualize imitation as a kind of simulation, which rests on the capacity to understand other persons as intentional agents and to identify with them. I will focus the following considerations on Michael Tomasello ' s approach ( Tomasello, 1999 and Tomasello/Rakoczy, 2003) not only because his approach