Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trunk Muscle Strength, Cross-sectional Area, and Density in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain Randomized to Lumbar Fusion or Cognitive Intervention and Exercises

Study Design. A randomized study. Objectives. To compare muscle strength, cross-sectional area, and density of the back muscles in two categories of patients with chronic low back pain, randomized to either lumbar fusion or cognitive intervention and exercises. Summary of Background Data. In two clinical trials, patients with chronic low back pain plus disc degeneration and postlaminectomy syndrome, respectively, were randomized to either lumbar fusion or cognitive intervention and exercises. We have previously reported that results for the primary outcome were similar at the 1-year follow-up examination. Methods. As the treatment alternatives and test procedures were identical, the two trials were merged into one. A total of 124 patients 25 to 60 years of age were included. Muscle strength, measured by isokinetic test device and by the Biering-Sørensen Test, was measured in 112 patients, and the cross-sectional area and density of the back muscles were measured in 61 patients at the inclusion and at the 1-year follow-up examination. Results. The exercise group performed significantly better in muscle strength than did the lumbar fusion group, with the mean difference at 184 Nm (95% confidence interval, 64–303 Nm; P = 0.003) and for the Biering-Sørensen Test 21 seconds (95% confidence interval, 6–36 seconds; P = 0.006). The density at L3–L4 decreased in the lumbar fusion group but remained unchanged in the exercise group. The mean difference was 5.3 HU (95% confidence interval, 1.1–9.5 HU; P = 0.01). The cross-sectional area was unchanged in both groups. Conclusions. Patients with chronic low back pain who followed cognitive intervention and exercise programs improved significantly in muscle strength compared with patients who underwent lumbar fusion. In the lumbar fusion group, density decreased significantly at L3–L4 compared with the exercise group.
Differing autonomic responses to dobutamine stress in the presence and absence of myocardial ischaemia

Dobutamine stress echocardiography is a validated tool for the non‐invasive evaluation of myocardial ischaemia and enables the recording of heart rate variability in non‐resting conditions. In this study we determined whether individuals with transient myocardial ischaemia had different autonomic responses to the stress of dobutamine infusion compared to non‐ischaemic (normal) responders. Non‐ischaemic responders had a residual predominance of parasympathetic over sympathetic activity. However, under conditions of myocardial ischaemia, there was a directionally opposite cardiac autonomic response with a residual increase of sympathetic over parasympathetic modulation. The sympathetic response to dobutamine stress is augmented as the burden of myocardial ischaemia is increased.
The empirical basis of generalized anxiety disorder.

OBJECTIVE The authors review the empirical data on generalized anxiety disorder, a diagnostic category that has been among the more conceptually challenging in psychiatric nosology. METHOD Published studies and recent findings that were considered by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Subcommittee of the DSM-IV Anxiety Disorders Work Group are reviewed. Among the issues examined are diagnostic reliability, comorbidity, boundaries with other disorders, and clinical features. RESULTS A variety of data on the reliability and validity of generalized anxiety disorder have been produced. Some authors have suggested that generalized anxiety disorder is better conceptualized as a vulnerability that should be located on axis II, and others have recommended that the category be eliminated. Although the diagnostic reliability of generalized anxiety disorder is lower than that of other anxiety disorders, the features constituting the diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder have been found to be reliable. An important development has been the determination of a set of somatic symptoms associated with generalized anxiety disorder that differs substantially from those for other anxiety disorders. These findings led to reduction in the number of items in the symptom criterion, from 18 in DSM-III-R to six in DSM-IV. Another substantial revision is greater emphasis on the uncontrollability of worry. CONCLUSIONS Whereas the data on construct and discriminant validity, age at onset, course, familial transmission, and response to treatment generally support the DSM-IV definition of generalized anxiety disorder, the construct continues to have weaknesses and further research is needed.
Visual saliency-based active learning for prostate magnetic resonance imaging segmentation

Abstract. We propose an active learning (AL) approach for prostate segmentation from magnetic resonance images. Our label query strategy is inspired from the principles of visual saliency that have similar considerations for choosing the most salient region. These similarities are encoded in a graph using classification maps and low-level features. Random walks are used to identify the most informative node, which is equivalent to the label query sample in AL. To reduce computation time, a volume of interest (VOI) is identified and all subsequent analysis, such as probability map generation using semisupervised random forest classifiers and label query, is restricted to this VOI. The negative log-likelihood of the probability maps serves as the penalty cost in a second-order Markov random field cost function, which is optimized using graph cuts for prostate segmentation. Experimental results on the Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) 2012 prostate segmentation challenge show the superior performance of our approach to conventional methods using fully supervised learning.
Delayed coral recovery in a warming ocean

Climate change threatens coral reefs across the world. Intense bleaching has caused dramatic coral mortality in many tropical regions in recent decades, but less obvious chronic effects of temperature and other stressors can be equally threatening to the long‐term persistence of diverse coral‐dominated reef systems. Coral reefs persist if coral recovery rates equal or exceed average rates of mortality. While mortality from acute destructive events is often obvious and easy to measure, estimating recovery rates and investigating the factors that influence them requires long‐term commitment. Coastal development is increasing in many regions, and sea surface temperatures are also rising. The resulting chronic stresses have predictable, adverse effects on coral recovery, but the lack of consistent long‐term data sets has prevented measurement of how much coral recovery rates are actually changing. Using long‐term monitoring data from 47 reefs spread over 10 degrees of latitude on Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR), we used a modified Gompertz equation to estimate coral recovery rates following disturbance. We compared coral recovery rates in two periods: 7 years before and 7 years after an acute and widespread heat stress event on the GBR in 2002. From 2003 to 2009, there were few acute disturbances in the region, allowing us to attribute the observed shortfall in coral recovery rates to residual effects of acute heat stress plus other chronic stressors. Compared with the period before 2002, the recovery of fast‐growing Acroporidae and of “Other” slower growing hard corals slowed after 2002, doubling the time taken for modest levels of recovery. If this persists, recovery times will be increasing at a time when acute disturbances are predicted to become more frequent and intense. Our study supports the need for management actions to protect reefs from locally generated stresses, as well as urgent global action to mitigate climate change.
Immunopathogenesis of human schistosomiasis

Schistosomiasis continues to be a significant cause of parasitic morbidity and mortality worldwide. This review considers the basic features of the pathology and clinical outcomes of hepatointestinal and genitourinary schistosomiasis, presents an overview of the numerous studies on animal models that have clarified many of the immunopathological features, and provides insight into our current understanding of the immunopathogenesis and genetic control of human schistosomiasis. In murine schistosomiasis, pathology is induced by a CD4+ Th2 driven granulomatous response directed against schistosome eggs lodged in the host liver. The Th2 cytokines IL‐4 and IL‐13 drive this response, whereas IL‐10, IL13Rα2, IFN‐γ and a subset of regulatory T‐cells act to limit schistosome induced pathology. A variety of cell types including hepatic stellate cells, alternatively activated macrophages and regulatory T‐cells have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis. Current knowledge suggests the immunopathogenic mechanisms underlying human schistosomiasis are likely to be similar. The review also considers the future development of anti‐pathology schistosome vaccines. As fibrosis is an important feature of many other diseases such as Crohn's disease and sarcoidosis, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in schistosomiasis may also ultimately contribute to the development an effective disease intervention strategy for other granulofibrotic diseases.
A Review of Popular Applications on Google Play - Do They Cater to Visually Impaired Users?

The number of applications on online mobile application stores is increasing at a rapid rate. Smart-phones are used by a wide range of people varying in age, and also in the ability to use a smart phone. With the increasing dependency on smart-phones, the paper aims to determine whether the popular applications on Google Play, the official store for Android applications, can be used by people with vision impairment. The accessibility of the applications was tested using an external keyboard, and TalkBack, an accessibility tool developed by Google. It was found that several popular applications on the store were not designed keeping accessibility in mind. It was observed that there exists a weak positive relationship between the popularity of the application and its accessibility. A framework is proposed that can be used by developers to improve the accessibility of an application. The paper also discusses the programming aspects to be considered while developing an Android application, so that the application can be used by sighted as well as visually impaired users.
Characteristics Associated with Liver Graft Failure: The Concept of a Donor Risk Index

Transplant physicians and candidates have become increasingly aware that donor characteristics significantly impact liver transplantation outcomes. Although the qualitative effect of individual donor variables are understood, the quantitative risk associated with combinations of characteristics are unclear. Using national data from 1998 to 2002, we developed a quantitative donor risk index. Cox regression models identified seven donor characteristics that independently predicted significantly increased risk of graft failure. Donor age over 40 years (and particularly over 60 years), donation after cardiac death (DCD), and split/partial grafts were strongly associated with graft failure, while African‐American race, less height, cerebrovascular accident and ‘other’ causes of brain death were more modestly but still significantly associated with graft failure. Grafts with an increased donor risk index have been preferentially transplanted into older candidates (>50 years of age) with moderate disease severity (nonstatus 1 with lower model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) scores) and without hepatitis C. Quantitative assessment of the risk of donor liver graft failure using a donor risk index is useful to inform the process of organ acceptance.
Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship in the Era of Plessy v. Ferguson

This title deals with the civil rights movement in an earlier generation. Through a reexamination of the earliest struggles against Jim Crow, Blair Kelley exposes the fullness of African American efforts to resist the passage of segregation laws dividing trains and streetcars by race in the early Jim Crow era. "Right to Ride" chronicles the litigation and local organizing against segregated rails that led to the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896 and the streetcar boycott movement waged in twenty-five southern cities from 1900 to 1907. Kelley tells the stories of the brave but little-known men and women who faced down the violence of lynching and urban race riots to contest segregation. Focusing on three key cities - New Orleans, Richmond, and Savannah - Kelley explores the community organizations that bound protestors together and the divisions of class, gender, and ambition that sometimes drove them apart. Kelley's findings force a reassessment of the timelines of the black freedom struggle, revealing that a period once dismissed as the age of accommodation should in fact be characterized as part of a history of protest and resistance.
Translation of Sindbis virus mRNA: effects of sequences downstream of the initiating codon

One incentive for developing the alphavirus Sindbis virus as a vector for the expression of heterologous proteins is the very high level of viral structural proteins that accumulates in infected cells. Although replacement of the structural protein genes by a heterologous gene should lead to an equivalent accumulation of the heterologous protein, the Sindbis virus capsid protein is produced at a level 10- to 20-fold higher than that of any foreign protein. Chimeric mRNAs which contain the first 275 nucleotides of the Sindbis virus 26S mRNA fused to the lacZ gene are also translated at the higher level. The enhancing sequences, located downstream of the AUG codon that initiates translation of the capsid protein, have a predicted hairpin-like structure; deletions in this region destroy the activity. These sequences enhance translation in infected cells but have the opposite effect in uninfected cells. Furthermore, translation of this RNA in infected cells is suppressed by a second viral RNA lacking the hairpin-like structure, but translation of the latter RNA is not affected. We propose that the hairpin-like structure presents a barrier to the movement of the ribosomes during translation of mRNA. In infected cells, under conditions in which this mRNA is essentially the only RNA being translated, a slowdown in the transit of the ribosomes gives factors present at low concentrations a chance to bind to the translation complex and permits a high level of functional complexes to be formed. In uninfected cells and in infected cells translating two different viral subgenomic mRNAs, a pause in the movement of the ribosomes along the RNA is no longer an advantage, because the required factors are now usurped by other translation complexes.
[Study on the chemical constituents of Curcuma phaeocaulis].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the chemical constituents of the rhizome of Curcuma phaeocaulis Val. METHODS The constituents were isolated by column chromatography and their structures elucidated by chemical properties and spectroscopic analysis. RESULTS Five compunds have been isolated and identified as isocurcumenol, curcumenol, alpha-spinasterol, curcumin, and beta-sitosterin-3-O-glucoside. CONCLUSION alpha-Spinasterol and alpha-stediol were isolated from Curcuma phaeocaulis Val. for the first time.
Anaerobic gut fungi: Advances in isolation, culture, and cellulolytic enzyme discovery for biofuel production

Anaerobic gut fungi are an early branching family of fungi that are commonly found in the digestive tract of ruminants and monogastric herbivores. It is becoming increasingly clear that they are the primary colonizers of ingested plant biomass, and that they significantly contribute to the decomposition of plant biomass into fermentable sugars. As such, anaerobic fungi harbor a rich reservoir of undiscovered cellulolytic enzymes and enzyme complexes that can potentially transform the conversion of lignocellulose into bioenergy products. Despite their unique evolutionary history and cellulolytic activity, few species have been isolated and studied in great detail. As a result, their life cycle, cellular physiology, genetics, and cellulolytic metabolism remain poorly understood compared to aerobic fungi. To help address this limitation, this review briefly summarizes the current body of knowledge pertaining to anaerobic fungal biology, and describes progress made in the isolation, cultivation, molecular characterization, and long‐term preservation of these microbes. We also discuss recent cellulase‐ and cellulosome‐discovery efforts from gut fungi, and how these interesting, non‐model microbes could be further adapted for biotechnology applications. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2014;111: 1471–1482. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
LCC resonant power electronic converter for photovoltaic system with battery energy storage

Power electronic converters are an integral element of power generation systems based on renewable energy sources which is photovoltaic array. Converters enable the control and correction measures of current and voltage characteristics on the output of the power plant, as well as proper operation of energy storage device. Moreover, such converters facilitate and control power load of the power electronic system. Particular interest should be paid to the parameters of the converter responsible for the operation of the energy storage device. It should be characterized by: easiness of control, low costs and especially high efficiency. The authors suggestion for this application is to implement a resonant LCC converter in a three-phase converter system. Research of the device has been conducted in a one-dimensional energy flow version. Tests for resonant system and hard switching have also been done. Conducted tests provide evidence of the converters high efficiency at the voltage level of the rated voltage. The results prove that the mentioned converter is appropriate for application in cooperation with a battery energy storage device. What is more, the dynamic and static characteristics of the investigated converter are also satisfactory. Still, in order to facilitate the formation of new converters prototypes, the authors designed a universal bridge system with a driver. Suggested model enables formation of devices with the power range from hundreds of watts to several dozens of kilowatts.
The Effect on the Gas Selectivity of CNT-Based Gas Sensors by Binder in SWNT/Silane Sol Solution

We investigated that CNT-based gas sensors could be sensitized selectively by changing binders contained in SWNTs/silane sol solution. To do this, we fabricated CNT-based gas sensors that consisted of a SWNTs/silane hybrid thin film deposited by multiple spray-coating, and we examined the electrical response for alcohol vapor gas from the sensor which is applicable to an alcohol breath analyzer. Generally, silane binders are mixed in CNT solution to adhere CNTs to substrates well, and they can be easily functionalized to each group on the surface of CNTs after they are hardened by way of the hydrolysis reaction. Therefore, the response property to a special gas will be changed if the binder in the solution is different. Here, we compared the effect of TEOS with MTMS as a binder. As a result, we observed that the resistance in the sensors using TEOS decreased dramatically while it decreased scarcely in the sensors using MTMS for increasing alcohol concentrations.
p53 and DPC4 alterations in the bile of patients with pancreatic carcinoma

Pancreatic cancer is still predominantly diagnosed in advanced stages, and 85%–90% of patients are not eligible for surgery at diagnosis. This is mainly due to the great difficulty in detecting the tumour at an early stage and presently no satisfactory results have been obtained to overcome this problem. Studies on molecular genetic profile of pancreatic cancer may represent an important approach. This study was focused on the mutations of p53 and DPC4 detectable in the bile of patients with histologically proven pancreatic cancers.
Evaluating the mechanistic evidence and key data gaps in assessing the potential carcinogenicity of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers in humans

Abstract In an evaluation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for the IARC Monograph 111, the Mechanisms Subgroup was tasked with assessing the strength of evidence on the potential carcinogenicity of CNTs in humans. The mechanistic evidence was considered to be not strong enough to alter the evaluations based on the animal data. In this paper, we provide an extended, in-depth examination of the in vivo and in vitro experimental studies according to current hypotheses on the carcinogenicity of inhaled particles and fibers. We cite additional studies of CNTs that were not available at the time of the IARC meeting in October 2014, and extend our evaluation to include carbon nanofibers (CNFs). Finally, we identify key data gaps and suggest research needs to reduce uncertainty. The focus of this review is on the cancer risk to workers exposed to airborne CNT or CNF during the production and use of these materials. The findings of this review, in general, affirm those of the original evaluation on the inadequate or limited evidence of carcinogenicity for most types of CNTs and CNFs at this time, and possible carcinogenicity of one type of CNT (MWCNT-7). The key evidence gaps to be filled by research include: investigation of possible associations between in vitro and early-stage in vivo events that may be predictive of lung cancer or mesothelioma, and systematic analysis of dose–response relationships across materials, including evaluation of the influence of physico-chemical properties and experimental factors on the observation of nonmalignant and malignant endpoints.
[BRCA1/2 gene mutation in Chinese familial breast cancer patients: a multi-center report of 115 cases].

OBJECTIVE To study the BRCA1/2 gene mutation frequency and characteristics in Chinese familial breast cancer patients. METHODS Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and following DNA sequencing in BRCA1/2 gene whole coding region and exon-intron splicing sites were performed in the specimens obtained during operation from 115 probands of familial breast cancer from 4 breast cancer centers in China. RESULTS Fourteen cases of gene mutation (11 in BRCA1 and 3 in BRCA2) were found in the 115 breast cancer specimens with an overall mutation rate of 12.2%. After stratification with number of breast cancer patients in family, the frequency of mutation did not change significantly. The average age of disease onset of the families carrying BRCA1/2 mutations was significantly younger than that of the families without mutations (P < 0.01), and the higher the number of young patients in family, the higher the mutation rate. CONCLUSION In Chinese familial breast cancer patients, age of disease-onset is an effective predictive factor of BRCA1/2 mutation, however, the predictive effect of the number of affective relatives in family is not good.