Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multivariate Analysis of Multichannel Surface Myoelectric Signals to Determine Muscular Fatigue

Abstract: Multivariate analysis would be effective in finding the functional change from several variables obtained from multivariate biological signals. We applied this idea to the discrimination of sustained fatiguing contraction from negative ramp contraction. The time-series of eigenvalues were obtained from multidimensional biological variables by the Karhunen-Loève expansion. The results showed that, the first and second eigenvalues came close to each other during fatiguing contraction, whereas only the first eigenvalue was dominant during negative ramp contraction. Moreover, the factor loadings showed considerable difference between fatiguing contraction and negative ramp contraction. As a result, the muscular-fatigue-related functional change could be represented clearly by the time-series of proportions and factor loadings.
Thrombin Signaling in the Brain: The Role of Protease-Activated Receptors

Abstract Signaling by the protease thrombin has started to be appreciated in cell biology, especially since the gene for proteaseactivated receptor-1 (PAR-1) has been cloned. Apart from the central role of thrombin in blood coagulation and wound healing, thrombin also regulates cellular functions in a large variety of cells through PAR-1, PAR-3 and PAR-4. Receptors are activated by a proteolytic cleavage mechanism via G protein-coupled signaling pathways. Accumulating evidence shows that thrombin changes the morphology of neurons and astrocytes, induces glial cell proliferation, and even exerts, depending on the concentration applied, either cytoprotective or cytotoxic effects on neural cells. These effects may be mediated, through either distinct or overlapping signal transduction cascades, by activation of PARs. This review focuses on the underlying signaling events initiated by thrombin in neuronal and glial cells, to summarize our understanding of the intracellular signaling machinery linking thrombin receptors to their potential physiological and pathological functions in the CNS.
An agent-based system approach to fixture design

The development of an integrated computer-aided fixture design (CAFD) environment is heavily influenced by system architecture. Many of the architectures that have been employed in developing CAFD tools have followed a traditional or a concurrent engineering design process model, driven by the traditional notions of systematic fixture design. This paper takes a new approach by exploring the fundamental differences between various distributed design architectures, with the goal of matching the requirements for an extendable CAFD environment capitalising on the strengths of various system architecture templates to support the requisites of fixture design information support. Ultimately, an architecture is proposed and illustrated through a case study.
The Effect of Carbon Tax in Aviation Industry on the Multilateral Simulation Game

With the end of the grace period (2016) of the aviation carbon tax (ACT) proposed by the EU, the EU is likely to restart the ACT. Hence, it becomes increasingly urgent to propose a feasible and effective scheme to restrict emissions in the aviation industry. We develop a two-stage game model to analyze three possible strategies (non-resistance, refusal of payment and ACT retaliation) in nine scenarios for three groups (the EU, developing countries and non-EU developed countries). The theoretical analyses and numerical simulations reveal that the EU will continue to impose the ACT. Simultaneously, imposing retaliatory ACT constitutes an ideal choice for non-EU developed countries. At present, refusing to pay the ACT is a practical strategy for developing countries; however, after the transitional phase, this group will tend to impose the ACT as developed countries by paying attention to increasing climate change. With optimal strategies for the above three groups, the ACT can be imposed effectively and efficiently by multilateral agreements within the framework of the market-based measure (MBM) scheme. This paper develops a game framework to simulate the ACT effect and to solve emission problems in the aviation industry by a multilateral perspective to achieve sustainability, which is of practical significance for nations and economies.
Treatment decision-making and its relation to the sense of coherence and the meaning of the disease in a group of patients with colorectal cancer.

UNLABELLED The aims of the present study were to describe the preferred and the actual participating roles in treatment decision-making in relation to patients with newly diagnosed, colorectal cancer and to relate this result to the sociodemographic data, the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and the patients' meaning of the disease. Eighty-six patients were studied. The following instruments were used: the Control Preferences Scale (CPS); the eight Lipowski categories of the meaning of the disease (LCMD); and the SOC. The results showed that 62% of the patients preferred a collaborative role and 28% a passive role in treatment decision-making. Agreement between the preferred and the actual participating roles was achieved by 44% of the patients. Seventy-one per cent of the patients showed an optimistic understanding of their disease. The mean SOC score was 150. There was no statistically significant difference between the CPS groups as regarded the sociodemographic data, the SOC and the LCMD. CONCLUSION Sociodemographic data, the perceived meaning of the disease as well as the patients' sense of coherence were not related to the decision-making preferences in the investigated group of patients. Therefore, further investigations are needed to get an understanding of influencing factors of the decision-making preferences.
House Staff Attitudes About Influenza Vaccination After Participation in a Clinical Trial to Improve Vaccination of Hospital Patients

We surveyed house staff who had participated in a trial that compared influenza vaccination strategies for inpatients. House staff who were exposed to computer-generated vaccination orders were more likely to report that they recommended vaccination to their inpatients and outpatients, compared with house staff who were not exposed to a vaccination intervention. Also, house staff did not recognize regnant women as a high-priority population for influenza vaccination.
E‐cadherin is a selective and strongly dominant prognostic factor in squamous cell carcinoma: A comparison of E‐cadherin with desmosomal components

E‐cadherin‐mediated and desmosomal cell‐cell adhesion have been implicated in the suppression of invasive and metastatic behavior of squamous cell carcinomas. Whether the adhaerens junction represented by E‐cadherin and the desmosomes interplay or have distinct and separate roles in squamous cell cancer progression is still unclear. We have studied a cohort of 200 primary tumors and 56 lymph node metastases from different anatomic sites of the head and neck region for changes in synthesis of E‐cadherin, desmoplakin and desmoglein by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Selected cases were studied by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and electron microscopy (EM). Only frozen sections were evaluated since they gave stronger and reproducible staining results. IHC data obtained were compared to clinical parameters. While some reduction in immunostaining was found in virtually all invasive tumors, at least partial expression, including that of E‐cadherin, persisted in most late stage tumors and in lymph node metastases. Reduced desmosomal staining correlated with desmosomes reduced in numbers, size or in structural defects by EM analysis. By univariate analysis, reduction in synthesis of both E‐cadherin and the desmosomal components that were generally linked (i.e., they showed positive rank correlations) were significantly associated with clinical parameters including overall and disease‐free survival. However, by multivariate analysis including a Cox proportional hazards regression model (backward selection), the desmosomal components were not significant as independent prognostic factors. By contrast, E‐cadherin was strongly associated with patient prognosis. In line with the highly significant association of reduced E‐cadherin synthesis with an increased relative risk of follow up events, i.e., regional lymph node (p = 0.0007) and distant metastasis (p < 0.0001), as well as local recurrences (p < 0.0001), the prognostic strength of E‐cadherin was independent of and stronger than histological grading, N stage, tumor site, and even stronger than the TNM stage. Based on these results, evaluation of E‐cadherin in squamous cell carcinomas by immunostaining is recommended as a significant prognostic marker. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Screening for JH1 genetic defect carriers in Jersey cattle by a polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism assay

An autosomal recessive genetic defect termed JH1 has been associated with early embryonic loss in the Jersey cattle breed. The genetic basis has been identified as a cytosine to thymine mutation in the CWC15 gene that changes an amino acid from arginine to a stop code. To screen for JH1 carriers in an imported Jersey population in China, a method based on a polymerase chain reaction amplification followed by a restriction fragment length polymorphism assay (PCR-RFLP) was developed for the accurate diagnosis of the JH1 allele. A total of 449 randomly chosen cows were examined with the PCR-RFLP assay, and 31 were identified as JH1 carriers, corresponding to a carrier frequency of 6.9%. The PCR-RFLP method was validated by DNA sequencing of 8 positive and 13 negative samples, with all 21 samples giving the expected DNA sequence. In addition, 3 negative and 3 positive samples were confirmed by a commercial microarray-based single nucleotide polymorphism assay. Finally, samples from 9 bulls in the United States of known status were correctly identified as carriers (5 bulls) or noncarriers (4 bulls). As the JH1 defect has most likely spread worldwide, implementing routine screening is necessary to avoid the risk of carrier-to-carrier matings and to gradually eradicate the deleterious gene.
Factors Affecting Student Motivation and Achievement in Science in Selected Middle School Eighth Grade Classes

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP BULLOCK, NAOMI J. B.A. KEAN UNIVERSITY, 1999 M.A.T. BRENAU UNIVERSITY, 2004 ED.S. GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, 2012 FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENT MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE IN SELECTED MIDDLE SCHOOL EIGHTH GRADE CLASSES Committee Chair: Trevor Turner, Ph.D. Dissertation dated May 2017 This study examines factors that affect student motivation and achievement in the middle school eighth grade science classroom, including, teacher-student relationships, student-peer relationships, teacher expectations in science, student preference of instructional delivery (labs vs. lecture), teacher demographics (experience at local school, professional experience, qualifications, age range), and student perceptions of teacher expectations in science. One hundred fifty survey participants were used in this quantitative study which included an analysis of the independent variables affecting student motivation and academic achievement. The findings of this study determined that there is a statistically significant relationship between student motivation and student perceptions of teacher expectations, actual teacher expectations, teacher’s age, teacher’s highest level of education, and whether or not a student received free or reduced lunch. FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENT MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE IN SELECTED MIDDLE SCHOOL EIGHTH GRADE CLASSES A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
REAKSI PASAR MODAL INDONESIA SEBELUM DAN SESUDAH RESHUFFLE KABINET 12 AGUSTUS 2015 (Event Study pada Saham Anggota LQ 45 Tahun 2015)

ABSTRACT Cabinet reshuffle carried out by President Jokowi-JK on August 12, 2015. Jokowi replaced five ministers were three of them were ministers in the economy. The reaction of society which reflects the expectations can be seen from the movement of stock prices in the Indonesian stock market. The market reaction is indicated by the presence or absence of difference of abnormal return, trading volume activity and security return variability. Data analysis is done by using paired sample t-test on abnormal return and the Wilcoxon signed rank test on trading volume activity and security return variability. The results show that there is difference in abnormal return, trading volume activity, and security return variability before and after of the cabinet reshuffle Jokowi JK August 12, 2015.Keywords: cabinet reshuffle, abnormal return, trading volume activity and security return variability
Vanadate-Induced Trapping of Nucleotides by Purified Maltose Transport Complex Requires ATP Hydrolysis

ABSTRACT The maltose transport system in Escherichia coli is a member of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily of transporters that is defined by the presence of two nucleotide-binding domains or subunits and two transmembrane regions. The bacterial import systems are unique in that they require a periplasmic substrate-binding protein to stimulate the ATPase activity of the transport complex and initiate the transport process. Upon stimulation by maltose-binding protein, the intact MalFGK2 transport complex hydrolyzes ATP with positive cooperativity, suggesting that the two nucleotide-binding MalK subunits interact to couple ATP hydrolysis to transport. The ATPase activity of the intact transport complex is inhibited by vanadate. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of inhibition by vanadate and found that incubation of the transport complex with MgATP and vanadate results in the formation of a stably inhibited species containing tightly bound ADP that persists after free vanadate and nucleotide are removed from the solution. The inhibited species does not form in the absence of MgCl2 or of maltose-binding protein, and ADP or another nonhydrolyzable analogue does not substitute for ATP. Taken together, these data conclusively show that ATP hydrolysis must precede the formation of the vanadate-inhibited species in this system and implicate a role for a high-energy, ADP-bound intermediate in the transport cycle. Transport complexes containing a mutation in a single MalK subunit are still inhibited by vanadate during steady-state hydrolysis; however, a stably inhibited species does not form. ATP hydrolysis is therefore necessary, but not sufficient, for vanadate-induced nucleotide trapping.
A conditional-proportional damper schedule for semi-active suspension of ground vehicles

The suspension system of a ground vehicle is responsible for ride comfort and for isolation of the chassis from the road disturbances. The performance of a suspension system can be quantitatively expressed by the root-mean-square acceleration experienced by the chassis under given terrain conditions. The suspension performance is crucial for ride comfort as well as the health of equipment and personnel on- board the chassis. Typically some variant of spring-damper system is used for ground vehicle suspension. The spring deforms to the road undulations and the role of the damper is to attenuate the oscillations induced by the spring and suspended mass. Extremely low level of damping makes the suspension system prone to resonance phenomenon which can be hazardous to the chassis. On the other hand, an extremely high level of damping substantially reduces the effectiveness of the spring, thereby drastically reducing the performance of the suspension system. Adaptively varying the damping coefficient based on certain kinematic conditions has been a subject matter of interest because of the performance improvement that can be achieved with inexpensive hardware. Such suspension systems are said to be Semi-active. Several strategies for adjusting the damper for improving the isolation performance are available in literature. Model reference sky-hook strategy is one of the most popular techniques for scheduling the damping co- efficient. Unfortunately, it requires the absolute positions and velocities which are not easily measurable. An alternative strategy is available in literature which is based on easily measurable relative kinematics. In this paper, we show that this alternative strategy leads to performance degradation against the sky- hook strategy. Further, this paper proposes a novel strategy for scheduling the damper which is based on easily measurable quantities and at the same time achieves an isolation performance close to benchmark Sky-hook damper.
Immunophenotypic analysis of AIDS-related diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and clinical implications in patients from AIDS Malignancies Consortium clinical trials 010 and 034.

PURPOSE Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) represents a clinically heterogeneous disease. Models based on immunohistochemistry predict clinical outcome. These include subdivision into germinal center (GC) versus non-GC subtypes; proliferation index (measured by expression of Ki-67), and expression of BCL-2, FOXP1, or B-lymphocyte-induced maturation protein (Blimp-1)/PRDM1. We sought to determine whether immunohistochemical analyses of biopsies from patients with DLBCL having HIV infection are similarly relevant for prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS We examined 81 DLBCLs from patients with AIDS in AMC010 (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone [CHOP] v CHOP-rituximab) and AMC034 (etoposide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, and dose-adjusted cyclophosphamide plus rituximab concurrent v sequential) clinical trials and compared the immunophenotype with survival data, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positivity, and CD4 counts. RESULTS The GC and non-GC subtypes of DLBCL did not differ significantly with respect to overall survival or CD4 count at cancer presentation. EBV could be found in both subtypes of DLBCL, although less frequently in the GC subtype, and did not affect survival. Expression of FOXP1, Blimp-1/PRDM1, or BCL-2 was not correlated with the outcome in patients with AIDS-related DLBCL. CONCLUSION These data indicate that with current treatment strategies for lymphoma and control of HIV infection, commonly used immunohistochemical markers may not be clinically relevant in HIV-infected patients with DLBCL. The only predictive immunohistochemical marker was found to be Ki-67, where a higher proliferation index was associated with better survival, suggesting a better response to therapy in patients whose tumors had higher proliferation rates.
Prevalence and correlates for self-reported sleep problems among nursing students.

INTRODUCTION University students report significantly worse sleep quality than the general population. Sleep problems are related to increased health concerns, irritability, depression, fatigue, attention and concentration difficulties, along with poor academic performance. The aim of this paper is to conduct a survey based on a questionnaire that would characterize night time and daytime habits in nursing students to estimate the prevalence of chronic insomnia, sleep disturbance and their correlates. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 364 nursing students of the University of L'Aquila, in Italy. Self-reported sleep data were derived from Sleep and Daytime Habits Questionnaire" (S&DHQ) that covered sleep and daytime habits and academic progress. Anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed by the Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5) questionnaire. A supplement includes information about lifestyle, health status and physical activity. RESULTS The overall prevalence of insomnia was 26.7%. It increased significantly from 10.3% for students aged < 20 years to 45.5% for those aged > 40 years. The prevalence of sleep problems were 9.4% for disorders of initiating sleep, 8.3% for disrupted sleep, 7.7% for early morning awakening and subjectively poor quality of sleep 22.3%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that greater age was significantly associated with an increased risk of insomnia. Other risk predictors of insomnia were headache, severe depression and self perception of poor quality of life. Daytime sleepiness and morning tiredness were significantly associated with current smoking habit and painful physical condition. The risk of unsatisfactory academic progress increased significantly in students reported poor sleep quality. DISCUSSION Our study demonstrates that sleep problems are very common among students, and supports the need to assess sleep problems and identify students at risk regarding school achievement.
RETINAL VASCULAR PLEXUSES' CHANGES IN DRY AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION, EVALUATED BY MEANS OF OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY

Purpose: To investigate alteration in superficial and deep retinal vascular densities and choroidal thickness, in patients affected by early and intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: All patients had undergone optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). All eyes were grouped into two stages: “early AMD” and “intermediate AMD. ” Outcome measures were superficial vessel density, deep vessel density, and choroidal thickness. A control group of healthy subjects was selected for the statistical comparisons. Results: A total of 37 eyes of 37 dry AMD patients were enrolled for the study. Fourteen of 37 eyes were classified as having early AMD, the remaining 23 of 37 eyes were classified as being affected by intermediate AMD. Superficial and deep vessel densities were 39.21% ± 10.67% and 43.84% ± 11.57%, respectively, in the control group and 28.30% ± 10.73% and 36.41% ± 12.30%, respectively, in AMD patients (P = 0.001 and P = 0.017, respectively). Choroidal thickness was significantly reduced in AMD patients. Conclusion: In the last years, several studies have reported vascular factors playing an important role in AMD pathogenesis. We demonstrated that both superficial and deep retinal plexuses are altered among patients affected by AMD. Interestingly, this alteration starts immediately at the intermediate AMD stage and also the choroidal thickness reduction.
Combined antiviral and antimediator treatment of rhinovirus colds.

An antiviral agent and two antiinflammatory compounds were used in a blinded, placebo-controlled study to treat experimental rhinovirus colds. Intranasal interferon-alpha 2b and ipratropium and oral naproxen were begun 24 h after rhinovirus inoculation. Treatment was continued three times a day for 4 days. Viral shedding (mean +/- SE) was 4.4 +/- 0.3 days for controls and 2.9 +/- 0.3 days for treated volunteers (P less than .003). Geometric mean virus titers were reduced in the treated group on all days (P = .02-.06). Serum antibody responses and postinfection geometric mean antibody titers were similar in both groups (P greater than .1). Colds developed in 6 of 16 treated and 7 of 8 control subjects (P = .05). Mean total symptom scores (P = .055), rhinorrhea (P less than .01), cough (P less than .01), and malaise (P less than .001) were reduced in treated subjects. Trends in reduction of nasal obstruction and sore throat also favored the treated group. Nasal secretion weights were 12.9 +/- 4.8 g in treated and 20.3 +/- 5.4 g in control subjects (P = .4). Medications were was tolerated.
Computer Methods for Creating Photomosaics

A technique is described which allows overlapping images to be combined into a photomosaic in which the visual impact of the introduced seam. has been minimized. Images which have been brought into geometric and gray scale register are combined on a line-by-line basis by choosing a "best" seam point for each line. The resulting artificial edge at the seam point is then locally smoothed.