Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
No detrimental effect of ligament balancing on functional outcome after total knee arthroplasty: a prospective cohort study on 129 mechanically aligned knees with 3 years’ follow-up

Background and purpose — In the classical mechanical alignment technique, ligament balancing is considered a prerequisite for good function and endurance in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, it has been argued that ligament balancing may have a negative effect on knee function, and some authors advocate anatomic or kinematic alignment in order to reduce the extent of ligament releases. The effect of the trauma induced by ligament balancing on functional outcome is unknown; therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate this effect. Patients and methods — 129 knees (73 women) were investigated. Mean age was 69 years (42–82), and mean BMI was 29 (20–43). Preoperatively 103 knees had a varus deformity, 21 knees had valgus deformity, and 5 knees were neutral. The primary outcome measure was the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). Secondary outcome measures were the Oxford Knee Score (OKS) and patient satisfaction (VAS). All ligament releases were registered intraoperatively and outcome at 3 years’ follow-up in knees with and without ligament balancing was compared Results — 86 knees were ligament balanced and 43 knees were not. Ligament-balanced varus knees had more preoperative deformity than varus knees without ligament balancing (p = 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences in outcomes between ligament-balanced and non-ligament-balanced knees at 3 years’ follow-up. No correlation was found between increasing numbers of soft tissue structures released and outcome. Interpretation — We did not find any negative effect of the trauma induced by ligament balancing on knee function after 3 years.
Unorthodox Optimization Tasks for Achieving Well-Informed Design for an Automobile Industry

Engineering optimization problems from practice come with a number of complexities, which make generic and pedagogical optimization algorithms difficult to handle them in a straightforward manner. First, the problems usually involve a large number of variables and constraints. Second, the optimization task must, most often, be performed for a number of conflicting objectives. Third, practitioners need to find a near-optimal or a better-than-existing solution quickly, despite the fact that solution evaluations can be computationally expensive. Fourth, a curious practitioner is also often interested in not one, but multiple diverse yet equally good solutions, in order to compare a set of choices before selecting a single solution. Fifth, before the final acceptance of a preferred solution, they are often interested in performing a sensitivity analysis around the chosen solution, so that they are satisfied with any trade-off advantage which a neighboring solution may provide. Sensitivity is usually considered from a number of different issues, such as uncertainty in parameters and variables in implementing the solution, noise in objective and constraint functions, discrepancies between simulation models for objectives and constraints and actuality, etc. In this paper, the sensitivity of a solution is considered from the point of constraint violation. It helps the practitioners to know the maximum possible gain in critical objectives for a conceivable relaxation of the original constraints. Advanced optimization methods are used for meeting some of the above practicalities through a large-scale engineering design problem obtained from an automobile industry. Such approaches allow industrial practitioners to not only have an optimized solution at the end, but also to gather useful knowledge about the problem, which will help them lead in their profession and use the knowledge for future applications. Methods suggested in this paper are generic and can be applied to other similar engineering optimization problems.
Image analysis in DCE-MRI

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) uses a bolus of paramagnetic tracer, injected after the start of a T1weighted dynamic imaging technique. The data consist of the signal changes S(t) induced by the tracer as a function of the time t. The purpose of the measurement is to extract tissue-characteristic indices from the measured time-curves S(t). Generally speaking, data can be analysed by visual assessment, descriptive parameters, or quantitative parameters [1].
In Vitr Antioxygenic Activity of Ridge Gourd ( Luffa acutangula ) Pulp, Peel and Their Extracts on Peroxidation Models

Ridge gourd pulp and peel powders as well as their various solvent fractions were evaluated for antioxygenic activity using different methods. Ridge gourd pulp and peel powders at 2% level and their ethanol/water soluble extracts exhibited strong antioxygenic activity in sunflower oil stored at 37? C. The water soluble extract devoid of any antioxygenic activity in sunflower oil. Ridge gourd pulp and peel powders as well as their extracts were evaluated for their antioxygenic activity using linoleic acid peroxidation, β-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) methods. Ethanol/water extracts from ridge gourd pulp and peel showed highest antioxygenic activity followed by water extracts, while the petroleum ether extract showed moderate antioxygenic activity. Ridge gourd peel powder and its extracts showed slightly higher antioxygenic activity than ridge gourd pulp powder and its extracts. This may be attributed to the presence of higher amounts of phenolics and flavonoids which have been reported as potential antioxidants.
Faecal Sludge Quantification, Characterisation and Treatment Objectives

The first step in designing faecal sludge (FS) treatment technologies that will meet defined treatment objectives is to quantify and characterise the FS to be treated. Ideally, this should be carried out as part of the Feasibility Study as described in Chapter 17, but is however difficult due to the lack of standardised methodologies for the quantification or characterisation of FS. This complicates the design of adequate and appropriate systems.
Prothrombin Complex Concentrate for Warfarin-Associated Intracranial Bleeding in Neurosurgical Patients: A Single-Center Experience

Objective: The number of patients presenting with warfarin-associated intracranial bleeding and needing neurosurgical intervention is growing. Prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) is commonly used for anti-coagulation reversal before emergent surgery. We present our experience with PCC use in patients presenting with coagulopathy and needing urgent craniotomy. Methods: We retrospectively identified all patients presenting with intracranial bleeding and coagulopathy due to warfarin use, requiring urgent neurosurgical procedures, from January, 2014 (implementation of 4-PCC therapy) until December, 2016. For coagulation reversal, all patients received 4-PCC (Octaplex) and vitamin K. Results: Thirty-five consecutive patients (17 men; median age 72 years) were administered 4-PCC before emergent neurosurgical procedures. The majority of patients presented with traumatic subdural hematoma (62%) and spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (32%). All patients were taking warfarin. Median international normalized ratio (INR) on admission was 2.94 (range: 1.20 to 8.60). Median 4-PCC dose was 2000 I.U. (range: 500 I.U. to 3000 I.U.). There was a statically significant decrease in INR (p < 0.01), PT (p < 0.01), and PTT (p = 0.02) after 4-PCC administration. Postoperative INR values were ≤3.00 in all patients, and seven (20%) patients had normal INR values. There were no 4-PCC related complications. Four (11%) patients developed subdural/epidural hematoma and 20 (57%) patients died. Mortality was associated with lower Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score. Conclusions: The 4-PCC facilitates INR reversal and surgery in patients presenting with warfarin-associated coagulopathy and intracranial bleeding requiring urgent neurosurgical intervention.
Reliability and validity of the Brief Pain Inventory in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Pain is prevalent in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) appears to be a feasible questionnaire to assess this symptom. However, the reliability and validity of the BPI have not been determined in individuals with COPD. This study aimed to determine the internal consistency, test–retest reliability and validity (construct, convergent, divergent and discriminant) of the BPI in individuals with COPD.
Stationarity against integration in the autoregressive process with polynomial trend

We tackle the stationarity issue of an autoregressive path with a polynomial trend, and we generalize some aspects of the LMC test, the testing procedure of Leybourne and McCabe. First, we show that it is possible to get the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis of trend-stationarity as well as under the alternative of nonstationarity, for any polynomial trend of order $r$. Then, we explain the reason why the LMC test, and by extension the KPSS test, does not reject the null hypothesis of trend-stationarity, mistakenly, when the random walk is generated by a unit root located at $-1$. We also observe it on simulated data and we correct the procedure. Finally, we describe some useful stochastic processes that appear in our limiting distributions.
Uso de técnicas de Computação Social para tomada de decisão de compra e venda de ações no mercado brasileiro de bolsa de valores

The tracking of public sentiment indicators to predict the financial market has gained much attention from academia and the business world. However, there are several issues regarding the accuracy and significance of models that need to be improved. Thus, this work aims to analyze the relationship between data in Portuguese language obtained from the social network Twitter and Brazilian stock market through a decision aid system which performs purchase and sale of shares. In order that, messages posted from August 2013 to April 2014 that contained words related to the actions of nine important Brazilian companies in the stock market, and Bovespa data as volume and price were collected. Techniques for sentiment analysis and trend were applied in the data to obtain indicators that were initially associated statistically with the Bovespa and subsequently, they were used in the simulator system. The results showed that investment in this area is promising despite the great challenges it imposes.
Ring Packing and Amortized FHEW Bootstrapping

The FHEW fully homomorphic encryption scheme (Ducas and Micciancio, Eurocrypt 2015) offers very fast homomorphic NAND-gate computations (on encrypted data) and a relatively fast refreshing procedure that allows to homomorphically evaluate arbitrary NAND boolean circuits. Unfortunately, the refreshing procedure needs to be executed after every single NAND computation, and each refreshing operates on a single encrypted bit, greatly decreasing the overall throughput of the scheme. We give a new refreshing procedure that simultaneously refreshes n FHEW ciphertexts, at a cost comparable to a single-bit FHEW refreshing operation. As a result, the cost of each refreshing is amortized over n encrypted bits, improving the throughput for the homomorphic evaluation of boolean circuits roughly by a factor n.
Loss of RNA-Directed DNA Methylation in Maize Chromomethylase and DDM1-Type Nucleosome Remodeler Mutants[OPEN]

Double mutants of the two genes encoding chromomethylases or the two genes encoding DDM1-type nucleosome remodelers lose RNA-directed DNA methylation in maize. Plants make use of distinct types of DNA methylation characterized by their DNA methyltransferases and modes of regulation. One type, RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM), is guided by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to the edges of transposons that are close to genes, areas called mCHH islands in maize (Zea mays). Another type, chromomethylation, is guided by histone H3 lysine 9 methylation to heterochromatin across the genome. We examined DNA methylation and small RNA expression in plant tissues that were mutant for both copies of the genes encoding chromomethylases as well as mutants for both copies of the genes encoding DECREASED DNA METHYLATION1 (DDM1)-type nucleosome remodelers, which facilitate chromomethylation. Both sets of double mutants were nonviable but produced embryos and endosperm. RdDM was severely compromised in the double mutant embryos, both in terms of DNA methylation and siRNAs. Loss of 24-nucleotide siRNA from mCHH islands was coupled with a gain of 21-, 22-, and 24-nucleotide siRNAs in heterochromatin. These results reveal a requirement for both chromomethylation and DDM1-type nucleosome remodeling for RdDM in mCHH islands, which we hypothesize is due to dilution of RdDM components across the genome when heterochromatin is compromised.
How the simple shape and soft body of the larvae might explain the success of endopterygote insects

ABSTRACT The body forms of the larvae of most endopterygote insects are remarkably similar. I argue that their typical worm-like shape cuts costs; in particular, this allows the larvae to benefit from cheaper moulting and from less costly provision of fuel and oxygen to their respiring tissues. Furthermore, the shape confers a reduction of larval mortality in moulting. Together, these factors allow endopterygote larvae to grow fast and as this speedy growth reduces the dangers of predation, attack by parasitoids and disease before the larvae can reach adulthood, they increase offspring survival. I argue that this goes a long way to explain the very pronounced success of endopterygote insects. Summary: The pronounced success of endopterygote insects may be from the worm-like shape of the larvae which enables them to grow fast, reducing the dangers of predation, parasitoids and diseases, thereby increasing offspring survival.
Graphene synthesis and application for solar cells

To date graphene and graphene-derived materials have created an immense research interests due to its extraordinary physical, chemical, and physiochemical properties, which delineated graphene as an outstanding material for future electronics, optics, and energy-harvesting devices. Typically, graphene has high mobility and optical transparency along with excellent mechanical properties and chemical inertness. Single-layer graphene exhibits ultrahigh optical transmissivity (∼98%), which allows passing through wide range of light wave lengths, thus designated as an ever-reported material for an optically conducting window. Furthermore, graphene’s optical, electrical, and electrocatalytic properties can be tuned by applying different chemical functionalization protocols, which make it one of the most suitable candidates for advanced applications in optoelectronic and energy-harvesting devices. This review is intended to summarize the most important experimental results from the recent publications concerning the fascinating properties of graphene electrodes and their applications in various types of solar cells. Furthermore, the state of the art of different graphene synthesis processes and functionalization for the applications in solar cells are also discussed in this review.
Sequences of discrete attentional shifts emerge from a neural dynamic architecture for conjunctive visual search that operates in continuous time

The goal of conjunctive visual search is to attentionally select a location at which the visual array matches a set of cued feature values. Here we present a neural dynamic architecture in which all neural processes operate in parallel in continuous time, but in which discrete sequences of processing steps emerge from dynamic instabilities. When biased competition selects an object location at which not all conjunctive feature values match the cue, the neural representation of a condition of dissatisfaction is activated and induces an attentional shift. Successful match activates the neural representation of a condition of satisfaction that ends the search. The search takes place in the current visual array but takes into account an autonomously acquired feature-space scene memory.
Emergence of bluetongue virus serotype 4 in mainland France in November 2017

In November 2017, a 15-day-old calf located in France (Haute-Savoie department) was found positive for bluetongue virus (BTV) RNA by RT-PCR. Laboratory investigations allowed the isolation and identification of the serotype: BTV-4. The analysis of the full viral genome showed that all the 10 genome segments were closely related to BTV-4 strains involved in a large BT outbreak in the Balkan Peninsula, in Italy since 2014 and in Corsica since the end of October 2016. These results together with epidemiological data suggest that BTV-4 has been introduced to mainland France from Corsica or Italy where BTV-4 outbreaks have been reported in summer and autumn 2016. This is the first report of the introduction of BTV-4 in mainland France.
Estimating Energy Efficiency of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles in a Mixed Fleet

While other ACC strategies exist, they have been formulated as an optimization problem rather than a rule-based model that has low computational demand, natural adaptability to online applications, and reliability. In addition, most models have not taken into account that CAV and human-driven vehicles will likely share the road network in the near future and CAVs will be implemented gradually over time.
Wnt signaling in development and tissue homeostasis

ABSTRACT The Wnt-β-catenin signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved cell-cell communication system that is important for stem cell renewal, cell proliferation and cell differentiation both during embryogenesis and during adult tissue homeostasis. Genetic or epigenetic events leading to hypo- or hyper-activation of the Wnt-β-catenin signaling cascade have also been associated with human diseases such as cancer. Understanding how this pathway functions is thus integral for developing therapies to treat diseases or for regenerative medicine approaches. Here, and in the accompanying poster, we provide an overview of Wnt-β-catenin signaling and briefly highlight its key functions during development and adult tissue homeostasis. Summary: An overview of Wnt-β-catenin signaling highlighting its key functions during development and adult tissue homeostasis.
Natural Language Processing and Its Implications for the Future of Medication Safety: A Narrative Review of Recent Advances and Challenges

The safety of medication use has been a priority in the United States since the late 1930s. Recently, it has gained prominence due to the increasing amount of data suggesting that a large amount of patient harm is preventable and can be mitigated with effective risk strategies that have not been sufficiently adopted. Adverse events from medications are part of clinical practice, but the ability to identify a patient's risk and to minimize that risk must be a priority. The ability to identify adverse events has been a challenge due to limitations of available data sources, which are often free text. The use of natural language processing (NLP) may help to address these limitations. NLP is the artificial intelligence domain of computer science that uses computers to manipulate unstructured data (i.e., narrative text or speech data) in the context of a specific task. In this narrative review, we illustrate the fundamentals of NLP and discuss NLP's application to medication safety in four data sources: electronic health records, Internet‐based data, published literature, and reporting systems. Given the magnitude of available data from these sources, a growing area is the use of computer algorithms to help automatically detect associations between medications and adverse effects. The main benefit of NLP is in the time savings associated with automation of various medication safety tasks such as the medication reconciliation process facilitated by computers, as well as the potential for near–real‐time identification of adverse events for postmarketing surveillance such as those posted on social media that would otherwise go unanalyzed. NLP is limited by a lack of data sharing between health care organizations due to insufficient interoperability capabilities, inhibiting large‐scale adverse event monitoring across populations. We anticipate that future work in this area will focus on the integration of data sources from different domains to improve the ability to identify potential adverse events more quickly and to improve clinical decision support with regard to a patient's estimated risk for specific adverse events at the time of medication prescription or review.
Prevalence of asymptomatic Zika virus infection: a systematic review

Abstract Objective To conduct a systematic review to estimate the prevalence of asymptomatic Zika virus infection in the general population and in specific population groups. Methods We searched PubMed®, Embase® and LILACS online databases from inception to 26 January 2018. We included observational epidemiological studies where laboratory testing was used to confirm positive exposure of participants to Zika virus and in which Zika virus symptom status was also recorded. We excluded studies in which having symptoms of Zika virus was a criterion for inclusion. The main outcome assessed was percentage of all Zika virus-positive participants who were asymptomatic. We used a quality-effects approach and the double arcsine transformation for the meta-analysis. Findings We assessed 753 studies for inclusion, of which 23 were included in the meta-analysis, totalling 11 305 Zika virus-positive participants. The high degree of heterogeneity in the studies (I2 = 99%) suggests that the pooled prevalence of asymptomatic Zika virus-positive participants was probably not a robust estimate. Analysis based on subgroups of the population (general population, returned travellers, blood donors, adults with Guillain–Barré syndrome, pregnant women and babies with microcephaly) was not able to explain the heterogeneity. Funnel and Doi plots showed major asymmetry, suggesting selection bias or true heterogeneity. Conclusion Better-quality research is needed, using standardized methods, to determine the true prevalence of asymptomatic Zika virus and whether it varies between populations or over time.