Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiological investigations into multiple sclerosis in Southern Hesse. V. Course and prognosis

Abstract Course and possible prognostic predictors were studied retrospectively in 363 MS patients collected during an epidemiological study. The proportion of patients showing a primarily progressive course was 18%; 19% of patients of more than 10 years duration showed a benign course, and 8% of those of less than 16 years duration, a malignant course. Although benign cases were twice as frequent in females as in males, the difference between both sexes was not significant. A primarily or secondarily progressive course, a high number of functional systems involved and cerebellar signs occurring in the course indicated a poor prognosis whereas symptoms at onset, age at onset as such, and occupation were without predictive value. No predictors of a favourable course were found. Of the patients of 11–15 years duration, 17% were confined to a wheelchair, 40% were restricted to a walking distance of 500 metres or less, 61% were unable to work and 45% had urinary incontinence. The corresponding figures for those of 21–25 years duration were 40%, 71%, 76% and 50%.
Active Disturbance Rejection Control for a class of parallel systems

This paper discusses the control of parallel systems by active disturbance rejection control technique. The concept of parallel systems is introduced. A class of n-th order parallel systems are analyzed and the total disturbances are determined respectively when the control algorithm is selected as Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) and Alternative ADRC (Alt. ADRC). Two kinds of parallel systems are given as examples to show the process of determining the total disturbance. The procedure of solving the control problem of a second order parallel system is given in detail. Simulation experiments on flexible structures show that the ADRC technique has a much better performance than the traditional Positive Position Feedback (PPF) control strategy when dealing with unknown disturbance and unmodeled modes.
Shorter telomeres in dystrophic muscle consistent with extensive regeneration in young children

Muscular dystrophies are characterised by continuous cycles of degeneration and regeneration resulting in an eventual diminution of the muscle mass and extensive ®brosis. In somatic cells chromosomal telomeres shorten with each round of cell division and telomere length is considered to be a biomarker of the replicative history of the cell. We have previously shown that human myoblasts have a limited proliferative capacity, and that normal skeletal muscle has a very low level of nuclear turnover. However, in patients suffering from muscular dystrophy the satellite cells will be forced to make repeated rounds of cell division, driving the cells towards senescence. In this study we have used the telomere length to quantify the intensity of the muscle cell turnover in biopsies from dystrophic patients of different ages. Our results show that as soon as the ®rst clinical symptoms become apparent the muscle has already undergone extensive regeneration and the rate of telomere loss is 14 times greater than that observed in controls. This con®rms that the decline in regenerative capacity is due to the premature senescence of the satellite cells induced by their excessive proliferation during muscle repair. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Pathophysiology of osteoarthritis.

Although cartilage degeneration characterizes human osteoarthritis (OA), changes also involve the participation of the synovial membrane and the subchondral bone. In this review, attention will be focused on current knowledge of the major factors participating in the degeneration of OA articular joints tissues. Firstly, we will address the biochemical agents involved in the destruction of cartilage and synovial membrane. This will be followed by a brief survey of the most important modulatory factors of proinflammatory cytokines as well as biological agents as potential therapeutics. Emphasis will then be placed on the possibility of an interaction between subchondral bone and cartilage as an integral part of the disease, leading and/or contributing to cartilage destruction in OA; do changes in one cause alterations in the other.
Stimulation of interleukin-8 production in epithelial cell lines by Helicobacter pylori

Following exposure to Helicobacter pylori cells, epithelial cell lines secreted interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-8 but not tumor necrosis factor alpha. Purified IL-6 alone did not stimulate IL-8 production from the cell lines tested, indicating that IL-6 was not an intermediary in IL-8 induction. Enhanced IL-8 secretion occurred in a time- and dose-dependent manner. None of 12 antibiotics tested exhibited a significant effect on IL-8-inducing activity, suggesting that preformed antigens were responsible for stimulating IL-8 secretion in vitro. Live bacterial cells caused the highest level of stimulation. Proteinase-digested and heated (56 or 100 degrees C) cells had significantly reduced stimulatory activities. Purified H. pylori lipopolysaccharide, but not exopolysaccharide, stimulated low-level secretion of IL-8, but only at high concentrations, while a water-extracted H. pylori antigen preparation was strongly stimulatory for HEp-2 cells. No reduction in IL-8-stimulatory activity was observed for H. pylori mutants negative for urease activity, production of a major lipoprotein, and motility. The noncytotoxic strain CCUG 915 stimulated lower IL-8 levels than other isolates. However, the otherwise isogenic cytotoxin-negative mutant 17874 delta vacA (S. H. Phadnis, D. Ilver, L. Janzon, S. Normark, and T. U. Westblom, Infect. Immun. 62:1557-1565, 1994) had the same IL-8-stimulatory ability as the parent strain, suggesting that surface proteins other than the vacuolating cytotoxin are involved in IL-8 stimulation.
Metallorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition and Characterization of TiO 2 Nanoparticles

TiO 2 nanoparticles were synthesized using the metallorganic chemical vapor deposition process. Particles with and without metal ion dopants were obtained. X-ray photoelectron and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic measurements confirmed the stoichiometry of the TiO 2 nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction patterns showed a polycrystalline anatase structure of TiO 2 . Transmission electron microscopy revealed that these particles are of nanoscale dimensions. Exact particle size and size distribution analyses were carried out by dynamic light scattering. The average particle size was determined to be 22 nm. The nanosize particles provided large surface area for photocatalysis and a large number of free surface-charge carriers, which are crucial for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity. To improve the photocatalytic activity, metal ions, including transition metal ions (Pd 2 + , Pt 4 + , Fe 3 + ) and lanthanide ion (Nd 3 + ) were added to pure TiO 2 nanoparticles. The effects of dopants on photocatalytic kinetics were investigated by the degradation of 2-chlorophenol under an ultraviolet light source. The results showed that the TiO 2 nanoparticles with the metal ion dopants have higher photocatalytic activity than undoped TiO 2 . The Nd 3 + ion of these dopant metal ions showed the highest catalytic activity. The difference in the photocatalytic activity with different dopants is related to the different ionic radii of the dopants.
The impact of training effort and training costs on firm productivity

Recent studies have shown that human resource management practices like training, participation or incentive compensation significantly contribute to firm performance (see e.g. Zwick, 2006; Bartel, 2000; Black and Lynch, 1998; Ichniowski, Shaw and Prennushi, 1997; Huselid, 1995). Although the human capital of the firm is not explicitly shown on the balance sheet, the value of the firm is at least in part driven by the value of the people who run the show. In this era of knowledge and information, continuous education and training of workers and employees is no longer an option but a must for most firms. This paper looks at the possible relation between employer provided training and firm performance for a sample of over 10 000 large Belgian firms. We first estimate a standard Cobb-Douglas production function to assess the firms’ expected performance based on the input of capital and labour. Our results show that the extent to which a firm performs either better or worse than expected, can partly be explained by the relative number of workers or employees that participate in employer provided formal training or education programs. In addition, training costs seem to have an impact as well. However, the effect of the participation rate in training is stronger than the effect of the amount that is spent per person. This implies that targets set by international or local governments should focus first on training participation rather than on training costs in relation to total wages. With this finding, we contribute to this field of research in two ways. First, our data are taken from the published financial statements. This allows us to work with auditor certified information that is available for all firms. Second, we include training costs in the analysis.
Denial-of-Sleep Attacks Ding-Dong Ditching Pulse-Delay Attacks Jamming Attacks Broadcast Attacks Droplet Attacks Collision Attacks Unicast Attacks

Like virtually all media access control (MAC) protocols for 802.15. 4 networks, also ContikiMAC is vulnerable to various denial-of-sleep attacks. The focus of this paper is on countering three specific denial-of-sleep attacks on ContikiMAC, namely ding-dong ditching, pulse-delay attacks, and collision attacks. Ding-dong ditching is when attackers emit interference, inject frames, or replay frames so as to mislead ContikiMAC into staying in receive mode for extended periods of time and hence consuming much energy. Pulse-delay attacks are actually attacks on time synchronization, but can also be launched against ContikiMAC’s phaselock optimization to cause an increased energy consumption. Lastly, in collision attacks, an attacker provokes retransmissions via jamming. In this paper, to counter these three kinds of denial-of-sleep attacks, we propose two optimizations to ContikiMAC. The dozing optimization, on the one hand, significantly reduces the energy consumption under ding-dong ditching. Beyond that, the dozing optimization helps during normal operation as it reduces the energy consumption of true wake ups, too. The secure phase-lock optimization, on the other hand, is a version of ContikiMAC’s phase-lock optimization that resists pulse-delay attacks. Additionally, the secure phase-lock optimization makes ContikiMAC resilient to collision attacks, as well as more energy efficient. We implemented and evaluated both optimizations using the Contiki operating system and OpenMotes.
Renal cell cancer risk and occupational exposure to trichloroethylene: results of a consecutive case-control study in Arnsberg, Germany.

BACKGROUND German studies of high exposure prevalence have been debated on the renal carcinogenicity of trichloroethylene (TRI). METHODS A consecutive hospital-based case-control study with 134 renal cell cancer (RCC) cases and 401 controls was conducted to reevaluate the risk of TRI in this region which were estimated in a previous study. Exposure was self-assessed to compare these studies. Additionally, the job history was analyzed, using expert-based exposure information. RESULTS The logistic regression results, adjusted for age, gender, and smoking, confirmed a TRI-related RCC risk in this region. Using the database CAREX for a comparison of industries with and without TRI exposure, a significant excess risk was estimated for the longest held job in TRI-exposing industries (odds ratio (OR) 1.80, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-3.20). Any exposure in "metal degreasing" was a RCC risk factor (OR 5.57, 95% CI 2.33-13.32). Self-reported narcotic symptoms, indicative of peak exposures, were associated with an excess risk (OR 3.71, 95% CI 1.80-7.54). CONCLUSIONS The study supports the human nephrocarcinogenicity of trichloroethylene.
Corporate Responsibility and Strategic Groups in the Forest-based Industry: Exploratory Analysis based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Framework

A growing number of large forest industry companies have declared voluntary adoption of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines to avoid the lack of verification in reporting and to alleviate current criticisms of corporate responsibility (CR) practices. In this study, we use quantitative multivariate analysis of CR disclosure data (GRI indicators) from 66 forest industry firms. The results from cluster analysis show that 58% of the major companies in forest-based industries are following what could be called a relatively defensive approach to CR, while companies proactive towards CR represent only a minority of the sample (18%), and one-quarter of the companies could be classified as being ‘stuck-in-the-middle’ in terms of CR. CR practices are found to run parallel to and beyond core business activities, number of employees, sales, and production in these three strategic groups. However, no strategic group level differences in terms of the location of headquarters or financial performance were found. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Improved p50 auditory gating with ondansetron in medicated schizophrenia patients.

OBJECTIVE Most schizophrenia patients have a deficit in auditory sensory gating, which appears to be mediated by the alpha-7 nicotinic receptor, that is not improved with conventional antipsychotic treatment. This study examined the effects of ondansetron, a highly selective 5-HT3 antagonist, on the P50 auditory evoked potential. METHOD Eight medicated outpatients with schizophrenia were given either ondansetron (16 mg) or placebo in a double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Evoked potentials were recorded at baseline and 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours after receipt of drug. RESULTS There was a highly significant improvement in P50 gating after ondansetron treatment. The maximal treatment difference was at 2 hours posttreatment (ondansetron: mean=41.4%, SD=39.7%; placebo: mean=80.2%, SD=21.3%). CONCLUSIONS Ondansetron significantly enhanced P50 auditory gating in schizophrenia patients treated with typical antipsychotics.
The Long and Short of it: Maternity Leave Coverage and Women's Labor Market Outcomes

We investigate the effects of maternity leave coverage on women's post-birth wages, job tenure, and labor market attachment. We pay particular attention to unobservable characteristics that are correlated with maternity leave coverage and that affect labor market outcomes. We use a control sample, as well as a range of control variables, to address unobserved heterogeneity. We find evidence of substantial selection based on unobserved heterogeneity. Maternity leave effects on the three outcomes are found to be small and short-lived. This finding is understandable given that most policies in the United States allow leaves for only 12 weeks at most.
POFS: A novel pedestrian-oriented forewarning system for vulnerable pedestrian safety

As the popularity of the smartphone is increasing, the number of people getting involved in accidents with vehicles while using their smartphones is also increasing. Pedestrians divert their attention from walking because of the attraction of smartphone, which causes the accidents. It is critical to design a pedestrian-oriented system to alert the pedestrian smartphone users to imminent dangers while they are immersed in their smartphones. In this paper, a novel Pedestrian-Oriented Forewarning System (POFS) is proposed to protect the distracted vulnerable pedestrians. POFS divides the states of smartphone into four kinds: screen-centric state, voice-centric state, screen-voice state and silent state, and provides the adaptive alert mode on the basis of specific state. An on board unit (OBU) which can achieve IEEE 802.11p and the traditional Wi-Fi protocols is proposed to support the vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication at the same time. An efficient collision estimation algorithm is proposed to provide reliable alert for pedestrian. Experimental studies show that POFS can alert the pedestrian using the efficient alert.
Climbing the delirium mountain: is alpine anaesthesia the perioperative cause?

dashboard. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2015; 22: 361–9 28. Litman RS. Complications of laryngeal masks in children: big data comes to pediatric anesthesia. Anesthesiology 2013; 119: 1239–40 29. Schouten P. Big data in healthcare: solving provider revenue leakage with advanced analytics. Healthc Financ Manag 2013; 67: 40–2 30. Allen A. Can Big Data and patient-informed consent coexist? Politico. 2014. Available from http://www.politico. com/story/ 2014/09/can-big-data-and-patient-informed-consent-coexist110567.html? hp=l15 (accessed 16 December 2014) 31. Länsisalmi H, Kivimäki M, Aalto P, Ruoranen R. Innovation in healthcare: a systematic review of recent research. Nurs Sci Q 2006; 19: 66–72; discussion 65
Corporate Governance of Chinese Fund Management Companies

Extending the current literature’s focus on how the characteristic of the board in mutual funds in U.S. may impact on board effectiveness, our study on Chinese FMC at the firm level also incorporates new analysis of the impact on board effectiveness from shareholding structure and the unique China governance management of the supervisory board. Using panel data of 288 firm-year observations covering more than 97% of FMC in China over the period from 2006 to 2010, this paper aims to address governance issues of FMC in China’s regulatory context by investigating the key governance variables and empirically testing their impact on the effectiveness of the board. It examines what governance mechanisms enhance board effectiveness under the contractual form of China’s FMC. In China, FMC BOD is mandated to protect the interests of investors. It could be argued that board effectiveness under the contractual form is a more important issue than it is under corporate form or conventional listed company because fund investors are not FMC shareholders and there is a lack of fund investor representation in the governance of FMC.Our results suggest that the presence of a listed company being a controlling shareholder, smaller board, board with greater independence, a female being CEO or board chair, and the presence of remuneration committee all enhance board effectiveness, whereas the level of shareholder concentration and increasing shareholding from state-owned financial companies has no governance impact. We also provide evidence that increasing the number of females on board harms board performance.
Distribution-free binary classification: prediction sets, confidence intervals and calibration

We study three notions of uncertainty quantification---calibration, confidence intervals and prediction sets---for binary classification in the distribution-free setting, that is without making any distributional assumptions on the data. With a focus towards calibration, we establish a 'tripod' of theorems that connect these three notions for score-based classifiers. A direct implication is that distribution-free calibration is only possible, even asymptotically, using a scoring function whose level sets partition the feature space into at most countably many sets. Parametric calibration schemes such as variants of Platt scaling do not satisfy this requirement, while nonparametric schemes based on binning do. To close the loop, we derive distribution-free confidence intervals for binned probabilities for both fixed-width and uniform-mass binning. As a consequence of our 'tripod' theorems, these confidence intervals for binned probabilities lead to distribution-free calibration. We also derive extensions to settings with streaming data and covariate shift.
HIV Adolescents Show Improved Immune Function Following Massage Therapy

HIV+ adolescents (M CD4=466 mm3) recruited from a large urban university hospital's outpatient clinic were randomly assigned to receive massage therapy (n = 12) or progressive muscle relaxation (n = 12) two-times per week for 12 weeks. To assess treatment effects, participants were assessed for depression, anxiety and immune changes before and after treatment the 12 weeks treatment period. Adolescents who received massage therapy versus those who experienced relaxation therapy reported feeling less anxious and they were less depressed, and showed enhanced immune function by the end of the 12 week study. Immune changes included increased Natural Killer cell number (CD56) and CD56+CD3-. In addition, the HIV disease progression markers CD4/CD8 ratio and CD4 number showed an increase for the massage therapy group only.
Cognitive Orientation to (Daily) Occupational Performance intervention leads to improvements in impairments, activity and participation in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Abstract Introduction: Children diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) present with a variety of impairments in fine and gross motor function, which impact on their activity and participation in a variety of settings. This research aimed to determine if a 10-week group-based Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) intervention improved outcome measures across the impairment, activity and participation levels of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework. Methods: In this quasi-experimental, pre–post-test, 20 male children aged 8–10 years (9y1m ± 9 m) with a confirmed diagnosis of DCD participated in either the 10 week group intervention based on the CO-OP framework (n = 10) or in a control period of regular activity for 10 weeks (n = 10). Outcome measures relating to impairment (MABC-2, motor overflow assessment), activity (Handwriting Speed Test) and participation [Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, (COPM) and Goal Attainment Scale) were measured at weeks 0 and 10 in the intervention group. Results: Children who participated in the CO-OP intervention displayed improvements in outcome measures for impairment, activity and participation, particularly a reduction in severity of motor overflow. Parent and child performance and satisfaction ratings on the COPM improved from baseline to week 10 and all goals were achieved at or above the expected outcome. No significant changes were reported for the control group in impairment and activity (participation was not measured for this group). Conclusion: The strategies implemented by children in the CO-OP treatment group, targeted towards individualised goal attainment, show that CO-OP, when run in a group environment, can lead to improvements across all levels of the ICF. Implications for Rehabilitation Development Coordination Disorder is a condition which has significant physical, academic and social impacts on a child and can lead to activity limitations and participation restrictions. Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance is an approach which uses cognitive-based strategies to improve performance of specific tasks based on child chosen goals. The intervention program had a positive effect on self-perceived levels of performance which may lead to changes in quality of life. Parents felt the intervention enhanced socialisation, peer modelling and encouragement and felt that this increased confidence and independence.