Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Visual Analog Scale and a Five-Item Verbal Rating Scale Are Not Interchangeable for Back Pain Assessment in Lumbar Spine Disorders

Study Design. Prospective study of patients with chronic back pain from lumbar spine disorders. Objective. To evaluate the degree of interchangeability of a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) and a 5-point verbal rating scale (VRS) for the assessment of pain intensity. Summary of Background Data. The fact that VAS and Likert scales are highly intercorrelated does not mean that both types of scales can be used interchangeably. Methods. A total of 151 patients (mean age, 52 ± 14.6 years) undergoing elective spine surgery completed a 100-mm VAS and a discrete 5-category VRS corresponding to the first item question of the core set (“How severe was your back pain in the last week? ”). Pain intensity on the VAS was rated using the same question than for the VRS. The level of order-consistency (monotonic agreement), disordered pairs (D), percentage of agreement, and systematic disagreement (relative position), and relative concentration ([RC]) were estimated. VAS assessments were transformed into a discrete 5-category, with the cut-off VAS positions being defined by quintiles and equidistantly. Results. For VAS defined equidistantly, monotonic agreement was 0.840, D was 0.080, and the percentage of identical pairs was 53%. The corresponding figures for VAS defined by quintiles were 0.809, 0.096, and 27.8%. Inconsistencies between the VAS and the VRS scales were also demonstrated by the marginal distributions, with PR values of −0.005 (95% confidence interval [CI], −0.011 to −0.002) and RC values of 0.144 (95% CI, 0.137-0.152) for VAS defined equidistantly, and PR values of 0.391 (95% CI, 0.384-0.397) and RC values of 0.265 (95% CI, 0.255-0.275) for VAS defined by quintiles. Conclusion. The order-consistency level was low with overlapping of pain records between the 2 scales, indicating that VAS and VRS are not interchangeable and, therefore, a results obtained with the use of each scale cannot be compared.
Influence of Ensiling Additives on Silage Quality of Several Oat Cultivars

Oats are an important forage and feed crop. However, oats have lower sugar content, protein, and moisture, and higher crude fiber than corn, making them more difficult to ensile. Although the use of additives in the ensiling process may improve silage quality, few studies have evaluated the influence of additives on oat silage quality. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate different additives for their ability to increase the silage quality of several commonly grown oat cultivars. Oat cultivars Dancer, Baiyan 6, and Shadow were treated with Lactobacillus (5 mg kg), formic acid (5 ml kg), sucrose (20 g L), and cellulose (100 mg kg). Lactobacillus and sucrose reduced silage pH and ammonia N, and increased lactic acid content. Lactobacillus treated silage also had the highest crude protein level and sucrose was effective in reducing crude fiber content. ‘Baiyan 6’ had the highest quality index value due to significantly higher crude fat content. ADD cost and recommendations . “Based on these results, both Lactobacillus and sucrose can be recommended as additives to increase oat silage quality.
Velocity dispersion in the interstellar medium of early galaxies

We study the structure of spatially resolved, line-of-sight velocity dispersion for galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) traced by [C $\scriptstyle \rm II$] $158\, \mu \rm {m}$ line emission. Our laboratory is a simulated prototypical Lyman-break galaxy, ‘Freesia, part of the serra suite’. The analysis encompasses the redshift range 6 < z < 8, when Freesia is in a very active assembling phase. We build velocity dispersion maps for three dynamically distinct evolutionary stages (Spiral Disc at z = 7.4, Merger at z = 8.0, and Disturbed Disc at z = 6.5) using [C $\scriptstyle \rm II$] hyperspectral data cubes. We find that, at a high spatial resolution of 0.005 arcsec (≃30 pc), the luminosity-weighted average velocity dispersion is $\sigma _{\rm {CII}}\simeq 23{\text {--}}38\, {\rm km\, s^{-1}}$ with the highest value belonging to the highly structured Disturbed Disc stage. Low-resolution observations tend to overestimate σC ii values due to beam smearing effects that depend on the specific galaxy structure. For an angular resolution of 0.02 arcsec (0.1 arcsec), the average velocity dispersion is $16{\! -\! }34{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ ($52{\! -\! }115{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) larger than the actual one. The [C $\scriptstyle \rm II$] emitting gas in Freesia has a Toomre parameter $\mathcal {Q}\simeq 0.2$ and rotational-to-dispersion ratio of vc/σ ≃ 7 similar to that observed in z = 2−3 galaxies. The primary energy source for the velocity dispersion is due to gravitational processes, such as merging/accretion events; energy input from stellar feedback is generally sub-dominant ($\lt 10{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$). Finally, we find that the resolved σC ii−ΣSFR relation is relatively flat for $0.02\lt {\Sigma }_{\rm SFR}/{\rm M}_{\odot }\rm {yr}^{-1} {\rm kpc}^{-2} \lt 30$, with the majority of data lying on the derived analytical relation $\sigma \propto \Sigma _{\rm SFR}^{5/7}$. At high SFR, the increased contribution from stellar feedback steepens the relation, and σC ii rises slightly.
K-theory of weight varieties

Let T be a compact torus and (M,! ) a Hamiltonian T- space. We give a new proof of the K-theoretic analogue of the Kirwan surjectivity theorem in symplectic geometry (see Harada-Landweber, 2007) by using the equivariant version of the Kirwan map introduced in Goldin, 2002. We compute the kernel of this equivariant Kirwan map, and hence give a computation of the kernel of the Kirwan map. As an application, we find the presentation of the kernel of the Kirwan map for the T-equivariant K-theory of flag varieties G/T where G is a compact, connected and simply-connected Lie group. In the last section, we find explicit formulae for the K-theory of weight varieties.
Temperature dependence of the electron Landé g factor in GaAs.

The temperature dependent frequency of quantum beats of free electron Larmor precession in bulk GaAs yields the temperature variation from 5 to 200 K of the Land\'e $g$ factor with high accuracy. The Land\'e $g$ factor increases from $\ensuremath{-}0.44$ to $\ensuremath{-}0.38$ to $\ensuremath{-}0.35$ as the temperature increases from 5 to 100 to 150 K. The experimental results are in the opposite direction than prediction by $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{k}\ifmmode \dot{}\else \. {}\fi{}\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{p}$ theory manifesting the need for appreciable, temperature dependent corrections of this band model.
Parametrised Phonological Event Parsing

This paper describes a phonological event parser for spoken language recognition which has been provided with a parametrisable development environment for examining the extent to which linguistically significant issues such as linguistic competence (structural constraints) and linguistic performance (robustness) can play a role in the spoken language recognition task. Ein phonologischer Ereignisparser zur Erkennung gesprochener Sprache wird zusammen mit einer parametrisierbaren Entwicklungsumgebung vorgestellt.  Diese Umgebung dient nicht nur der Entwicklung und Konsistenz- und Vollstandigkeitsprufung des zugrundeliegenden computerphonologischen Modells, sondern ermoglicht auch eine gezielte Evaluierung ausgewahlter linguistisch motivierter constraints zur robusten Erkennung gesprochener Sprache.
Do Fixed-Term Contracts Increase the Long-Term Employment Opportunities of the Unemployed?

The paper investigates whether (unsubsidised) fixed-term contracts (FTCs) are a means of integration for the unemployed in the West German labour market. This is done by analysing whether entering into an FTC improves the employment opportunities of an unemployed person in terms of the probability of subsequent permanent contracts and subsequent periods of employment and unemployment. The empirical analysis is based on propensity score matching methods, obtaining the effects of FTCs by comparing the future situation of (? treated? ) unemployed entering into FTCs after a particular unemployment duration with a suitable control group of ? non-treated? individuals. In principal different counterfactual situations for treated persons entering into FTCs after a certain number of month of unemployment are reasonable. A first counterfactual is never to enter into an FTC. A second counterfactual is not to take up an FTC job in this month but possibly in a later month. These two possible counterfactuals imply different definitions for the group of non-treated individuals and impose different policy questions. Both definitions are analysed in the paper. The propensity score is estimated by a discrete hazard rate model, which seems to be an appropriate way of taking into account the potential endogenous effect of the unemployment duration on the selection into the type of contract. Further insights are gained by comparing the determinants of the transition to FTC and permanent contract jobs. There is some evidence that FTCs may serve as ? stepping stones? towards permanent employment for the unemployed. However, the hypothesis that FTCs lead to dual labour markets cannot be rejected.
AMERICAN ENGLISH HAS GOʔ A LOʔ OF GLOTTAL STOPS: SOCIAL DIFFUSION AND LINGUISTIC MOTIVATION

In word-final, prevocalic position (e.g., it is) there are various possible phonetic realizations of /t/ in American English (e.g., [t], [r] , [? ] ). The present study examines the linguistic and social factors associated with the use of the glottal stop in American English in 1,101 instances of word-final, prevocalic /t/ from the Santa Barbara Corpus. The glottal stop occurred in 24 % of the cases. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors that favor glottaling of /t/. Our findings concur with previous research in that age and region were significant: Westerners in their teens and 20s glottalized more than non-Westerners in the same age groups; speakers who are 30 and older, both Westerners and non-Westerners, glottalize to a much smaller degree. We also found that glottaling is favored by a following stressed syllable; however, gender and following vowel quality were not influencing variables, which contradicts previous experimental findings. If prevocalic glottaling is uncommon word-internally in American English, why is it apparently spreading word-finally? We provide evidence that word-final /t/s are more often followed by word-initial consonants than vowels, which places them in a glottalizing context. Instances with a glottal realization are stored in the mental lexicon and are available as possible pronunciation choices even in prevocalic position.
Detecting Forged TCP Reset Packets

Several off-the-shelf products enable network operators to enforce usage restrictions by actively terminating connections when deemed undesirable. While the spectrum of their application is large—from ISPs limiting the usage of P2P applications to the “Great Firewall of China”—many of these systems implement the same approach to disrupt the communication: they inject artificial TCP Reset (RST) packets into the network, causing the endpoints to shut down communication upon receipt. In this work, we study the characteristics of packets injected by such traffic control devices. We show that by exploiting the race-conditions that out-of-band devices inevitably face, we not only can detect the interference but often also fingerprint the specific device in use. We develop an efficient injection detector and demonstrate its effectiveness by identifying a range of disruptive activity seen in traces from four different sites, including termination of P2P connections, anti-spam and anti-virus mechanisms, and the finding that China’s “Great Firewall” has multiple components, sometimes apparently operating without coordination. We also find a number of sources of idiosyncratic connection termination that do not reflect third-party traffic disruption, including NATs, loadbalancers, and spam bots. In general, our findings highlight that (i) Internet traffic faces a wide range of control devices using injected RST packets, and (ii) to reliably detect RST injection while avoiding misidentification of other types of activity requires significant care.
YY 1 controls Ig j repertoire and B-cell development , and localizes with condensin on the Ig j locus

Xuan Pan, Madhusudhan Papasani, Yi Hao, Marco Calamito, Fang Wei, William J Quinn III, Arindam Basu, Junwen Wang, Suchita Hodawadekar, Kristina Zaprazna, Huifei Liu, Yang Shi, David Allman, Michael Cancro and Michael L Atchison* Department of Animal Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Department of Biochemistry, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China and Department of Pathology, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
The Association of Health Seeking Behaviors With Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Status Among High-Risk Urban Youth

Background Vaccination is the primary strategy to reduce the burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) related diseases in the United States. Unvaccinated youth are at risk for HPV infection and associated diseases, and limited research has explored factors associated with HPV vaccination among those who are disadvantaged and at high risk, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and/or homeless. Methods A retrospective electronic medical record review was conducted at an urban, homeless, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer focused health center in northeastern US logistic regression models examined the associations between HPV vaccination and demographic/social characteristics and health behaviors. Results A total of 1211 men and 1326 women (gender at birth) records were reviewed from patients (ages 13–26 years) who presented for care between January 2010 and June 2013. The sample was diverse, and about half identified as heterosexual and reported stable/secure housing. Approximately 8% of men and 29% of women had obtained ≥ 1 HPV vaccine dose. The strongest predictors of vaccine initiation were health-related behaviors: having an annual examination, obtaining a non-HPV vaccine, and engaging in oral sex. Additionally, for women only, having had a Pap test or a sexually transmitted infection visit were also associated with an increase in odds, whereas identifying as transmale decreased the odds of vaccination. Having private insurance was the only predictor of 3-dose completion (women only). Conclusions Among a high-risk adolescent sample, primarily health-seeking behaviors increased the odds of HPV vaccination, reinforcing the importance of providers using various routine preventative visits as opportunities/cues to vaccine.
“The deceased has left; the alive has to move on”: Experiences of Chinese Widows in the UK

ABSTRACT Relatively little is known about the experiences of Chinese widows, especially those living outside China. This qualitative study examines the experiences of eight Chinese or Hong Kong-born widows living in the UK. Using a semistructured approach to interviewing, participants were asked about their lives before, during, and after their spousal bereavement. Five major themes emerged: (1) complexity of marital lives; (2) experiences around the time of the death including fate; (3) loneliness and isolation; (4) the challenges of practical tasks; and finally, (5) current life. The implications of the findings for social policy and practice are briefly discussed.
A Sports-Based Youth Development Program, Teen Mental Health, and Physical Fitness: An RCT

Can a sports mentorship improve the mental health of healthy adolescents? This RCT provides more robust evidence to this question. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of a positive youth development (PYD)-based sports mentorship program on the physical and mental well-being of adolescents recruited in a community setting. METHODS: This is a randomized controlled trial in which we recruited students from 12 secondary schools in Hong Kong, China. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to an intervention or a control arm after stratification for school from October 2013 to June 2014. Participants were not blinded to allocation because of the nature of the intervention. Students in the intervention arm received an after-school, PYD-based sports mentorship for 18 weeks. Each weekly session lasted 90 minutes. Students in the control arm received exclusive access to a health education Web site. RESULTS: Six hundred and sixty-four students (mean age 12.3 years [SD 0.76]; 386 girls [58.1%]) completed baseline and postintervention assessments. The intervention improved students’ mental well-being (Cohen’s d, 0.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.10 to 0.40; P = .001), self-efficacy (Cohen’s d, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.37; P = .01), resilience (Cohen’s d, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.34; P = .02), physical fitness (flexibility [Cohen’s d, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.43; P = .02], lower limb muscle strength [Cohen’s d, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.33; P = .03], and dynamic balance [Cohen’s d, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.06 to 0.37; P = .01]), and physical activity levels (Cohen’s d, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.55; P < .0001). The intervention did not significantly improve physical well-being (Cohen’s d, −0.01; 95% CI, −0.17 to 0.14; P = .86), BMI z scores (Cohen’s d, −0.03; 95% CI, −0.18 to 0.12; P = .69), body fat proportion (Cohen’s d, −0.15; 95% CI, −0.31 to 0.00; P = .051), and social connectedness (Cohen’s d, −0.03; 95% CI, −0.18 to 0.12; P = .72). CONCLUSIONS: A PYD-based sports mentorship intervention improved healthy adolescents’ mental well-being, psychological assets, physical fitness, and physical activity levels.
Smoking increases rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility in individuals carrying the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope, regardless of rheumatoid factor or anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody status.

OBJECTIVE Smoking is associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in individuals with the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope (SE). SE alleles have been shown to be predominantly associated with anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP)-positive RA. These risk factors have not been identified for anti-CCP-negative RA. The aim of this study was to investigate whether SE-containing HLA-DRB1 alleles, smoking, or the combination of these factors contributes to the development of RA, depending on the presence or absence of serologic markers, in a Korean population. METHODS All of the patients with RA (n =1,482) and all of the control subjects (n = 1,119) were Korean. Four-digit HLA-DRB1 typing was performed by a conventional polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based typing method. Information about smoking history was obtained through a questionnaire. The patients with RA were tested for anti-CCP antibodies and rheumatoid factor (RF). RESULTS The SE alleles had significant effects on anti-CCP antibody and RF formation. The DRB1*0901 allele was associated with the presence of anti-CCP antibodies (odds ratio [OR] 2.49) and RF (OR 2.09). SE alleles and smoking were associated with both anti-CCP-positive and anti-CCP-negative RA. The combination of smoking and double copies of the SE allele increased the risk of anti-CCP-positive RA 36.11-fold and increased the risk of anti-CCP-negative RA 12.29-fold, compared with the risk among nonsmokers not carrying SE alleles. Interactions between SE alleles and smoking were observed for both anti-CCP-positive and RF-positive RA, although the associations of RF-positive RA could be consequences of the underlying anti-CCP antibody status. CONCLUSION We demonstrated that the combination of SE alleles and smoking is associated with RA susceptibility regardless of anti-CCP antibody or RF status, but that the combination shows stronger effects in anti-CCP-positive/RF-positive patients with RA than in anti-CCP-negative/RF-negative patients with RA. The SE-smoking interactions were present in anti-CCP-positive and RF-positive RA.
Association Study of Gene Polymorphisms in GABA, Serotonin, Dopamine, and Alcohol Metabolism Pathways with Alcohol Dependence in Taiwanese Han Men.

BACKGROUND The roles of GABA, serotonin, dopamine, and alcohol metabolism pathways in alcohol dependence (AD) are evident from animal models and human studies. Aims of this study were to investigate associations between genes in the 4 pathways and AD. METHODS Male subjects from 2 independent samples of Taiwanese Han descent, a family sample of 179 trios and a case-control sample of 262 AD cases and 273 normal controls, were included in this study. The Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry was used for phenotype assessment of AD. We genotyped 282 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in 61 candidate genes involving alcohol metabolism, serotonin, and GABA systems among the family sample and replicated the top hits in the case-control sample. RESULTS Fifteen SNPs located in 10 genes showed signals of associations (FBAT test p < 0.05) with AD in the family sample. Three SNPs, rs1229984 in ADH1B, rs671 in ALDH2, and rs2000292 in HTR1B, were significantly replicated in the case-control sample (p = 5.87 × 10(-14) , 5.12 × 10(-14) , and 0.0051, respectively). In the combined meta-analysis, these 3 SNPs and 1 additional SNP, rs698 in ADH1C, showed significant association after correcting for multiple comparisons, and rs1229984 and rs671 showed the strongest association (p < 10(-16) ). Logistic regression conditioning on rs1229984 and rs671 in the case-control sample showed that rs2000292 in HTR1B remained nominally significant. CONCLUSIONS Genes in alcohol metabolism pathway, especially ADH1B and ALDH2, conferred the major genetic risk for AD in Taiwanese Han population. Some genes in GABA and serotonin pathways showed nominal association with AD.