LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Smaller genitals at school age in boys whose mothers were exposed to non-persistent pesticides in early pregnancy.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are believed to play a role in the development of the testicular dysgenesis syndrome. Many pesticides are known to have endocrine disrupting abilities. In a previous study, sons of women who were occupationally exposed to non-persistent pesticides in early pregnancy showed signs of impaired reproductive function (reduced genital size and altered serum hormone concentrations) at three months of age. To assess the possible long-term effects of prenatal pesticide exposure, the boys were re-examined at 6-11 years. The 94 boys (59 exposed, 35 unexposed) underwent genital examinations including ultrasound of testicular volumes, puberty staging (Tanner), anthropometry, and blood sampling. Only a few of the boys had reached puberty (n = 3). Among prepubescent boys, testicular volume and penile length (age- and weight-adjusted) were reduced if mothers were exposed to pesticides. The effects were associated with the maternal exposure levels, so that high-exposed boys had smaller genitals than medium-exposed boys, who had smaller genitals than those who were unexposed. Boys of mothers in the high exposure group (n = 23) had 24.7% smaller testes (95% CI: -62.2; -10.1) and 9.4% shorter penile length (95% CI: -16.8; -1.1) compared with the unexposed. The testicular volume and penile length at school age could be tracked to measures from the same boys made at 3 months, e.g. those that had small testes at school age also had small testes at 3 months. Pituitary and testicular hormone serum concentrations did not differ between exposed and unexposed boys. Eight prenatally exposed boys had genital malformations (no unexposed). These boys had smaller testis, shorter penile length and lower inhibin B concentrations than prepubertal boys without genital malformations. The findings support the results obtained at three months of age and indicate that prenatal pesticide exposure has long-term effects on reproductive function in boys.
Effect of cereal test breakfasts differing in glycemic index and content of indigestible carbohydrates on daylong glucose tolerance in healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND
Frequent hyperglycemic episodes are increasingly being associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.


OBJECTIVE
We studied the extent to which acute glycemia and glycemia after subsequent meals can be modulated by the characteristics of cereal foods, such as glycemic index (GI) and content of indigestible carbohydrates.


DESIGN
Twelve healthy subjects consumed test meals in a random order. In series 1, the test meals were consumed at breakfast, and postprandial blood glucose incremental areas under the curve (IAUCs) were calculated after the test breakfast, standardized lunch, and standardized dinner. In series 2, the subjects consumed test evening meals and IAUCs were calculated after a subsequent standardized breakfast. Breath hydrogen was measured as an indicator of colonic fermentation.


RESULTS
Barley or rye kernel breakfasts lowered the blood glucose IAUC (0-120 min) at breakfast, at a subsequent lunch, and the cumulative IAUCs (breakfast+lunch+dinner) when compared with white-wheat bread (P < 0.05). The lunch blood glucose IAUCs were positively correlated with breakfast IAUCs (r = 0.30, P < 0.05). Breath hydrogen excretion was negatively correlated with blood glucose IAUCs after lunch (r = -0.33, P < 0.05) and dinner (r = -0.22, P < 0.05). A barley kernel evening meal resulted in lower IAUCs (P < 0.05) and higher breath hydrogen (P < 0.001) after a subsequent breakfast compared with white-wheat bread.


CONCLUSIONS
Glucose tolerance at subsequent meals can be notably improved during the course of a whole day or overnight by choosing specific low-GI, whole-grain cereal products. A low GI may be sufficient to achieve a second-meal effect from breakfast to lunch. A specific indigestible carbohydrate mixture appears to be required to show benefits on glucose tolerance in a longer time frame (9.5 h), most likely mediated through colonic fermentation.
Birth defects among a cohort of infants born to HIV-infected women on antiretroviral medication.

OBJECTIVE
To determine rate of and risk factors for birth defects in infants born to HIV-infected women receiving nucleoside and protease inhibitor antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.


METHODS
Birth defects were evaluated among infants on the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group 316 trial that studied addition of peripartum nevirapine to established ARV regimen for prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Maternal therapy was categorized by trimester of earliest exposure. Birth defects were coded using conventions of the Antiretroviral Pregnancy Registry.


RESULTS
Birth defects were detected in 60/1414 (4.2%; 95% CI 3.3-5.4%) infants including 30/636 (4.7%; 95% CI 3.2-6.7%) with first trimester ARV exposure and 30/778 (3.9%; 95% CI 2.6-5.5%) with exposure only after the first trimester (P=0.51). Rates of classes of defects were similar between first trimester compared to later exposure groups except heart defects which occurred in 16 (2.5%; 95% CI 1.4-4.1%) with first trimester ARV exposure and in six (0.8%; 95% CI 0.3-1.7%) infants with later exposure (P=0.02). Exposure to ARV was not associated with specific types of heart defects. Two cases of cardiomyopathy were noted.


CONCLUSION
ARV use in early pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of birth defects overall. The possible association of ARV exposure with heart defects requires further surveillance.
IEEE 802.11ax: Highly Efficient WLANs for Intelligent Information Infrastructure

Recently, IEEE 802.11ax, introducing the fundamental improvement of WLANs, was approved as the next generation WLAN technology. Satisfying tremendous user demands for user experience, IEEE 802.11ax will fuel the future intelligent information infrastructure to serve big data transportation and diverse smart application scenarios. In this article, we overview the key technology features of IEEE 802.11ax such as OFDMA PHY, UL MU-MIMO, spatial reuse, OFDMA random access, power saving with TWT, and STA-2-STA operation, and explain translating these features to enhance user experience, highlighting the design principles to facilitate smart environments and identifying new technological opportunities.
Impartial Redistricting: A Markov Chain Approach

The gerrymandering problem is a worldwide problem which sets great threat to democracy and justice in district based elections. Thanks to partisan redistricting commissions, district boundaries are often manipulated to benefit incumbents. Since an independent commission is hard to come by, the possibility of impartially generating districts with a computer is explored in this thesis. We have developed an algorithm to randomly produce legal redistricting schemes for Pennsylvania.
Distribution of freshwater diatoms in 64 Labrador (Canada) lakes: species-environment relationships along latitudinal gradients and reconstruction models for water colour and alkalinity

The distribution of modern diatom assemblages in surficial sediments of 64 Labrador (Canada) lakes across broad vegetational biomes was studied in order to explore species–environment relationships and to develop transfer functions for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. The study sites were situated along a latitudinal gradient (51°27′ to 57°37′ N) and classified according to six catchment vegetation types: wetland (peatland) forest, spruce/fir forest, lichen woodland, forest–tundra, coastal tundra, and tundra. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that among 28 environmental variables determined for each site, water colour and alkalinity accounted for most of the variance in the diatom data. Using weighted-averaging partial least squares techniques, we developed transfer functions for inference of water colour (CLR) (rjack = 0.85, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) = 0.18log(CLR + 1) or 1.51 Pt units) and alkalinity (ALK) (rjack = 0.63, RMSEP = 0.25log(ALK + 1) or 1.78 μeq·L–1) from the percent abundance of the 132 most abundant diatom taxa. By determining diatom distribution in relation to more detailed vegetation types within the boreal forest zone (wetland forest, spruce/fir forest, and lichen woodland), this calibration data set demonstrated the potential of these assemblages for revealing more subtle changes in lake catchment vegetation over time. Résumé : La répartition des assemblages fossiles de diatomées dans les sédiments de surface de 64 lacs du Labrador (Canada) situés dans différentes régions géographiques a été étudié afin de déterminer les relations existantes entre les espèces et leur environnement et de développer des fonctions de transfert pour effectuer des reconstitutions environnementales. Les lacs sont situés le long d’un transect latitudinal (51°27′ à 57°37′ N) et se classent selon six zones de végétation; forêt des milieux humides (tourbières), pessière/sapinière, pessière à lichen, toundra forestière, toundra côtière et toundra. Des analyses canoniques de correspondances ont été utilisées pour les 28 variables environnementales et ont révélé que la couleur de l’eau et l’alcalinité expliquaient le mieux la répartition des espèces de diatomées. En utilisant l’analyse des moyennes pondérées des moindres carrés partiels, des fonctions de transfert ont été développées pour inférer la couleur de l’eau (CLR) (rjack = 0.85, erreur des moindres carrés partiel de prédiction (RMSEP) = 0.18log(CLR + 1) ou 1.51 unités Pt) et l’alcalinité (ALK) (rjack = 0.63, RMSEP = 0.25log(ALK + 1) ou 1.78 μeq·L–1) à partir des 132 taxa de diatomées les plus abondants. En déterminant la répartition des diatomées selon des zones de végétation plus détaillées à l’intérieur de la forêt boréale (forêt des milieux humides (tourbières), pessière/sapinière, pessière à lichen), ces données permettent aussi de démontrer le potentiel des assemblages de diatomées pour déceler des changements plus subtiles du couvert végétal du bassin versant des lacs.
Nanoparticles-strengthened high-entropy alloys for cryogenic applications showing an exceptional strength-ductility synergy

Abstract We designed a novel nanoparticles-strengthened high-entropy alloy, Ni 30 Co 30 Fe 13 Cr 15 Al 6 Ti 6 , which exhibits excellent strength-ductility combinations at both ambient and cryogenic temperatures. Especially at 77 K, an exceptional strength-ductility synergy can be observed, showing an ultrahigh tensile strength of 1.7 GPa and a large ductility of 51%, accompanied by a distinctive three-stage strain-hardening response. The precipitation-hardening behaviors and deformation micro-mechanisms were carefully investigated by the atom probe tomography and transmission electron microscope. The dynamic formation of nano-spaced stacking faults contributed to improved strain-hardening capacities, resulting in simultaneous enhancements of plastic deformation stability and tensile ductility at such high-strength levels.
Comparative analysis of pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis of 411 cases

Tuberculosis is a disease that can involve every organ system. While pulmonary tuberculosis is the most common presentation, extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPT) is also an important clinical problem. The current study aimed to outline and compare the demographic and clinical features of pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases in adults. Medical records of 411 patients (190 women, 221 men) treated between January 2010 and July 2014 in provincial tuberculosis control dispensary was retrospectively reviewed. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared for pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases. Of these 411 cases, 208 (50.6 %) had pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and 203 were diagnosed with extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) (49.4 %). The average ages for PTB and EPTB groups were 33.00-27.00 and 31.00-29.75, respectively (p = 0.513). Men were more frequently affected by PTB (59.6 %), while EPTB was more commonly detected in women (52.2 %) (p = 0.016). Main diagnostic modalities for PTB were sputum/smear analyses (72.7 %), clinical-radiological data (21.7 %) and biopsy (6.1 %); while biopsy (71.5 %), sputum/fluid analysis (18.8 %) and clinical-radiological data (4.9 %) were used for confirming EPTB (p < 0.0019). The most common sites of EPTB involvement were lymph nodes (39.4 %), followed by pleura (23.6 %), peritoneum (9.9 %) and bone (7.4 %). Extrapulmonary involvement of tuberculosis is common and females are more likely to be affected. Increased clinical awareness is important since atypical presentations of the disease may constitute diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
Quantitative bone marrow lesion size in osteoarthritic knees correlates with cartilage damage and predicts longitudinal cartilage loss

BACKGROUND
Bone marrow lesions (BMLs), common osteoarthritis-related magnetic resonance imaging findings, are associated with osteoarthritis progression and pain. However, there are no articles describing the use of 3-dimensional quantitative assessments to explore the longitudinal relationship between BMLs and hyaline cartilage loss. The purpose of this study was to assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal descriptive characteristics of BMLs with a simple measurement of approximate BML volume, and describe the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between BML size and the extent of hyaline cartilage damage.


METHODS
107 participants with baseline and 24-month follow-up magnetic resonance images from a clinical trial were included with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. An 'index' compartment was identified for each knee defined as the tibiofemoral compartment with greater disease severity. Subsequently, each knee was evaluated in four regions: index femur, index tibia, non-index femur, and non-index tibia. Approximate BML volume, the product of three linear measurements, was calculated for each BML within a region. Cartilage parameters in the index tibia and femur were measured based on manual segmentation.


RESULTS
BML volume changes by region were: index femur (median [95% confidence interval of the median]) 0.1 cm3 (-0.5 to 0.9 cm3), index tibia 0.5 cm3 (-0.3 to 1.7 cm3), non-index femur 0.4 cm3 (-0.2 to 1.6 cm3), and non-index tibia 0.2 cm3 (-0.1 to 1.2 cm3). Among 44 knees with full thickness cartilage loss, baseline tibia BML volume correlated with baseline tibia full thickness cartilage lesion area (r = 0.63, p< 0.002) and baseline femur BML volume with longitudinal change in femoral full thickness cartilage lesion area (r = 0.48 p< 0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
Many regions had no or small longitudinal changes in approximate BML volume but some knees experienced large changes. Baseline BML size was associated to longitudinal changes in area of full thickness cartilage loss.
Gastric cancer risk in patients with premalignant gastric lesions: a nationwide cohort study in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND & AIMS
A cascade of precursor lesions (eg, atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia) precedes most gastric adenocarcinomas. Quantification of gastric cancer risk in patients with premalignant gastric lesions is unclear, however. Consequently, endoscopic surveillance is controversial, especially in Western populations.


METHODS
To analyze current surveillance practice and gastric cancer risk in patients with premalignant gastric lesions, all patients with a first diagnosis between 1991 and 2004 were identified in the Dutch nationwide histopathology registry (PALGA); follow-up data were evaluated until December 2005.


RESULTS
In total, 22,365 (24%) patients were diagnosed with atrophic gastritis, 61,707 (67%) with intestinal metaplasia, 7616 (8%) with mild-to-moderate dysplasia, and 562 (0.6%) with severe dysplasia. Patients with a diagnosis of atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, or mild-to-moderate dysplasia received re-evaluation in 26%, 28%, and 38% of cases, respectively, compared with 61% after a diagnosis of severe dysplasia (P < .001). The annual incidence of gastric cancer was 0.1% for patients with atrophic gastritis, 0.25% for intestinal metaplasia, 0.6% for mild-to-moderate dysplasia, and 6% for severe dysplasia within 5 years after diagnosis. Risk factors for gastric cancer development were increasing severity of premalignant gastric lesions at initial diagnosis (eg, severe dysplasia, hazard ratio 40.14, 95% confidence interval 32.2-50.1), increased age (eg, 75-84 years, hazard ratio 3.75, 95% confidence interval 2.8-5.1), and male gender (hazard ratio 1.50, 95% CI 1.3-1.7).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with premalignant gastric lesions are at considerable risk of gastric cancer. As current surveillance of these patients is inconsistent with their cancer risk, development of guidelines is indicated.
Recent patterns of sex-specific midlife stroke hospitalization rates in the United States.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Little is known about sex-specific stroke hospitalization rates among middle-aged individuals. This study assessed recent temporal trends in stroke hospitalizations among persons aged 35 to 64 years in the United States.


METHODS
The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was used to identify individuals with a primary or secondary discharge diagnosis of stroke between 1997 and 2006 (n=3,161,752). Age-adjusted sex-specific rates of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke hospitalizations were assessed among individuals aged 35 to 64 years.


RESULTS
Over the study period, stroke hospitalization rates per 100 000 decreased by 10% from 66.7 to 60.3 (trend P<0.01) in men and 8% from 52.7 to 48.3 (trend P<0.001) in women. The 55- to 64-year age group drove reductions in hospitalization rates: slope (rate of change per year)=-12.3 for men and -8.9 for women (both P<0.001). Rates increased slightly in men and women aged 35 to 44 years and remained stable for persons aged 45 to 54 years. Stroke subtype analysis revealed that rates of ischemic stroke hospitalization increased and hemorrhagic stroke hospitalization remained stable among individuals aged 35 to 44 years. Rates of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke hospitalizations remained stable among those aged 45 to 54 years and decreased among persons aged 55 to 64 years.


CONCLUSIONS
From 1997 to 2006, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke hospitalization rates declined among individuals aged 55 to 64 years and remained stable among persons aged 45 to 54 years; ischemic stroke hospitalization rates increased among individuals aged 35 to 44 years. Further studies are needed to assess and address increases in ischemic stroke hospitalizations among younger individuals.
Mapping lives : the uses of biography

Richard Holmes: The Proper Study? Kay Ferres: Gender, Biography, and the Public Sphere Sergei Averintsev: From Biography to Hagiography: Some Stable Patterns in the Greek and Latin Tradition of Lives, including Lives of the Saints Martin McLaughlin: Biography and Autobiography in the Italian Renaissance Ian Donaldson: National Biography and the Arts of Memory: From Thomas Fuller to Colin Matthew Peter France: From Eulogy to Biography: The French Academic Eloge Roger Paulin: Adding Stones to the Edifice: Patterns of German Biography Elinor Shaffer: Shaping Victorian Biography: From Anecdote to Bildungsroman Ann Jefferson: Sainte-Beuve: Biography, Criticism and the Literary Avril Pyman: Yury Tynyanov and the 'Literary Fact' Malcolm Bowie: Freud and the Art of Biography Laura Marcus: The Newness of the 'New Biography': Biographical Theory and Practice in the Early Twentieth Century William St Clair: The Biographer as Archaeologist Mark Kinkead-Weekes: Writing Lives Forwards: A Case for Strictly Chronological Biography Miranda Seymour: Shaping the Truth Christina Howells: Sartre's Existential Biographies: A Search for a Method Ian Christie: A Life on Film James Walter: 'The Solace of Doubt?' Biographical Methodology after the Short Twentieth Century.
Hannah Arendt : politics, history and citizenship

Introduction. 1. History and the Decline of Politics. 2. Freedom, Action and the Public Realm:. Hannah Arendt's Polis and the Foundations of a Genuine Politics. 3. The Public Realm under Siege:. False Politics and the Modern Age. 4.Totalitarianism. 5. Revolution. 6. What is Thinking Politically? . Conclusion: Whither Political Theory?. Notes. Index.
The multi-component model of working memory: Explorations in experimental cognitive psychology

There are a number of ways one can hope to describe and explain cognitive abilities, each of them contributing a unique and valuable perspective. Cognitive psychology tries to develop and test functional accounts of cognitive systems that explain the capacities and properties of cognitive abilities as revealed by empirical data gathered by a range of behavioral experimental paradigms. Much of the research in the cognitive psychology of working memory has been strongly influenced by the multi-component model of working memory [Baddeley AD, Hitch GJ (1974) Working memory. In: Recent advances in learning and motivation, Vol. 8 (Bower GA, ed), pp 47-90. New York: Academic Press; Baddeley AD (1986) Working memory. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press; Baddeley A. Working memory: Thought and action. Oxford: Oxford University Press, in press]. By expanding the notion of a passive short-term memory to an active system that provides the basis for complex cognitive abilities, the model has opened up numerous questions and new lines of research. In this paper we present the current revision of the multi-component model that encompasses a central executive, two unimodal storage systems: a phonological loop and a visuospatial sketchpad, and a further component, a multimodal store capable of integrating information into unitary episodic representations, termed episodic buffer. We review recent empirical data within experimental cognitive psychology that has shaped the development of the multicomponent model and the understanding of the capacities and properties of working memory. Research based largely on dual-task experimental designs and on neuropsychological evidence has yielded valuable information about the fractionation of working memory into independent stores and processes, the nature of representations in individual stores, the mechanisms of their maintenance and manipulation, the way the components of working memory relate to each other, and the role they play in other cognitive abilities. With many questions still open and new issues emerging, we believe that the multicomponent model will continue to stimulate research while providing a comprehensive functional description of working memory.
The automated lane-keeping design for an intelligent vehicle

In this paper, a vision-based lane-keeping automated steering system is proposed and is successfully verified in our vehicle platform, TAIWAN iTS-1. The proposed steering system can achieve the accurate detection of the complicated road environment information; and more, the closed-loop automated lane-keeping steering system with virtual look-ahead is stable under varying speed operation. Furthermore, to achieve more manlike driving behavior such as smooth tuning, a fuzzy gain schedule technology is proposed to concern with lateral offset and instant-speed of the vehicle, and hence, to compensate the feedback controller for adapting to the steering wheel command appropriately. The proposed steering system is demonstrated via TAIWAN iTS-1 on the standard testing road in automotive research and testing center (ARTC) and highway road.