Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding the Effect Size of Lisdexamfetamine Dimesylate for Treating ADHD in Children and Adults

Objective: An earlier meta-analysis of pediatric clinical trials indicated that lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX) had a greater effect size than other stimulant medications. This work tested the hypothesis that the apparent increased efficacy was artifactual. Method: The authors assessed two potential artifacts: an unusually high precision of measurement and an unusually low placebo effect. The authors evaluated generalizability from children of adults. Results: The LDX effect sizes for children were significantly larger than the pooled stimulant effect sizes from studies using the same outcome measures. However, although no other individual stimulant study had an effect size greater than LDX, there was overlap between the 95% confidence intervals for some of these studies and the LDX study. The high LDX effect sizes were not due measurement or placebo effect artifacts. LDX effect sizes for adults were not larger than the stimulant effect sizes from other studies. Conclusion: The high LDX effect size for children could not attributed to measurement artifacts. The superiority of LDX in the pediatric clinical trial reflected the greater efficacy of amphetamine products, compared with methylphenidate products but required replication in children because (a) the results were based on only one trial of LDX in children, and (b) the finding did not generalize to adults.
What Accounts for Rib Fractures in Older Adults?

To address the epidemiology of rib fractures, an age- and sex-stratified random sample of 699 Rochester, Minnesota, adults age 21–93 years was followed in a long-term prospective study. Bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed at baseline, and fractures were ascertained by periodic interview and medical record review. During 8560 person-years of followup (median, 13.9 years), 56 subjects experienced 67 rib fracture episodes. Risk factors for falling predicted rib fractures as well as BMD, but both were strongly age-related. After age-adjustment, BMD was associated with rib fractures in women but not men. Importantly, rib fractures attributed to severe trauma were associated with BMD in older individuals of both sexes. Self-reported heavy alcohol use doubled fracture risk but did not achieve significance due to limited statistical power. Bone density, along with heavy alcohol use and other risk factors for falling, contributes to the risk of rib fractures, but no one factor predominates. Older women with rib fractures, regardless of cause, should be considered for an osteoporosis evaluation, and strategies to prevent falling should be considered in both sexes.
Fast linear iterations for distributed averaging

We consider the problem of finding a linear iteration that yields distributed averaging consensus over a network, i.e., that asymptotically computes the average of some initial values given at the nodes. When the iteration is assumed symmetric, the problem of finding the fastest converging linear iteration can be cast as a semidefinite program, and therefore efficiently and globally solved. These optimal linear iterations are often substantially faster than several simple heuristics that are based on the Laplacian matrix of the associated graph.
On the information selection for optimal data association

Multiple Object Association (MOA) is an essential process in making vehicles smarter. It consists in associating newly detected objects to previously known ones at each instant in a scene. To treat such matter, the paper proceeds by the use of the Belief Theory introduced by Dempster-Shafer. A crucial concern in this application is the data association complexity and its relative computation time which must be distinguishably minimized. For that, this paper proposes a new approach in order to fit to real-time Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applications. The solution consists in a first step on selecting the sources which deliver the most pertinent information and in the second step to combine the reduced data set. The effectiveness in the association quality as well as in the complexity reduction is shown with a pedestrian tracking example from the KITTI vision benchmark.
Mechanism Design with Multidimensional, Continuous Types and Interdependent Valuations

We consider the mechanism design problem when agents' types are multidimensional and continuous, and their valuations are interdependent. If there are at least three agents whose types satisfy a weak correlation condition, then for any decision rule there exist balanced transfers that render truthful revelation a Bayesian ? -equilibrium. A slightly stronger correlation condition ensures balanced transfers exist that induce a Bayesian Nash equilibrium in which agents' strategies are nearly truthful. This paper extends the analysis of KSG RWP03-020.
Learning English with electronic textbooks on tablet PCs

ABSTRACT Previous studies on electronic textbooks were all survey studies of college students in the U.S.A. Their main findings revealed that using electronic textbooks and using print textbooks showed no statistical differences in learning achievements. As mobile devices became popular in classrooms, the present study was intended to confirm the competitive nature of electronic textbooks on mobile devices in an experiment. The differences of the present experiment from previous survey studies included its involving teenage learners of English and its examining their learning with electronic textbooks on mobile devices. This experimental study recruited adolescent learners to participate in a mobile-assisted English learning program requiring them to study with their electronic textbooks on mobile devices exclusively. Their counterparts used print textbooks as usual. The findings presented no significant differences in various achievements between the two groups. The mobile group furthermore approved their studying English on their mobile devices with satisfaction and perceived its usefulness and ease of use. Endorsing the competitiveness of electronic textbooks on mobile devices, the teenage English learners also highlighted the strengths characterized by mobile technologies.
2-Hydroxypropyl-β-Cyclodextrin Acts as a Novel Anticancer Agent

2-Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CyD) is a cyclic oligosaccharide that is widely used as an enabling excipient in pharmaceutical formulations, but also as a cholesterol modifier. HP-β-CyD has recently been approved for the treatment of Niemann-Pick Type C disease, a lysosomal lipid storage disorder, and is used in clinical practice. Since cholesterol accumulation and/or dysregulated cholesterol metabolism has been described in various malignancies, including leukemia, we hypothesized that HP-β-CyD itself might have anticancer effects. This study provides evidence that HP-β-CyD inhibits leukemic cell proliferation at physiologically available doses. First, we identified the potency of HP-β-CyD in vitro against various leukemic cell lines derived from acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). HP-β-CyD treatment reduced intracellular cholesterol resulting in significant leukemic cell growth inhibition through G2/M cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. Intraperitoneal injection of HP-β-CyD significantly improved survival in leukemia mouse models. Importantly, HP-β-CyD also showed anticancer effects against CML cells expressing a T315I BCR-ABL mutation (that confers resistance to most ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors), and hypoxia-adapted CML cells that have characteristics of leukemic stem cells. In addition, colony forming ability of human primary AML and CML cells was inhibited by HP-β-CyD. Systemic administration of HP-β-CyD to mice had no significant adverse effects. These data suggest that HP-β-CyD is a promising anticancer agent regardless of disease or cellular characteristics.
Mortgage Innovation and the Foreclosure Boom

How much of the recent rise in foreclosures can be explained by the large number of nontraditional, low-downpayment mortgage contracts originated between 2003 and 2006? We present a model where heterogeneous households select from a set of possible mortgage contracts and choose whether to default on their payments given realizations of income and housing price shocks. The set of contracts consists of traditional fixed rate mortgages as well as nontraditional mortgages with low downpayments and delayed amortization schedules. The mortgage market is competitive and each contract, contingent on household earnings and assets at origination as well as loan size, must earn zero expected profits. In this model, an unanticipated 25% housing price decline following a brief introduction of non-traditional mortgages causes an increase in foreclosure rates that closely approximates the 150% increase in the data between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2009. The model also matches origination rates for nontraditional mortgages observed prior to the crisis. Since we do not select parameters to match these two key aspects of the recent data, these quantitative predictions provide support for our model. In a counterfactual experiment where new mortgages are not introduced, the same price shock causes foreclosure rates to increase by only 86%. Thus, the availability and popularity of nontraditional mortgages in the four years prior to the crisis can explain over 40% of the rise in foreclosures.
Biological ultraviolet Dosimetry in Low Earth's Orbit

The biological dosimetry of the solar UV radiation functioned correctly on the Earth’s surface. The aim of the present studies was to extend the dosimetry to the extraterrestrial solar radiation in LEO. Similar to the Earth’s surface bacteriophage T7 and polycrystalline uracil thin layers were used as detectors and exposed to the simulated and to the real space environmental parameters aiming to perform the in situ biological UV dosimetry in the space, more exactly on the external pallet of the ISS. The UV detectors have been used in specific cases in thin layer form. In contrast to the Earth’s surface the extraterrestrial solar UV radiations contains wavelength components (λ ~ 190-200 nm), which cause photolesions (photoproducts) in the nucleic acids/their components similar to the UV-B photons. However, these wavelengths cause not only photolesions but with a wavelength-dependent efficiency the reversion of some photolesion, too. Our biological detectors measured either in simulation or in situ conditions the resultant of both reactions induced by the extraterrestrial UV radiation. From this aspect the role of the photoreversion in the extension of the biological UV dosimetry and in the survival of the living systems in the space are discussed.
Interferon production by myxoviruses in chick embryo cells.

Summary Both fowl plague and Newcastle disease viruses failed to produce interferon in chick-embryo cells because of the inhibitory effect of infection on host-cell protein synthesis. When this inhibitory effect was destroyed by ultraviolet irradiation or by hydroxylamine inactivation, interferon was formed. No virus RNA synthesis could be detected in the interferon-producing cells and it was concluded that the virus single-stranded RNA was the stimulus for interferon formation.
Treatment outcomes in 4 modes of orthodontic practice.

BACKGROUND This study is a continuation of a previously published report on the outcome of orthodontic treatment provided in offices representing different modes of practice. METHODS The sample consisted of duplicate pretreatment (T1) and posttreatment (T2) dental casts of 348 patients from traditional private orthodontic practices (5 offices, 134 patients), company-owned practices (5 offices, 107 patients), offices associated with practice-management organizations (2 offices, 60 patients), and general dental practices (2 offices, 47 patients). Methods were used to obtain random, representative samples from each office, starting with lists of patients who were treated consecutively with full fixed orthodontic appliances. The dental casts were measured by 2 independent judges who used the unweighted PAR score. RESULTS Good interjudge agreement was shown on the initial casts, but the agreement was not as strong on the final casts. CONCLUSIONS The measurements showed that treatment outcomes were generally satisfactory, although some significant differences between offices and management modes were shown.
Influence of crop species and edaphic factors on the distribution and abundance of trichoderma in alfisol soils of southern India

Abstract The effect of crop species and edaphic factors on the distribution of Trichoderma species in Alfisol soil under different agrosystems was evaluated. Each soil sample was assayed for nine abiotic factors and culturable microfungal populations. Fungal abundance was determined by dilution plate technique, and the identification of fungi was based on morphological characteristics. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship of association between these factors and the presence and abundance of Trichoderma species in each soil type. The abundance of soil fungi ranged between 7.0 × 103 and 13.6 × 103 colony forming units (cfus) per gram of dry soil. The population densities of the two Trichoderma species (T. koningii and T. viride) isolated in the present study varied significantly with crop species and their abundance (varied from 0.6 to 3.6 × 103 cfus g-1 dry soil). Twenty-two other colony-forming fungal types with an abundance ranging between 7.0 × 103 and 13.6 × 103 cfus g-1 dry soil were also isolated in the present study. As soil pH negatively influenced relative abundance of T. koningii, soil P and relative abundance of T. viride were significantly and positively correlated to each other. Further, relative abundance of T. koningii was significantly and positively correlated to relative abundance of Aspergillus fumigatus but negatively correlated to relative abundance of Stachybotrys atra. Likewise, a significant negative correlation existed between relative abundance of T. viride and Absidia glauca.
A 5nW Quasi-linear CMOS Hot-electron Injector for Self-powered Monitoring of Biomechanical Strain Variations

Piezoelectricity-driven hot-electron injectors (p-HEI) are used for self-powered monitoring of mechanical activity in biomechanical implants and structures. Previously reported p-HEI devices operate by harvesting energy from a piezoelectric transducer to generate current and voltage references which are then used for initiating and controlling the process of hot-electron injection. As a result, the minimum energy required to activate the device is limited by the power requirements of the reference circuits. In this paper we present a p-HEI device that operates by directly exploiting the self-limiting capability of an energy transducer when driving the process of hot-electron injection in a pMOS floating-gate transistor. As a result, the p-HEI device can activate itself at input power levels less than 5 nW. Using a prototype fabricated in a 0.5- μm bulk CMOS process we validate the functionality of the proposed injector and show that for a fixed input power, its dynamics is quasi-linear with respect to time. The paper also presents measurement results using a cadaver phantom where the fabricated p-HEI device has been integrated with a piezoelectric transducer and is used for self-powered monitoring of mechanical activity.
Network uncertainty in selfish routing

We study the problem of selfish routing in the presence of incomplete network information. Our model consists of a number of users who wish to route their traffic on a network of m parallel links with the objective of minimizing their latency. However, in doing so, they face the challenge of lack of precise information on the capacity of the network links. This uncertainty is modelled via a set of probability distributions over all the possibilities, one for each user. The resulting model is an amalgamation of the KP-model of (E. Koutsoupias and C. H. Papadimitriou, 1999) and the congestion games with user-specific functions of (I. Milchtaich, 1996). We embark on a study of Nash equilibria and the price of anarchy in this new model. In particular, we propose polynomial-time algorithms for computing some special cases of pure Nash equilibria and we show that negative results of (I. Milchtaich, 1996), for the non-existence of pure Nash equilibria in the case of three users, do not apply to our model. Consequently, we propose an interesting open problem in this area, that of the existence of pure Nash equilibria in the general case of our model. Furthermore, we consider appropriate notions for the social cost and the price of anarchy and obtain upper bounds for the latter. With respect to fully mixed Nash equilibria, we propose a method to compute them and show that when they exist they are unique. Finally we prove that the fully mixed Nash equilibrium maximizes the social welfare
Change of Collision Efficiency with Distance in Bacterial Transport Experiments

Understanding the mechanisms of bacterial transport in aquifers is important in developing bioremediation strategies. Collision efficiency (α) is one important parameter used in modeling bacterial transport. This study was undertaken to measure change in α with distance by performing a bacterial transport experiment in Oyster, Virginia. Following injection of a bacterium, Comamonas sp. , into a well, water samples were collected at various distances along the flowpath and injected into columns packed with homogenized South Oyster focus area sediment. Zeta potentials of the bacteria in the samples were measured. Values of α were determined at various locations in the field in two ways: based on field breakthrough concentrations at the sampling points and based on column breakthrough concentrations. The α values estimated from field breakthrough decreased with distance, whereas those estimated from column breakthrough increased with distance. Bacterial cell surface charge became progressively more negative with distance in the field. We hypothesize that the apparent contradiction between field and column α values was caused by differences in the flow of the two systems. Flow in the columns was forced to occur through fine‐grained zones of iron and aluminum hydroxide coatings that selectively removed the most negatively charged bacteria. In contrast, in the field, the injected cells did not come into contact with the positively charged coatings because the bulk solution bypassed them due to heterogeneous hydraulic properties. These results suggest that laboratory‐based models may underestimate bacterial transport distance in the field. A more realistic approach may be necessary to capture the degree of heterogeneity.
Noradrenaline: fate and control of its biosynthesis.

In his Nobel lecture in 1970, Axelrod explored the origins of his interests in, and the present state of scientific inquiry for, research of sympathetic amines, noradrenaline and neural uptake and regulation. Axelrod, Ulf von Euler and Sir Bernard Katz, were awarded the Nobel Prize for their "discoveries concerning the humoral transmitters in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation. "
Evaluation of physicochemical and phytochemical properties of Safoof-E-Sana, a Unani polyherbal formulation

Background: Although the formulations of the Unani system of medicine are popular, not much scientific work has been reported so far. The present article is an attempt to establish the scientific basis of one of the popular Unani formulations Safoof-ESana, a polyherbal formulation widely used as a laxative. Methods: Investigations were carried out to study the physicochemical and phytochemical properties of Safoof-E-Sana and its active ingredients. Results and Conclusion: The values of percentage loss on drying, angle of repose, Hausner ratio, and Carr’s index of the formulation were calculated as 8.25 ± 0.582, 27.68, 1.23, and 19 respectively, which indicate that the moisture content of the formulation is within the range and depict good flow characteristics. The total ash, acid- nsoluble ash, and water-soluble ash were found to be 19.146 ± 0.237, 2.351 ± 0.223, and 49.216 ± 0.634, respectively; the value of total ash indicates that the inorganic contents of the formulation are below the limits. Alcoholic and aqueous extracts of the formulation and ingredients were prepared and evaluated for phytochemical analysis and extractive values, and the results show that alkaloids of the formulation are more soluble in water than in alcohol and the higher aqueous extractive value (45.784 ± 0.876) of Unani formulation depicts that water is a better solvent of extraction for the formulation than ethanol.
Gender differences in non-adherence among Brazilian patients initiating antiretroviral therapy

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a study to identify gender differences in factors associated with the first episode of non-adherence in the 12 months following the first antiretroviral prescription. METHODS: A concurrent prospective study of patients initiating antiretroviral therapy in Brazil was conducted from 2001-2002. The self-reported measurement of adherence was defined as an intake of less than 95% of the prescribed number of doses. Only the first occurrence of non-adherence was considered in this analysis. All analyses were stratified by gender. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the risk of non-adherence, and the time to non-adherence was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence of non-adherence was 34.6% (29.7% and 43.9% among men and women, respectively; p = 0.010). Marital status (being married or in stable union; p = 0.022), alcohol use in the month prior to the baseline interview (p = 0.046), and current tobacco use (p = 0.005) increased the risk of non-adherence among female participants only, whereas a self-reported difficulty with the antiretroviral treatment was associated with non-adherence in men only. For both men and women, we found that a longer time between the HIV test and first antiretroviral therapy prescription (p = 0.028) also presented an increased risk of non-adherence. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort study, the incidence of non-adherence was 1.5 times greater among women compared to men. Our results reinforce the need to develop interventions that account for gender differences in public referral centers. Additionally, we emphasize that, to achieve and maintain appropriate adherence levels, it is important to understand the barriers to seeking and utilizing health care services.