Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Melasma, Novel Treatment Modalities

Treatment of melasma remains challenging due to frequent relapses and the occurrence of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) following many interventions. Treatment goals are inhibition of melanin synthesis and transfer by sunscreens, sun avoidance and the use of bleaching agents on one hand and removal of already present pigment by peeling, lasers and light on the other hand. Triple combination creams (TCC) (also known as Kligman’s formula utilizing hydroquinone and modifications of Kligman’s formula) remain the mainstay of treatment. Newer bleaching agents derived from plants and synthetic compounds have been introduced and many of them are promising safe substitutes for hydroquinone. Peeling agents especially superficial and medium depth peels are effective treatment modalities for melasma. Newer peeling agents are less irritating and may thus lead to fewer side effects. Q-switched lasers, which target melanin, have led to PIH until the innovation of “laser toning” and fractional Qswitched ruby, which have better outcomes. Fractional non-ablative and ablative lasers are useful at lower fluencies. Pulsed dye laser, which targets the vascular component in melasma, is promising with less melasma rebound. Combinations of the above-mentioned modalities usually have a better treatment outcome than either alone. This review will focus on the more recently introduced therapies.
Demand-driven context-sensitive alias analysis for Java

Software tools for program understanding, transformation, verification, and testing often require an efficient yet highly-precise alias analysis. Typically this is done by computing points-to information, from which alias queries can be answered. This paper presents a novel context-sensitive, demand-driven alias analysis for Java that achieves efficiency by answering alias queries directly, instead of relying on an underlying points-to analysis. The analysis is formulated as a context-free-language (CFL) reachability problem over a language that models calling context sensitivity, and over another language that models field sensitivity (i.e., flow of reference values through fields of heap objects). To improve analysis scalability, we propose to compute procedural reachability summaries online, during the CFL-reachability computation. This cannot be done indiscriminately, as the benefits of using the summary information do not necessarily outweigh the cost of computing it. Our approach selects for summarization only a subset of heavily-used methods (i.e., methods having a large number of incoming edges in the static call graph). We have performed a variety of studies on the proposed analysis. The experimental results show that, within the same time budget, the precision of the analysis is higher than that of a state-of-the-art highly-precise points-to analysis. In addition, the use of method summaries can lead to significant improvements in analysis performance.
Epidemiology of neurological manifestations in Sjögren's syndrome: data from the French ASSESS Cohort

Objectives Neurological manifestations seem common in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) but their reported prevalences vary. We investigated the prevalence and epidemiology of neurological manifestations in a French nationwide multicentre prospective cohort of patients with pSS, the Assessment of Systemic Signs and Evolution in Sjögren's syndrome (ASSESS) cohort. Methods The ASSESS cohort, established in 2006, includes 395 patients fulfilling American–European Consensus Group criteria for pSS. Demographic and clinical data were compared between patient groups with and without neurological manifestations, and across patient groups with peripheral nervous system (PNS) manifestations, central nervous system (CNS) manifestations and no neurological manifestations. Results Data at inclusion were available for 392 patients, whose mean age was 58±12 years. Mean follow-up was 33.9 months. Neurological manifestations were present in 74/392 (18.9%) patients, including 63 (16%) with PNS manifestations and 14 (3.6%) with CNS manifestations. Prevalences were 9.2% for pure sensory neuropathy, 5.3% for sensorimotor neuropathy, 1.3% for cerebral vasculitis and 1.0% for myelitis. Neurological manifestations were associated with greater pSS activity as assessed using the ESSDAI (9.4±6.8 vs 4.3±4.8; p<0.001) and proportion of patients taking immunomodulatory/immunosuppressive drugs (32.4% (24/74) versus 13.8% (44/318), p=0003). New neurological symptoms were more common in patients with than without prior neurological manifestations (RR=3.918 (95% CI 1.91 to 8.05); p<0.001). Conclusions Prevalences of peripheral and central neurological manifestations in pSS are about 15% and 5%, respectively. Neurological manifestations are associated with greater pSS activity. New neurological manifestations are more common in patients with prior neurological involvement.
Keeping Good Sensing Performance of Metal–Dielectric–Metal Waveguides After Coating Treatment

Good sensing performance is observed in metal–dielectric–metal (MDM) waveguides in recent research. However, Ag will be oxidized in air. The oxidization layer makes the sensing performance not as high as before. Plating an SiO2 film on the surface of the Ag waveguide not only can avoid oxidization but can keep good sensing performance through our numerical discussion as well. The decaying rate of electric field E at the interface and inside is also defined to illustrate the phenomenon mentioned above. We hope our findings will provide guidance for the integrated plasmonic devices.
The determinants of overweight and obesity among 10- to 15-year-old schoolchildren in the North West Province, South Africa – the THUSA BANA (Transition and Health during Urbanisation of South Africans; BANA, children) study

Abstract Aim To investigate the determinants of overweight and obesity among 10- to 15-year-old schoolchildren in a population in the transitional phase in the North West Province of South Africa. Methods A cross-sectional survey was used to investigate weight status (anthropometric indicators) and determinants of overweight/obesity including dietary intake, physical activity and socio-economic status. A single, random sample (n=1257), stratified for gender, type of school and ethnic group, was used. Data were collected on demographics, family circumstances, habitual physical activity, dietary intake and anthropometry to evaluate weight status and body fat content. One-way analysis of variance, the generalised linear models procedure of SAS and the Tukey post hoc honest significant difference test were used to analyse the data. Results Few children were overweight or obese (7.8%) according to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) standards (body mass index (BMI)-for-age). These standards were compared with other accepted standard values. Both Cole's IOTF/BMI-for-age standard and the sum of skinfold thicknesses standard classified normal-weight status similarly at a level of 92% (P<0.01) and were found to be useful in determining overweight/obesity. The prevalence rate was higher in females and white children, and was more apparent in urban areas, smaller households and children of parents with low- or high-income occupations. Boys and pre-menarcheal girls had mean body fat percentage in the normal/optimal range, whereas that of post-menarcheal girls was moderately high. Few variables showed a significant association with high body fat percentage: in boys, only the number of members in the household and physical activity levels over the weekend; in girls, only age. The overweight/obese boys mostly lived in smaller households, and the overweight/obese post-menarcheal girls were most inactive on both weekdays and weekends, and more overweight with increasing age. Conclusion Smaller households, inactivity and increasing age for girls were found to be determinants that influence the development of overweight/obesity, while female gender and age post-menarche were identified as determinants of higher body fat content. For overweight/obesity prevention, the focus should be on pre-menarcheal girls, aged 10–13 years, using these determinants to identify overweight/obesity risk. Preventive programmes should aim to increase the physical activity of children to improve their current and future weight status.
Moderate-to-High Intensity Physical Exercise in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND Studies of physical exercise in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are few and results have been inconsistent. OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of a moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise program in patients with mild AD. METHODS In a randomized controlled trial, we recruited 200 patients with mild AD to a supervised exercise group (60-min sessions three times a week for 16 weeks) or to a control group. Primary outcome was changed from baseline in cognitive performance estimated by Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) in the intention-to-treat (ITT) group. Secondary outcomes included changes in quality of life, ability to perform activities of daily living, and in neuropsychiatric and depressive symptoms. RESULTS The ITT analysis showed no significant differences between intervention and control groups in change from baseline of SDMT, other cognitive tests, quality of life, or activities of daily living. The change from baseline in Neuropsychiatric Inventory differed significantly in favor of the intervention group (mean: -3.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.8 to -1.3, p = 0.002). In subjects who adhered to the protocol, we found a significant effect on change from baseline in SDMT as compared with the control group (mean: 4.2, 95% CI 0.5 to 7.9, p = 0.028), suggesting a dose-response relationship between exercise and cognition. CONCLUSIONS This is the first randomized controlled trial with supervised moderate-to-high intensity exercise in patients with mild AD. Exercise reduced neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with mild AD, with possible additional benefits of preserved cognition in a subgroup of patients exercising with high attendance and intensity.
Beliefs of Young People and Their Parents about the Effectiveness of Interventions for Mental Disorders

Objective: Mental disorders often have their first onset during youth, so that young people need to have knowledge to support appropriate decision-making. The aim of the study was to find out which interventions they see as potentially helpful for a range of mental disorders. Method: In 2006, interviews were carried out with 3746 Australians aged 12–25 years and 2005 of their parents. Participants were presented with a case vignette describing either psychosis, depression, depression with alcohol misuse, or social phobia. Questions were asked about the likely helpfulness of a broad range of possible interventions. Results: There was broad agreement from young people and their parents about what interventions are likely to be helpful and these views applied across the range of disorders presented. These interventions could be described as general and informal sources of help, rather than as specialist mental health services. The most negative views were about psychiatric medications and admission to hospital. Conclusions: The findings suggest a need to improve knowledge of appropriate treatment options and to give more attention to the evaluation of interventions that are widely accepted by young people but underresearched. The findings also suggest ways in which interventions can be labelled to make them more acceptable to this age group.
Teacher identification of children at risk for language impairment in the first year of school

While the first 3 years of formal schooling have obvious importance for the transition to literacy, it must be remembered that learning to read is a linguistically-based task that draws heavily on mastery of key oral-language skills such as phonemic and morphological awareness, vocabulary development, and early syntax. In order to support the transition to literacy, and because oral language competence is important in its own right, it is vital that early-years teachers are skilled at identifying children who may be at risk of oral language impairment. In this study, 15 teachers completed the Children's Communication Checklist (second edition) on children in their first year of school (n = 149), and ratings were compared with results of screening using the Clinical Examination of Language Fundamentals Screening Test (fourth edition). Teacher ratings showed poor sensitivity and specificity in identifying children whose oral language skills require further investigation. Results are discussed in the light of recommendations for teacher pre-service education, SLP advocacy for oral language competence as a life-long determinant of health, issues in screening during the early years of school, and implications for further research.
Delivering Guaranteed Display Ads under Reach and Frequency Requirements

We propose a novel idea in the allocation and serving of online advertising. We show that by using predetermined fixed-length streams of ads (which we call patterns) to serve advertising, we can incorporate a variety of interesting features into the ad allocation optimization problem. In particular, our formulation optimizes for representativeness as well as user-level diversity and pacing of ads, under reach and frequency requirements. We show how the problem can be solved efficiently using a column generation scheme in which only a small set of best patterns are kept in the optimization problem. Our numerical tests suggest that with parallelization of the pattern generation process, the algorithm has a promising run time and memory usage.
Molecular genetic analysis in 14 Czech Kabuki syndrome patients is confirming the utility of phenotypic scoring

Kabuki syndrome (KS) is a dominantly inherited disorder mainly due to de novo pathogenic variation in KMT2D or KDM6A genes. Initially, a representative cohort of 14 Czech cases with clinical features suggestive of KS was analyzed by experienced clinical geneticists in collaboration with other specialties, and observed disease features were evaluated according to the ‘MLL2‐Kabuki score’ defined by Makrythanasis et al. Subsequently, the aforementioned genes were Sanger sequenced and copy number variation analysis was performed by MLPA, followed by genome‐wide array CGH testing. Pathogenic variants in KMT2D resulting in protein truncation in 43% (6/14; of which 3 are novel) of all cases were detected, while analysis of KDM6A was negative. MLPA analysis was negative in all instances. One female patient bears a 6.6 Mb duplication of the Xp21.2–Xp21.3 region that is probably disease causing. Subjective KS phenotyping identified predictive clinical features associated with the presence of a pathogenic variant in KMT2D. We provide additional evidence that this scoring approach fosters prioritization of patients prior to KMT2D sequencing. We conclude that KMT2D sequencing followed by array CGH is a diagnostic strategy with the highest diagnostic yield.
Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Some Children Diseases: A Review

The bacterial colonization is defined immediately after birth, through direct contact with maternal microbiota and may be influenced during lactation. There is emerging evidence indicating that quantitative and qualitative changes on gut microbiota contribute to alterations in the mucosal activation of immune system leading to intra- or extra-intestinal diseases. A balance between pathogenic and beneficial microbiota throughout childhood and adolescence is important to gastrointestinal health, including protection against pathogens, inhibition of pathogens, nutrient processing (synthesis of vitamin K), stimulation of angiogenesis, and regulation of host fat storage. Probiotics can promote an intentional modulation of intestinal microbiota favoring the health of the host. This paper is a review about modulation of intestinal microbiota on prevention and adjuvant treatment of pediatric gastrointestinal diseases.
Management of acute coronary syndrome in South Africa: insights from the ACCESS (Acute Coronary Events – a Multinational Survey of Current Management Strategies) registry

Background The burden of cardiovascular diseases is predicted to escalate in developing countries. While many studies have reported the descriptive epidemiology, practice patterns and outcomes of patients hospitalised with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), these have largely been confined to the developed nations. Methods In this prospective, observational registry, 12 068 adults hospitalised with a diagnosis of ACS were enrolled between January 2007 and January 2008 at 134 sites in 19 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Data on patient characteristics, treatment and outcomes were collected. Results Of the 642 patients from South Africa in the registry, 615 had a confirmed ACS diagnosis and form the basis of this report; 41% had a discharge diagnosis of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and 59% a diagnosis of non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS), including 32% with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and 27% with unstable angina (UA). During hospitalisation, most patients received aspirin (94%) and a lipid-lowering medication (91%); 69% received a beta-blocker, and 66% an ACE inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker. Thrombolytic therapy was used in only 18% of subjects (36% of STEMI patients and 5.5% of NSTE-ACS patients). Angiography was undertaken in 93% of patients (61.3% on the first day), of whom 53% had a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and 14% were referred for coronary artery bypass surgery. Drug-eluting stents were used in 57.9% of cases. Clopidogrel was prescribed at discharge from hospital in 62.2% of patients. All-cause death at 12 months was 5.7%, and was higher in patients with STEMI versus non-ST-elevation ACS (6.7 vs 5.0%, p < 0.0001). Clinical factors associated with higher risk of death at 12 months included age ≥ 70 years, presence of diabetes mellitus on admission, and a history of stroke/transient ischaemic attack (TIA). Conclusions In this observational study of ACS patients, the use of evidence-based pharmacological therapies for ACS was quite high. Interventional rates were high compared to international standards, and in particular the use of drug-eluting stents, yet the clinical outcomes (mortality, re-admission rates and severe bleeding episodes at one year) were favourable, with low rates compared with other studies.
Dietary Fish Oil Increases Conversion of Very Low Density Lipoprotein Apoprotein B to Low Density Lipoprotein

Dietary fish oils, which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, are known to produce a marked lowering of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) trlglycerlde concentrations, but they have a less marked effect on low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Our previous apollpoproteln (apo) B kinetic studies in miniature pigs demonstrated that conversion of VLDL apo B to LDL apo B accounted for 15% to 20% of total VLDL apo B catabolism. In addition, 75% to 80% of LDL apo B was derived independent of plasma VLDL or intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL) apo B catabollsm. The present studies were carried out to determine If fish-oil diets Influenced: 1) the conversion of VLDL to LDL, and 2) the pathways of LDL apo B synthesis. Autologous 12SI-VLDL and 131I-LDL were Injected Into four pigs after both a corn-oil (30 g/day for 18 days) and a Maxepa (30 g/day for 18 days) dietary period. Analysis of apo B specific activity curves demonstrated that fish oil reduced the VLDL pool size by 38% (p<0.05) due to an Increase in fractional catabollc rate (0.83±0.13 vs. 0.48±0.03 hr-1), as the synthesis rate was unaffected. However, the proportion of VLDL apo B converted to LDL Increased significantly (56±7% vs. 17±3%, p<0.01) whereas the proportion cleared directly decreased (46±5% vs. 83±3%, p<0.005). Fish oil reduced total LDL apo B synthesis (0.6±0.1 vs. 1.1 ±0.2 mg/hr/kg, p<0.05). LDL-B derived Independent of VLDL catabollsm was reduced by 90% (0.1 ±0.04 vs. 0.9±0.2 mg/hr/kg, p<0.01), whereas VLDL derived synthesis increased significantly (0.5±0.08 vs. 0.1 ±0.01, p<0.01). Although LDL apo B fractional catabollc rate decreased 22% (p<0.01), the pool size decreased 20% (p<0.05) due to the larger decrease In synthesis. Total llpld profiling revealed no major differences in the percent composition of the main llpld classes present In VLDL, IDL, and LDL. Thus, the fish-oil diet resulted In the secretion of a VLDL particle that Is preferentially converted to LDL This may explain the Inconsistent and variable effects of fish oil on LDL concentrations observed In other studies. Whether LDL concentrations are Increased would depend on other factors regulating LDL concentrations. In the present study, the LDL-B pool size was reduced, due entirely to the marked reduction In VLDL Independent synthesis.
Annealing Paths for the Evaluation of Topic Models

Statistical topic models such as latent Dirich-let allocation have become enormously popular in the past decade, with dozens of learning algorithms and extensions being proposed each year. As these models and algorithms continue to be developed, it becomes increasingly important to evaluate them relative to previous techniques. However, evaluating the predictive performance of a topic model is a computationally difficult task. Annealed importance sampling (AIS), a Monte Carlo technique which operates by annealing between two distributions, has previously been successfully used for topic model evaluation (Wallach et al., 2009b). This technique estimates the likelihood of a held-out document by simulating an annealing process from the prior to the posterior for the latent topic assignments, and using this simulation as an importance sampling proposal distribution. In this paper we introduce new AIS annealing paths which instead anneal from one topic model to another, thereby estimating the relative performance of the models. This strategy can exhibit much lower empirical variance than previous approaches, facilitating reliable per-document comparisons of topic models. We then show how to use these paths to evaluate the predictive performance of topic model learning algorithms by efficiently estimating the likelihood at each iteration of the training procedure. The proposed method achieves better held-out likelihood estimates for this task than previous algorithms with, in some cases, an order of magnitude less computation.
Voltage-Balancing Approach With Improved Harmonic Performance for Modular Multilevel Converters

In a modular multilevel converter (MMC), the voltage balance among the submodules is mandatory to generate the multilevel stepped waveform across the load and to ensure the equal voltage stress on the semiconductor devices. In addition, the output power quality (voltage and current waveforms) and the converter reliability greatly depend on the design methodology of a voltage-balancing approach. The improper design of the balancing approach causes higher voltage and current harmonic distortion and device power losses, which further affects the efficiency of the MMC. In this letter, an improved voltage-balancing approach is proposed to reduce the output voltage harmonic distortion and device power losses. The performance of the proposed approach is verified through MATLAB simulations and experimentally on a three-level-flying-capacitor-based MMC system. Also, the performance of the proposed approach is compared with the existing methodology to prove its superiority.