Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The progressivity of health-care financing in Kenya.

BACKGROUND Health-care financing should be equitable. In many developing countries such as Kenya, changes to health-care financing systems are being implemented as a means of providing equitable access to health care with the aim of attaining universal coverage. Vertical equity means that people of dissimilar ability to pay make dissimilar levels of contribution to the health-care financing system. Vertical equity can be analysed by measuring progressivity. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to analyse progressivity by measuring deviations from proportionality in the relationship between sources of health-care financing and ability to pay using Kakwani indices applied to data from the Kenya Household Health Utilisation and Expenditure Survey 2007. METHODS Concentration indices and Kakwani indices were obtained for the sources of health-care financing: direct and indirect taxes, out of pocket (OOP) payments, private insurance contributions and contributions to the National Hospital Insurance Fund. The bootstrap method was used to analyse the sensitivity of the Kakwani index to changes in the equivalence scale or the use of an alternative measure of ability to pay. RESULTS The overall health-care financing system was regressive. Out of pocket payments were regressive with all other payments being proportional. Direct taxes, indirect taxes and private insurance premiums were sensitive to the use of income as an alternative measure of ability to pay. However, the overall finding of a regressive health-care system remained. CONCLUSION Reforms to the Kenyan health-care financing system are required to reduce dependence on out of pocket payments. The bootstrap method can be used in determining the sensitivity of the Kakwani index to various assumptions made in the analysis. Further analyses are required to determine the equity of health-care utilization and the effect of proposed reforms on overall equity of the Kenyan health-care system.
Replication and Extension of the Weight Loss For Life Community-Based Treatment Protocol

ABSTRACT Maintaining weight-loss beyond 6–9 months within behavioral treatments has been problematic. However, a social cognitive theory-driven, community-based curriculum emphasizing the generalization of physical activity-related self-regulation, to eating-related self-regulation (phase 1 treatment; n = 55), demonstrated success at both inducing lost weight over its initial 6 months, and maintaining that loss through month 24. The present replication study contrasted those outcomes with a phase 2 version of the year-long treatment (n = 74) that added a follow-up component during year 2 consisting of 5 brief phone interactions to reinforce self-regulatory skills. Participants were all women with obesity (body mass index 30–40 kg/m2; mean age = 48 years). In phase 2, the mean weight loss of 6.3% during baseline-month 6, and regain of 0.7% through month 24, did not significantly differ from phase 1. However, phase 2 methods were associated with significantly better retention of improvements in self-regulation, fruit/vegetable intake, and physical activity. For phase 2 results, second-year change in fruit/vegetable consumption completely mediated the significant relationship between self-regulation and weight change, and change in physical activity completely mediated the significant relationship between self-regulation and weight change, over the 2-year study. Findings suggest the importance of moderate physical activity and more intensive follow-up focused on self-regulation processes.
Speech Remediation of a Long-Term Stutter: A Case Study

Background: This research article describes the remediation of stuttering in an adult participant with a long-term history of drug abuse. The unique participant in this case underwent this successful treatment at an urban residential rehabilitation mission where he was living in lieu of incarceration. Methods: The therapeutic intervention in this case consisted of two programs. The primary intervention involved the Ryan Fluency Program, Gradual Increase in Length and Complexity of Utterance (GILCU), which is a stepbased program that requires the participant to progress from the production of a single, fluent word to 10 minutes of conversation in the absence of overt disfluencies. Based on the particular needs of this participant, the primary investigator incorporated the use of delayed auditory feedback in an effort to demonstrate to the participant that fluent speech was possible. Results: As seen in tables and as discussed in the article, the participant initially produced 16 stuttered words per minute in the Fluency Interview and this number was reduced to . 06 stuttered words per minute five months later. Additionally, the participant spoke at an average of 130.0 WS/M, which falls into the average rate based on norms established by Ryan (150.9, with range of 119-182.6). At nine months post-assessment, the participant was demonstrating smooth, forward-flowing, speech, free of overt disfluencies, with appropriate rate. Conclusion: This case study adds credence to the growing body of evidence supporting fluency shaping, behaviorally based programs to remediate overt stuttering. Further, this study, which used delayed auditory feedback in conjunction with GILCU, demonstrates the appropriateness of designing therapeutic interventions based on the specific needs of each participant. Finally, this case study validates the in depth knowledge of experienced clinicians as a significant factor in the decision making process for selecting and implementing interventions.
A General QoS Aware Flow-Balancing and Resource Management Scheme in Distributed Software-Defined Networks

Due to the limited service capabilities of centralized controllers, it is difficult to process high volume of flows within reasonable time. This particularly degrades the strict quality of service (QoS) requirements of interactive media applications, which is non-negligible factor. To alleviate this concern, distributed deployments of software-defined network (SDN) controllers are inevitable and have gained a predominant position. However, to maintain application specific QoS requirements, the number of resources used in network directly impacts the capital and operational expenditure. Hence, in distributed SDN architectures, issues such as flow arrival rate, resources required and operational cost have significant mutual dependencies on each other. Therefore, it is essential to research feasible methods to maintain QoS and minimize resources provisioning cost. Motivated from this, we propose a solution in a distributed SDN architectures that provides flow-balancing (with guaranteed QoS) in pro-active operations of SDN controllers, and attempts to optimize the use of instance resources provisioning costs. We validate our solution using the tools of queuing theory. Our studies indicate that with our solution, a network with minimum resources and affordable cost with guaranteed application QoS can be set-up.
Notch1—WISP-1 axis determines the regulatory role of mesenchymal stem cell-derived stromal fibroblasts in melanoma metastasis

Mesenchymal stem cells-derived fibroblasts (MSC-DF) constitute a significant portion of stromal fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and are key modulators of tumor progression. However, the molecular mechanisms that determine their tumor-regulatory function are poorly understood. Here, we uncover the Notch1 pathway as a molecular determinant that selectively controls the regulatory role of MSC-DF in melanoma metastasis. We demonstrate that the Notch1 pathway's activity is inversely correlated with the metastasis-regulating function of fibroblasts and can determine the metastasis-promoting or -suppressing phenotype of MSC-DF. When co-grafted with melanoma cells, MSC-DFNotch1−/− selectively promote, while MSC-DFN1IC+/+ preferentially suppress melanoma metastasis, but not growth, in mouse models. Consistently, conditioned media (CM) from MSC-DFNotch1−/− and MSC-DFN1IC+/+ oppositely, yet selectively regulates migration, but not growth of melanoma cells in vitro. Additionally, when co-cultured with metastatic melanoma cells in vitro, MSC-DFNotch1−/− support, while MSC-DFN1IC+/+ inhibit melanoma cells in the formation of spheroids. These findings expand the repertoire of Notch1 signaling as a molecular switch in determining the tumor metastasis-regulating function of MSC-DF. We also identified Wnt-induced secreted protein-1 (WISP-1) as a key downstream secretory mediator of Notch1 signaling to execute the influential role of MSC-DF on melanoma metastasis. These findings reveal the Notch1—WISP-1 axis as a crucial molecular determinant in governing stromal regulation of melanoma metastasis; thus, establishing this axis as a potential therapeutic target for melanoma metastasis.
Prevalence of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in the State of Texas as Assessed by Phosphatidylethanol in Newborn Dried Blood Spot Specimens

BACKGROUND While 2 to 5% of school-aged children in the United States are estimated to be affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), the prevalence of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) might be substantially underreported. Our objective was to systematically estimate the prevalence of PAE in Texas by measuring a direct ethanol metabolite, phosphatidylethanol (PEth), in 1,000 infant residual dried blood spots (irDBSs) in the Texas Newborn Screening Repository. METHODS All public health regions (PHRs) were represented proportional to their 2014 birth rate (~0.25% of total births). A cross-sectional study design (unit of observation: individual irDBS cards/infants) with additional ecologic subanalysis (unit of observation: aggregate measures for each Texas PHR) was utilized. The study used PEth-irDBS to estimate the prevalence of PAE within 1 month before delivery for the state of Texas and each Texas PHR. The ecologic subanalysis compared different geographical regions' aggregate prevalence of PAE with (i) retail liquor licenses, (ii) median household income by PHR, and (iii) prevalence of birth outcomes commonly associated with FASD. RESULTS The sample included an equal number of males and females; 47.8% non-Hispanic White, 40.8% Hispanic, 6.6% African American, and 4.8% Asian infants. In the entire sample, 8.4% of irDBSs were positive for PEth (>20 ng/ml) indicative of PAE within approximately 1 month before delivery. Large regional differences were observed with mostly urban, high median-income regions demonstrating the highest prevalence. CONCLUSIONS Results of this first systematic statewide PAE prevalence study demonstrate that PAE might be more prevalent than previously thought. Active case ascertainment efforts for FASD coupled with systematic objective assessment of PAE should expand to the national level to better estimate public health needs required to provide adequate services for children affected by PAE.
The association between carotid intraplaque hemorrhage and outcomes of carotid stenting: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and purpose The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine whether carotid stenting patients with intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) identified on preoperative MRI were more likely to suffer perioperative ischemic complications compared with patients without IPH. Methods We conducted a comprehensive literature search of studies published between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2015 reporting perioperative outcomes of carotid stenting among patients with and without IPH on hemorrhage sensitive carotid MRI sequences. Clinical outcomes included perioperative (≤30 days post-stenting) minor stroke, major stroke, death, and a composite outcome combining stroke, death, and myocardial infarction (MI). We also compared the rate of silent ischemia on diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) between groups. Statistical analysis was performed using a random effects meta-analysis. Results 9 studies with 491 unique patients (198 in the IPH group and 293 in the non-IPH group) were included. The rate of the composite outcome of any stroke, death, or MI within 30 days was 8.1% (13/160) in the IPH group and 2.1% (5/239) in the non-IPH group (OR=4.45, 95% CI 1.61 to 12.30, p<0.01). There were no significant differences between groups in the rates of minor stroke, major stroke, or death when considered individually. The rate of postoperative infarct on DWI was 49.7% (75/161) for the IPH group and 33.6% (81/241) for the non-IPH group (OR=2.01, 95% CI 1.31 to 3.09, p<0.01). Conclusions Our systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that patients with IPH on pre-carotid stenting MRI had higher rates of silent ischemia as well as of a composite outcome of perioperative stroke, death, and MI compared with those without IPH.
Investigation of systematic relationship between spectrometry and white light photoelasticity by regression analysis

By integrating the white light photoelasticity and spectrometry, a novel method called transmissivity extremities theory of photoelasticity to determine the state of stress has been recently developed. The key of transmissivity extremities theory of photoelasticity is to establish the systematic relationship of transmissivity with stress and wavelength and further derive the stress quantifying formula. Based on the high resolution and sensitivity of the spectrometer and the high measurement accuracy of the white light photoelasticity, transmissivity extremities theory of photoelasticity can determine the low-level stress even in low birefringence materials. Before extending the application of transmissivity extremities theory of photoelasticity to determine the higher level stress, the correlation between different transmissivity extremities linear equations in the systematic relationship and the relationship between parameters in the stress quantifying formula and thicknesses of specimens need to be derived and investigated. Therefore, in this article, a regression analysis of the constant term and first-order harmonic terms of the Fourier series function was employed to obtain the transmissivity extremities linear equations and parameters in the stress quantifying formula from the database. Both PSM-1 and glass were used to confirm the derived correlation and relationship. The effectiveness and merits of transmissivity extremities theory of photoelasticity were demonstrated by comparing simulation results obtained by transmissivity extremities theory of photoelasticity and the conventional white light photoelasticity, comparison between theoretical and experimental results of a diametrically loaded circular disk as well as the determination of the residual stress distribution of a thin glass substrate used for liquid crystal display.
Vulnerable Road User Protection through Intuitive Visual Cue on Smartphones

As vehicle communication standards mature, protecting vulnerable road users (VRUs) using vehicle communication technology is looming as a promising and useful application. The current vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication as stipulated by the standard such as SAE J2735 implies that it is mainly the vehicles that take the responsibility for VRU protection. In this VRU protection framework, user devices are essentially beacons that transmit Personal Safety Messages (PSMs). Upon receiving these PSMs, the drivers (or autonomous vehicles) take necessary measures to protect them. We, however, believe that the road users could also use the information about nearby vehicles to avoid dangerous situations. This paper discusses how the most distracted road user type, i.e., smartphone users, can use the Basic Safety Messages (BSMs) from nearby vehicles to notice approaching danger and take appropriate defensive actions. We build a complete prototype based on the IEEE Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE) standards, and demonstrate how it can be used by pedestrians to notice imminent danger even while they are gazing at the smartphone screen.
Exploiting AR-Regulated Drug Transport to Induce Sensitivity to the Survivin Inhibitor YM155

Androgen receptor (AR) signaling is fundamental to prostate cancer and is the dominant therapeutic target in metastatic disease. However, stringent androgen deprivation therapy regimens decrease quality of life and have been largely unsuccessful in curtailing mortality. Recent clinical and preclinical studies have taken advantage of the dichotomous ability of AR signaling to elicit growth-suppressive and differentiating effects by administering hyperphysiologic levels of testosterone. In this study, high-throughput drug screening identified a potent synergy between high-androgen therapy and YM155, a transcriptional inhibitor of survivin (BIRC5). This interaction was mediated by the direct transcriptional upregulation of the YM155 transporter SLC35F2 by the AR. Androgen-mediated YM155-induced cell death was completely blocked by the overexpression of multidrug resistance transporter ABCB1. SLC35F2 expression was significantly correlated with intratumor androgen levels in four distinct patient-derived xenograft models, and with AR activity score in a large gene expression dataset of castration-resistant metastases. A subset of tumors had significantly elevated SLC35F2 expression and, therefore, may identify patients who are highly responsive to YM155 treatment. Implications: The combination of androgen therapy with YM155 represents a novel drug synergy, and SLC35F2 may serve as a clinical biomarker of response to YM155. Mol Cancer Res; 15(5); 521–31. ©2017 AACR.
Are animacy effects in episodic memory independent of encoding instructions?

ABSTRACT The adaptive view of human memory [Nairne, J. S. 2010. Adaptive memory: Evolutionary constraints on remembering. In B. H. Ross (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 53 pp. 1–32). Burlington: Academic Press; Nairne, J. S. , & Pandeirada, J. N. S. 2010a. Adaptive memory: Ancestral priorities and the mnemonic value of survival processing. Cognitive Psychology, 61, 1–22, 2010b; Memory functions. In The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology and behavioral science, (Vol 3, 4th ed. pp. 977–979). Hokoben, NJ: John Wiley & Sons] assumes that animates (e.g., baby, rabbit presented as words or pictures) are better remembered than inanimates (e.g., bottle, mountain) because animates are more important for fitness than inanimates. In four studies, we investigated whether the animacy effect in episodic memory (i.e., the better remembering of animates over inanimates) is independent of encoding instructions. Using both a factorial (Studies 1 and 3) and a multiple regression approach (Study 2), three studies tested whether certain contexts drive people to attend to inanimate more than to animate things (or the reverse), and therefore lead to differential animacy effects. The findings showed that animacy effects on recall performance were observed in the grassland-survival scenario used by Nairne, Thompson, and Pandeirada (2007. Adaptive memory: Survival processing enhances retention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 33, 263–273) (Studies 1–3), when words were rated for their pleasantness (Study 2), and in explicit learning (Study 3). In the non-survival scenario of moving to a foreign land (Studies 1–2), animacy effects on recall rates were not reliable in Study 1, but were significant in Study 2, whereas these effects were reliable in the non-survival scenario of planning a trip as a tour guide (Study 3). A final (control) study (Study 4) was conducted to test specifically whether animacy effects are related to the more organised nature of animates than inanimates. Overall, the findings suggest that animacy effects are robust since they do not vary across different sets of encoding instructions (e.g., encoding for survival, preparing a trip and pleasantness).
Distinct epitope structures of defensin‐like proteins linked to proline‐rich regions give rise to differences in their allergenic activity

Art v 1, Amb a 4, and Par h 1 are allergenic defensin‐polyproline–linked proteins present in mugwort, ragweed, and feverfew pollen, respectively. We aimed to investigate the physicochemical and immunological features underlying the different allergenic capacities of those allergens.
Digestibility of dried distiller’s grains with solubles in steam-flaked or dry-rolled corn diets

In previous experiments, we observed that the nutritional value of dried distiller’s grains is less when added to finishing diets made of steam-flaked corn than when added to diets of dry-rolled corn. We hypothesized that effects of grain processing on value of distiller’s grains are attributable to differences in the digestion characteristics of grains processed via flaking or dry rolling. In this study, our objective was to evaluate differences in ruminal metabolism and total tract digestion of diets made from dry-rolled or steam-flaked corn with and without dried distiller’s grains.
Morphological technique for detection of microaneurysms from RGB fundus images

One of the most vital components of diabetes mellitus that cause visual blindness is Diabetic Retinopathy (DR). The primary sign of DR in the retina is the presence of the microaneurysms (MAs) that cause because of injury in the retina as a long-term abnormality effect leads to diabetes mellitus. Early identification of the MAs helps us to reduce and prevent DR at the early stage. In this process, ophthalmologists continuously observe the previous and current fundus images obtained using the fundus camera manually which consumes more time and energy. In the proposed work, we describe a procedure for automatic detection of MAs by applying thresholding and mathematical morphology techniques, which alternates the tedious and time-consuming manual method. The set of techniques is used for detecting MAs from the RGB fundus image. Preprocess techniques are used to resize the input image. The exudates are eliminated using the thresholding technique. The optic disc (OD) and blood vessels are removed by implementing morphological methods, and the feature extraction is implemented, based on their size. The experiment was carried out on freely accessible dataset DIARETDB1. The performance of the presented method detects MAs from the RGB fundus image and the results obtained show us the positive sign of the proposed technique. This technique not only helps ophthalmologist in automatic detection of MAs, it also helps in keeping track of the current and previous results of a patient for diagnosis.
Repeatability and Reproducibility of Compression Strength Measurements Conducted According to ASTM E9

Ten commercial laboratories participated in an interlaboratory study to establish the repeatability and reproducibility of compression strength tests conducted according to ASTM International Standard Test Method E9. The test employed a cylindrical aluminum AA2024-T351 test specimen. Participants measured elastic modulus and 0.2 % offset yield strength, YS(0.2 % offset), using an extensometer attached to the specimen. The repeatability and reproducibility of the yield strength measurement, expressed as coefficient of variations were cv(sub r)= 0.011 and cv(sub R)= 0.020 The reproducibility of the test across the laboratories was among the best that has been reported for uniaxial tests. The reported data indicated that using diametrically opposed extensometers, instead of a single extensometer doubled the precision of the test method. Laboratories that did not lubricate the ends of the specimen measured yield stresses and elastic moduli that were smaller than those measured in laboratories that lubricated the specimen ends. A finite element analysis of the test specimen deformation for frictionless and perfect friction could not explain the discrepancy, however. The modulus measured from stress-strain data were reanalyzed using a technique that finds the optimal fit range, and applies several quality checks to the data. The error in modulus measurements from stress-strain curves generally increased as the fit range decreased to less than 40 % of the stress range.