Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acceptability, Use, and Safety of a Mobile Phone App (BlueIce) for Young People Who Self-Harm: Qualitative Study of Service Users’ Experience

Background Self-harm is common among adolescents and is associated with a number of negative psychosocial outcomes including a higher risk of suicide. Recent reviews highlight the lack of research into specific interventions for children and young people who self-harm. Developing innovative interventions that are coproduced with individuals with lived experience and that reduce self-harm are key challenges for self-harm prevention. Objective The aim of this study was to explore the acceptability, use, and safety of BlueIce, a mobile phone app for young people who self-harm and who are attending child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Methods This study is part of a mixed methods phase 1 trial of BlueIce. Young people aged 12-17 years attending specialist CAMHS were recruited. Clinicians were invited to refer young people who were self-harming or who had a history of self-harm. On consent being obtained and baseline measures taken, participants used BlueIce as an adjunct to usual care for an initial familiarization period of 2 weeks. If after this time they wanted to continue, they used BlueIce for a further 10 weeks. Semistructured interviews were conducted at postfamiliarization (2 weeks after using BlueIce) and postuse (12 weeks after using BlueIce) to assess the acceptability, use, and safety of BlueIce. We undertook a qualitative analysis using a deductive approach, and then an inductive approach, to investigate common themes. Results Postfamiliarization interviews were conducted with 40 participants. Of these, 37 participants elected to use BlueIce, with postuse interviews being conducted with 33 participants. Following 6 key themes emerged from the data: (1) appraisal of BlueIce, (2) usability of BlueIce, (3) safety, (4) benefits of BlueIce, (5) agency and control, and (6) BlueIce less helpful. The participants reported that BlueIce was accessible, easy to use, and convenient. Many highlighted the mood diary and mood lifter sections as particularly helpful in offering a way to track their moods and offering new strategies to manage their thoughts to self-harm. No adverse effects were reported. For those who did not find BlueIce helpful, issues around motivation to stop self-harming impeded their ability to use the app. Conclusions BlueIce was judged to be a helpful and safe way of supporting adolescents to manage thoughts of self-harming. Adolescents reported numerous benefits of using BlueIce, and all would recommend the app to other young people who were struggling with self-harm. These preliminary findings are encouraging and provide initial support for the acceptability of BlueIce as a self-help intervention used in conjunction with the traditional face-to-face therapy.
Finding Hidden HIV Clusters to Support Geographic-Oriented HIV Interventions in Kenya

Background: In a spatially well known and dispersed HIV epidemic, identifying geographic clusters with significantly higher HIV prevalence is important for focusing interventions for people living with HIV (PLHIV). Methods: We used Kulldorff spatial-scan Poisson model to identify clusters with high numbers of HIV-infected persons 15–64 years old. We classified PLHIV as belonging to either higher prevalence or lower prevalence (HP/LP) clusters, then assessed distributions of sociodemographic and biobehavioral HIV risk factors and associations with clustering. Results: About half of survey locations, 112/238 (47%) had high rates of HIV (HP clusters), with 1.1–4.6 times greater PLHIV adults observed than expected. Richer persons compared with respondents in lowest wealth index had higher odds of belonging to a HP cluster, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.61 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13 to 2.3], aOR 1.66 (95% CI: 1.09 to 2.53), aOR 3.2 (95% CI: 1.82 to 5.65), and aOR 2.28 (95% CI: 1.09 to 4.78) in second, middle, fourth, and highest quintiles, respectively. Respondents who perceived themselves to have greater HIV risk or were already HIV-infected had higher odds of belonging to a HP cluster, aOR 1.96 (95% CI: 1.13 to 3.4) and aOR 5.51 (95% CI: 2.42 to 12.55), respectively; compared with perceived low risk. Men who had ever been clients of female sex worker had higher odds of belonging to a HP cluster than those who had never been, aOR 1.47 (95% CI: 1.04 to 2.08); and uncircumcised men vs circumcised, aOR 3.2 (95% CI: 1.74 to 5.8). Conclusions: HIV infection in Kenya exhibits localized geographic clustering associated with sociodemographic and behavioral factors, suggesting disproportionate exposure to higher HIV risk. Identification of these clusters reveals the right places for targeting priority-tailored HIV interventions.
The ocular albinism type 1 protein, an intracellular G protein-coupled receptor, regulates melanosome transport in pigment cells

The protein product of the ocular albinism type 1 gene, named OA1, is a pigment cell-specific G protein-coupled receptor exclusively localized to intracellular organelles, namely lysosomes and melanosomes. Loss of OA1 function leads to the formation of macromelanosomes, suggesting that this receptor is implicated in organelle biogenesis, however the mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of the disease remains obscure. We report here the identification of an unexpected abnormality in melanosome distribution both in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and skin melanocytes of Oa1-knock-out (KO) mice, consisting in a displacement of the organelles from the central cytoplasm towards the cell periphery. Despite their depletion from the microtubule (MT)-enriched perinuclear region, Oa1-KO melanosomes were able to aggregate at the centrosome upon disruption of the actin cytoskeleton or expression of a dominant-negative construct of myosin Va. Consistently, quantification of organelle transport in living cells revealed that Oa1-KO melanosomes displayed a severe reduction in MT-based motility; however, this defect was rescued to normal following inhibition of actin-dependent capture at the cell periphery. Together, these data point to a defective regulation of organelle transport in the absence of OA1 and imply that the cytoskeleton might represent a downstream effector of this receptor. Furthermore, our results enlighten a novel function for OA1 in pigment cells and suggest that ocular albinism type 1 might result from a different pathogenetic mechanism than previously thought, based on an organelle-autonomous signalling pathway implicated in the regulation of both membrane traffic and transport.
Flexible parametric modelling of the cause‐specific cumulative incidence function

Competing risks arise with time‐to‐event data when individuals are at risk of more than one type of event and the occurrence of one event precludes the occurrence of all other events. A useful measure with competing risks is the cause‐specific cumulative incidence function (CIF), which gives the probability of experiencing a particular event as a function of follow‐up time, accounting for the fact that some individuals may have a competing event. When modelling the cause‐specific CIF, the most common model is a semi‐parametric proportional subhazards model. In this paper, we propose the use of flexible parametric survival models to directly model the cause‐specific CIF where the effect of follow‐up time is modelled using restricted cubic splines. The models provide smooth estimates of the cause‐specific CIF with the important advantage that the approach is easily extended to model time‐dependent effects. The models can be fitted using standard survival analysis tools by a combination of data expansion and introducing time‐dependent weights. Various link functions are available that allow modelling on different scales and have proportional subhazards, proportional odds and relative absolute risks as particular cases. We conduct a simulation study to evaluate how well the spline functions approximate subhazard functions with complex shapes. The methods are illustrated using data from the European Blood and Marrow Transplantation Registry showing excellent agreement between parametric estimates of the cause‐specific CIF and those obtained from a semi‐parametric model. We also fit models relaxing the proportional subhazards assumption using alternative link functions and/or including time‐dependent effects. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Redox-mediator-free degradation of sulfathiazole and tetracycline using Phanerochaete chrysosporium

ABSTRACT The removal of two of the most commonly used antibiotics, tetracycline (TC) and sulfathiazole (STZ), using laccase-producing Phanerochaete chrysosporium was studied in liquid-phase batch experiments in the absence of any synthetic redox mediator. The removal of STZ and TC from single antibiotic spikes varied from 97.8% to 15.4% and 98.8% to 31%, respectively, with increasing initial doses of 10–250 mg L−1 within 14 days of incubation. The enzyme activity of P. chrysosporium was only minimally influenced by the concentrations of these antibiotics. The degradation of antibiotics initiated before an appreciable extracellular enzyme activity was noted in the fungal culture. The appearance of low-molecular weight molecular fragments from parent antibiotics in liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry confirmed the biodegradation process.
Growth Environment and Sex Differences in Lipids, Body Shape and Diabetes Risk

Background Sex differences in lipids and body shape, but not diabetes, increase at puberty. Hong Kong Chinese are mainly first or second generation migrants from China, who have shared an economically developed environment for years, but grew up in very different environments in Hong Kong or contemporaneously undeveloped Guangdong, China. We assessed if environment during growth had sex-specific associations with lipids and body shape, but not diabetes. Methodology and Principal Findings We used multivariable regression in a population-based cross-sectional study, undertaken from 1994 to 1996, of 2537 Hong Kong Chinese residents aged 25 to 74 years with clinical measurements of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) risk, including HDL-cholesterol, ApoB, diabetes and obesity. Waist-hip ratio was higher (mean difference 0.01, 95% CI 0.001 to 0.02) in men, who had grown up in an economically developed rather than undeveloped environment, as was apolipoprotein B (0.05 g/L, 95% CI 0.001 to 0.10), adjusted for age, socio-economic status and lifestyle. In contrast, the same comparison was associated in women with lower waist-hip ratio (−0.01, 95% CI −0.001 to −0.02) and higher HDL-cholesterol (0.05 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.0004 to 0.10). The associations in men and women were significantly different (p-values<0.001). There were no such differences for diabetes. Conclusions Growth in a developed environment with improved nutrition may promote higher sex-steroids at puberty producing an atherogenic lipid profile and male fat pattern in men but the opposite in women, with tracking of increased male IHD risk into adult life.
Human Perceptions of Fairness in Algorithmic Decision Making: A Case Study of Criminal Risk Prediction

As algorithms are increasingly used to make important decisions that affect human lives, ranging from social benefit assignment to predicting risk of criminal recidivism, concerns have been raised about the fairness of algorithmic decision making. Most prior works on algorithmic fairness normatively prescribe how fair decisions ought to be made. In contrast, here, we descriptively survey users for how they perceive and reason about fairness in algorithmic decision making. A key contribution of this work is the framework we propose to understand why people perceive certain features as fair or unfair to be used in algorithms. Our framework identifies eight properties of features, such as relevance, volitionality and reliability, as latent considerations that inform people»s moral judgments about the fairness of feature use in decision-making algorithms. We validate our framework through a series of scenario-based surveys with 576 people. We find that, based on a person»s assessment of the eight latent properties of a feature in our exemplar scenario, we can accurately (> 85%) predict if the person will judge the use of the feature as fair. Our findings have important implications. At a high-level, we show that people»s unfairness concerns are multi-dimensional and argue that future studies need to address unfairness concerns beyond discrimination. At a low-level, we find considerable disagreements in people»s fairness judgments. We identify root causes of the disagreements, and note possible pathways to resolve them.
New AC solid-state ciruit breaker with simple charging and rebreaking capabilites

Recently there have been widespread used distributed generators and sensitive loads. It enables solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) an imperative device to get acceptable power quality of AC power grid systems. The existing AC SSCB composed of SCRs requires some auxiliary mechanical devices to achieve the reclosing operation before fault recovery. But the new AC SSCB can achieve the quick breaking operation and then be reclosed with no auxiliary mechanical devices even under sustained short-circuit fault. Furthermore, the proposed AC SSCB can be applied regardless of neutral point grounded method of 3-phase power source, and also all the commutation capacitors are charged naturally without any complex control of main thyristors and auxiliary ones. The performance features of the proposed AC SSCB are verified through simulations of the short-circuit faults. The proposed AC SSCB is expected to be widely used to design and realize a lot of AC grid systems.
Modelling and control of a galvanometer for the application to a laser engraving system

Object of the present work is the development of a control system able to increase performances of the industrial laser marking process. The laser marking is performed by a system called “galvanometer scanning head”, that is composed of special actuators known as “galvanometers”, which are used to control the positions of mirrors able to properly guide a laser beam in order to engrave a desired shape on an object placed on the working table. In particular authors have developed a simplified model of system including drive and sensor stages. This model has been further verified and calibrated with experimental tests. An innovative control strategy able to significantly improve the response of the system respect to a previously developed controller has been proposed. Both controllers have been tested and compared experimentally showing a significant of improvement of the innovative controller respect to the conventional one.
The high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in a rural Chinese population: the Wuchuan osteoarthritis study.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of radiographic and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) in a remote rural region of northern China, and compare them with those reported in Beijing and with data from the Framingham (Massachusetts) cohort. METHODS A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,030 residents of Wuchuan County, Inner Mongolia, age > or =50 years. Survey participants, mostly farmers reporting heavy physical occupational activity, completed an interviewer-based questionnaire, and bilateral weight-bearing posteroanterior semiflexed knee radiographs were obtained. RESULTS Whereas the overall prevalence of radiographic knee OA was similar to that demonstrated in the Beijing OA study, men in Wuchuan had approximately double the prevalence of severe radiographic knee OA (prevalence ratio [PR] 2.5, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.6-3.8) and symptomatic knee OA (PR 1.9, 95% CI 1.3-2.9). Women in Wuchuan also had a higher prevalence of both severe radiographic (PR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0-2.0) and symptomatic knee OA (PR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2-2.1) compared with their Beijing counterparts. The prevalence of bilateral OA and lateral compartment disease were 2-3 times higher in both Chinese cohorts compared with estimates from the Framingham OA study. CONCLUSION The prevalence of symptomatic knee OA in rural areas of China is much higher than reported from urban regions of China or in the Framingham cohort. The higher representation of bilateral and lateral compartment disease in China suggests a unique phenotype to OA. These findings will be useful for guiding the distribution of future health care resources and preventive strategies.
Well-Posedness and Output Regulation for Implicit Time-Varying Evolution Variational Inequalities

A class of evolution variational inequalities (EVIs), which comprises ordinary differential equations (ODEs) coupled with variational inequalities (VIs) associated with time-varying set-valued mappings, is proposed in this paper. We first study the conditions for existence and uniqueness of solutions. The central idea behind the proof is to rewrite the system dynamics as a differential inclusion which can be decomposed into a single-valued Lipschitz map, and a time-dependent maximal monotone operator. Regularity assumptions on the set-valued mapping determine the regularity of the resulting solutions. Complementarity systems with time-dependence are studied as a particular case. We then use this result to study the problem of designing state feedback control laws for output regulation in systems described by EVIs. The derivation of control laws for output regulation is based on the use of internal model principle, and two cases are treated: First, a static feedback control law is derived when full state feedback is available; In the second case, only the error to be regulated is assumed to be available for measurement and a dynamic compensator is designed. As applications, we demonstrate how control input resulting from the solution of a variational inequality results in regulating the output of the system while maintaining polyhedral state constraints. Another application is seen in designing control inputs for regulation in power converters.
Choice of underwear and male fecundity in a preconception cohort of couples

Our objective was to investigate the relationship between male underwear‐type worn during daytime/bedtime and male fecundity as measured by semen quality and time‐to‐pregnancy. We used data from a prospective preconception cohort conducted in 16 counties in Michigan and Texas, USA. 501 couples were enrolled and followed for 12 months of trying, which facilitated capture of time‐to‐pregnancy (in cycles), 6‐cycle conception delay, and 12‐month infertility. Male partners provided semen samples via in‐home collection for next‐day semen analysis comprised of 35 semen quality endpoints. At enrollment, men provided information on type of underwear worn during daytime and bedtime and were classified into 6 categories by underwear choice (n = 491): (i) briefs day/night, (ii) boxer‐briefs day/night, (iii) boxers day/night, (iv) briefs day and boxers/none at night, (v) boxer‐briefs day and boxers/none at night, (vi) boxers day and none at night. 473 (96%) men had semen analysis performed. Men switching from their usual daytime underwear to boxers/none for bed (groups 4, 5, 6) had the most evidence of change in semen quality endpoints (10 of 11 differences) relative to men wearing briefs day/night (group 1). Group 4 men had lower percent of sperm with coiled tail (β = −0.18, 95% CI: −0.35, −0.01), higher percent round (β = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.42), number of immature sperm (β = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.11, 0.77), and amplitude head displacement (β = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.10, 1.03). Group 5 men had higher sperm head perimeter (β=0.17, 95% CI: 0.002, 0.34), amplitude head displacement (β = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.91), percent cytoplasmic droplet (β = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.11, 0.77) and high DNA stainability (β=0.39, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.78). After false discovery rate control, no differences remained significant. No significant differences in time‐to‐pregnancy, conception delay, or infertility were observed. In summary, male underwear choice is associated with few differences in semen parameters; no association with time‐to‐pregnancy is observed providing reassurance to couples attempting pregnancy.
Adapted Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Intervention Can Be Effectively Delivered Through Telehealth

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of delivering an adapted group-based version of the Diabetes Prevention Program’s (DPP) lifestyle intervention through telehealth video conferencing. Methods In 2009, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services in collaboration with Holy Rosary Heathcare implemented the DPP lifestyle intervention, which was provided to an on-site group in 1 community and simultaneously through telehealth to a second group in a remote frontier community. Participants obtained medical clearance from their primary care physician and were eligible if they were overweight and had 1 or more of the following risk factors: prediabetes, impaired glucose tolerance/impaired fasting glucose (IGT/IFG), a history of gestational diabetes (GDM) or the delivery of an infant >9 pounds, hypertension, or dyslipidemia. Results A total of 13 and 16 eligible adults enrolled in the on-site and the telehealth program, and 13 (100%) and 14 (88%) participants completed the 16-week program, respectively. Both the on-site and telehealth groups achieved high levels of weekly physical activity and there were no significant differences between groups. Over 45% of on-site and telehealth participants achieved the 7% weight loss goal with the average weight loss per participant greater than 6.4 kg in both groups. Conclusions Our findings suggest that it is feasible to deliver an adapted group-based DPP lifestyle intervention through telehealth resulting in weight loss outcomes similar to the original DPP.
Comparisons of oncological outcomes and perioperative complications between laparoscopic and open radical nephrectomies in patients with clinical T2 renal cell carcinoma (≥7cm)

Purpose Although minimal invasive techniques have been widely accepted in contemporary urology, the perioperative outcomes of laparoscopy in patients with clinical T2 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have not been clearly evaluated. We aimed to compare the outcomes of laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN) with those of open radical nephrectomy (ORN) in patients with clinical T2 RCC. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the data of 835 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy for localized clinical T2 RCC (≥7 cm). The survival rates and postoperative complications were compared between the LRN and ORN groups. Multivariate Cox regression tests were performed to identify the independent predictors of each survival outcome. Results There were 578 (69.2%) subjects in ORN group and 257 (30.8%) in LRN group, respectively. The LRN group showed a significant male predominance (p = 0.013), higher pathological stage (p = 0.02), and higher cellular grade (p = 0.010) compared with the ORN group. No significant differences in progression-free (p = 0.070), cancer-specific (p = 0.472), or overall survival (p = 0.249) were found between the two groups. In the multivariate analysis, the type of surgery did not show any significant associations with all three survival outcomes (all p > 0.2). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in postoperative complication rate between the two groups (p = 0.595). In the subgroup analysis according to tumor histology, no significant relationships were observed between survival outcome and surgery type. Conclusion The LRN and ORN groups showed similar oncological outcomes in patients with clinical T2 RCC. Early postoperative complications were also comparable between LRN and ORN.