Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lifestyle Interventions for Hypertension and Dyslipidemia Among Women of Reproductive Age

Introduction Hypertension and dyslipidemia often precede cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle modifications help prevent these conditions, and referrals for women may be possible during reproductive health care visits. However, screening recommendations vary, which may affect screening rates. The objectives of this systematic review were to 1) assess the available literature on the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions, 2) review hypertension and dyslipidemia screening recommendations for consistency, and 3) report prevalence data for hypertension and dyslipidemia screening among women of reproductive age. Methods We conducted a systematic literature search (January 1990-November 2010) for 1) randomized controlled trials on the impact of lifestyle interventions on cardiovascular disease risk factors in women of reproductive age, 2) evidence-based guidelines on hypertension and dyslipidemia screening, and 3) population-based prevalence studies on hypertension or dyslipidemia screening or both. Results Twenty-one of 555 retrieved studies (4%) met our inclusion criteria. Lifestyle interventions improved lipid levels in 10 of 18 studies and blood pressure in 4 of 9 studies. Most guidelines recommended hypertension screening at least every 2 years and dyslipidemia screening every 5 years, but recommendations for who should receive dyslipidemia screening varied. One study indicated that 82% of women of reproductive age received hypertension screening during the preceding year. In another study, only 49% of women aged 20 to 45 years received recommended dyslipidemia screening. Conclusions Lifestyle interventions may offer modest benefits for reducing blood pressure and lipids in this population. Inconsistency among recommendations for dyslipidemia screening may contribute to low screening rates. Future studies should clarify predictors of and barriers to cholesterol screening in this population.
Should Roux-en-Y gastric bypass biliopancreatic limb length be tailored to achieve improved diabetes outcomes?

Abstract The objective is to access the role of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) biliopancreatic limb (BPL) length in type 2 diabetes (T2D) outcomes. RYGB is more effective than medical intervention for T2D treatment in obese patients. Despite the scarcity of available data, previous reports suggest that modifications of the RYGB limb lengths could improve the antidiabetic effects of the surgery. A cohort of obese T2D patients (n = 114) were submitted to laparoscopic RYGB, either with a standard BPL (SBPL) (n = 41; BPL 84 ± 2 cm) or long BPL (LBPL) (n = 73; BPL = 200 cm) and routinely monitored for weight loss and diabetic status up to 5 years after surgery. Baseline clinical features in the 2 patient subgroups were similar. After surgery, there was a significant reduction of body mass index (BMI) in both the groups, although the percentage of excess BMI loss (%EBMIL) after 5 years was higher for LBPL (75.50 ± 2.63 LBPL vs 65.90 ± 3.61 SBPL, P = .04). T2D remission rate was also higher (73% vs 55%, P < .05), while disease relapse rate (13.0% vs 32.5%; P < .05) and antidiabetic drug requirement in patients with persistent diabetes were lower after LBPL. Preoperative T2D duration predicted disease remission, but only for SBPL. RYGB with a longer BPL improves %EBMIL, T2D remission, and glycemic control in those with persistent disease, while it decreases diabetes relapse rate over time. The antidiabetic effects of LBPL RYGB also are less influenced by the preoperative disease duration. These data suggest the RYGB procedure could be tailored to improve T2D outcomes.
Soft Texture of Atlantic Salmon Fillets Is Associated with Glycogen Accumulation

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) with soft fillets are not suited for manufacturing high quality products. Therefore fillets with insufficient firmness are downgraded, leading to severe economic losses to the farming and processing industries. In the current study, morphological characteristics of salmon fillets ranging from soft to hard were analysed. Different microscopic techniques were applied, including novel methods in this field of research: morphometric image analysis, periodic acid Schiff staining, immunofluorescence microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and fourier transform infrared microscopy. The results showed that the myocytes of soft muscle had detached cells with mitochondrial dysfunctions, large glycogen aggregates and enlarged inter cellular areas, void of extracellular matrix proteins, including lower amounts of sulfated glycoproteins. Myofibre-myofibre detachment and disappearance of the endomysium in soft muscles coincided with deterioration of important connective tissue constituents such as Collagen type I (Col I), Perlecan and Aggrecan. In summary our investigations show for the first time an association between soft flesh of Atlantic salmon and massive intracellular glycogen accumulation coinciding with degenerated mitochondria, myocyte detachment and altered extracellular matrix protein distribution. The results are important for further understanding the etiology of soft salmon.
Selecting for Safety: A Qualitative Meta-Analysis of Neighborhood Violence and Residential Decision Making

Many studies have established that people in high poverty neighborhoods who select to participate in housing mobility programs cite crime and violence as primary motivations for wanting to make a residential move. Using a novel approach, we analyzed qualitative data across several studies to explore the frequency and dimensions of safety concerns, relating these to the role of neighborhood forces in the residential decision-making process. We asked the following questions: What are the sources and frequency of motivations for residential mobility among participants? In what ways does neighborhood violence factor into residential mobility? Does a more accurate understanding of the role played by neighborhood violence in residential mobility have either theoretical or practical implications for practitioners or policy makers? Qualitative data pertinent to voucher programs, neighborhood crime and residential decision making were gleaned from 20 studies published between the years 2000 and 2014. Our meta-synthesis revealed not only that neighborhood violence is a key factor in the decision making of voucher holders but also a complex one. Violence affects all of the factors that participants consider in the relocation equation: the needs of the household, housing unit features, the prospective neighborhood and its institutions and how these will affect both participants and their dependent children. We also consider the policy implications of the costs to opportunity incurred as a result of neighborhood violence and the magnitude of the role that neighborhood violence plays in shaping residential decision making.
Product Environmental Life‐Cycle Assessment Using Input‐Output Techniques

Life‐cycle assessment (LCA) facilitates a systems view in environmental evaluation of products, materials, and processes. Life‐cycle assessment attempts to quantify environmental burdens over the entire life‐cycle of a product from raw material extraction, manufacturing, and use to ultimate disposal. However, current methods for LCA suffer from problems of subjective boundary definition, inflexibility, high cost, data confidentiality, and aggregation.
Braingene: Computational creativity algorithm that invents novel interesting names

Human-level intelligence implies creativity, not only on the grand scale, but primarily in the everyday activity, such as understanding intentions, behavior, and invention of new words. Psychological models of creativity have some support in experimental cognitive psychology, but computational models of creative processes are quite rare. This paper presents a model of creative processes behind invention of novel words related to description of products and services.
Longitudinal sampling and aliasing in spiral CT

Although analyses of in-plane aliasing have been done for conventional computed tomography (CT) images, longitudinal aliasing in spiral CT has not been properly in investigated. The authors propose a mathematical model of the three-dimensional (3-D) sampling scheme in spiral CT and analyze its effects on longitudinal aliasing. They investigated longitudinal aliasing as a function of the helical-interpolation algorithm, pitch, and reconstruction interval using CT simulations and actual phantom scans. The authors' model predicts, and they verified, that for a radially uniform object at the isocenter, the spiral sampling scheme results in spatially varying cancellation of the aliased spectral islands which, in turn, results in spatially varying longitudinal aliasing. The aliasing is minimal at the scanner isocenter, but worsens with distance from it and rapidly becomes significant. The authors' results agree with published results observed at the isocenter of the scanner and further provide new insight into the aliasing conditions at off-isocenter locations with respect to the pitch, interpolation algorithm, and reconstruction interval. The authors conclude that longitudinal aliasing at off-isocenter locations can be significant, and that its magnitude and effects cannot be predicted by measurements made only at the scanner isocenter.
Institutional Relations Rather Than Clashes of Civilizations: When and How Is Religion Compatible with Democracy?

This study develops and examines the concept of hegemonic religion and its relationship with democracy. A religion is hegemonic not only when the state grants that religion exclusive material and political privileges and benefits, but also when the religion is a core element of national identity and citizenship. We empirically examine the link between hegemonic religion and democracy using the Religion and State round 2 (RAS2), Polity, and CIRI datasets. We specifically use religious education policy, financing of religion, and religiously based laws as measures of the extent of religious hegemony in a state. We find that the presence of these religiously hegemonic traits, especially in combination, is strongly associated with a lack of democracy. However, it is possible for democracies to have some hegemonic features but not all of them.
Taxonomic changes in Oenothera sections Gaura and Calylophus (Onagraceae)

Abstract The long-recognized genus Gaura was shown recently to be deeply nested within one of two major clades of Oenothera. New molecular data indicate further taxonomic changes are necessary in Oenothera sect. Gaura. We make these changes here, including three new combinations, in advance of the Onagraceae treatment for the Flora of North America. The new phylogenetic studies show that several pairs of taxa treated as subspecies in the most recent revision by Raven and Gregory (1972) had independent origins within sect. Gaura, and are here elevated to species level (Oenothera nealleyi for Gaura suffulta subsp. nealleyi; Oenothera dodgeniana for Gaura neomexicana subsp. neomexicana; and Oenothera podocarpa for Gaura hexandra subsp. gracilis). Also, a nomenclatural problem in Oenothera sect. Calylophus is corrected by adopting the name Oenothera capillifolia Scheele for the species known previously, and nomenclaturally correct, as Calylophus berlandieri Spach. This problem necessitates a new combination Oenothera capillifolia subsp. berlandieri.
Reliability of Information Abstracted from Patients' Medical Records

Two recent studies by the Institute of Medicine on the reliability of hospital discharge data abstracted from patients' medical records raise serious questions about the adequacy of information on diagnoses and procedures. The findings are particularly timely, since increasingly important decisions about the content of medical care and levels of reimbursement may be based on such information. A series of recommendations are offered to guide the use and improvement of abstracted medical record information.
Preosteocytes/Osteocytes Have the Potential to Dedifferentiate Becoming a Source of Osteoblasts

Presently there is no clear evidence for the ability of mature osteogenic lineage cells to dedifferentiate. In order to identify and trace mature osteogenic lineage cells, we have utilized transgenic mouse models in which the dentin matrix protein 1 (Dmp1) promoter drives expression of GFP (active marker) or Cre recombinase (historic label) in preosteocytes/osteocytes. In long bone chip outgrowth cultures, in which cells on the bone surface were enzymatically removed, cells with previous activity of the Dmp1 promoter migrated onto plastic and down-regulated Dmp1-GFP expression. Dmp1Cre-labeled cells from these cultures had the potential to re-differentiate into the osteogenic lineage, while the negative population showed evidence of adipogenesis. We observed numerous Dmp1Cre-labeled osteoblasts on the surface of bone chips following their in vivo transplantation. Our data indicate that cells embedded in bone matrix are motile, and once given access to the extra bony milieu will migrate out of their lacunae. This population of cells is phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous in vitro. Once the preosteocytes/osteocytes leave lacunae, they can dedifferentiate, potentially providing an additional source of functional osteoblasts.
A study of the mediating effects of sleep on stress, health outcome and exam performance

ii DEDICATION In loving memory of Abe and Josie Hillman who were the best grandparents that I could ever have asked for. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is with great sincerity that I extend my gratitude to my mentor Ana I. Fins, Ph.D for not only the guidance and encouragement with my dissertation but also for fostering my love of sleep medicine and research. I also greatly valued the contributions and support from my other dissertation committee members, shared with me throughout this process. Finally, I would like to thank my partner, Marla L. Malagnini for the endless love, support, and patience during this research project and throughout my years of education and for proofreading just about every revision of this dissertation. I am also grateful for Marla's two loving parents, Frank and Janet Malagnini, who have provided me much encouragement and support and have always expressed interest in my research. ABSTRACT This study was designed to begin exploring the role of sleep in the relationships between stress and health and stress and examination performance. One hundred and ninety one first year dental students were recruited during the fall semester and completed questionnaires which included the perceived stress scale, perceived health questionnaire, sleep timing questionnaire, sleep log, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Inventory. During final examination week questionnaires were re-administered in addition to the primary appraisal question regarding final examinations. Four weeks after final examinations the instruments were re-administered and final examination scores collected. It was predicted that sleep impairment would have a mediating effect in the relationship of primary appraisal of final examinations as a predictor with perceived health and final examination performance. It was also predicted that sleep impairment would have a mediating effect on perceived stress as a predictor with perceived health and final examination performance. The outcome revealed total sleep time was not a full or partial mediator in these relationships. Although it is suggestive that sleep is not a mediator it was observed that total sleep time decreased from baseline to exam week and perceived stress increased from baseline to exam week. Suggestions for future research are provided. The literature has demonstrated that stress impacts health by overworking the immune response system, which leads to slowing of the production of vital immune system cells. Sleep is also related to immune function in similar ways. Sleep is a time when the body carries out restorative processes such as …
Primary systemic chemotherapy with sequential, dose-dense epirubicin and docetaxel for inoperable, locally advanced inflammatory breast cancer: A phase II study

Sequential, dose-dense epirubicin plus docetaxel was evaluated as primary systemic therapy for women with inoperable, locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) or inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). Patients (LABC n=27; IBC n=7) received 3 cycles of epirubicin 120 mg/m2 every 2 weeks followed by 3 cycles of docetaxel 100 mg/m2 every 2 weeks, with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Grade 3–4 toxicities were observed in 21 of 195 cycles (10.8%). Grade 3 anemia and leukopenia each occurred in 1% of cycles. Following chemotherapy, all patients underwent surgery. Eight patients (23.5%) had a clinical complete response and 15 (44.1%) had a partial response. In patients with IBC, median skin thickness decreased from 5.85 mm (range: 3.1–6.2 mm) to 4 mm (range: 2.7–5.1 mm) (p<0.005). Sequential, dose-dense epirubicin plus docetaxel achieved a high response rate among patients with LABC or IBC with only moderate toxicity.
A Novel Energy-Efficient Approach for Human Activity Recognition

In this paper, we propose a novel energy-efficient approach for mobile activity recognition system (ARS) to detect human activities. The proposed energy-efficient ARS, using low sampling rates, can achieve high recognition accuracy and low energy consumption. A novel classifier that integrates hierarchical support vector machine and context-based classification (HSVMCC) is presented to achieve a high accuracy of activity recognition when the sampling rate is less than the activity frequency, i.e., the Nyquist sampling theorem is not satisfied. We tested the proposed energy-efficient approach with the data collected from 20 volunteers (14 males and six females) and the average recognition accuracy of around 96.0% was achieved. Results show that using a low sampling rate of 1Hz can save 17.3% and 59.6% of energy compared with the sampling rates of 5 Hz and 50 Hz. The proposed low sampling rate approach can greatly reduce the power consumption while maintaining high activity recognition accuracy. The composition of power consumption in online ARS is also investigated in this paper.
Sparse Reconstruction of Depth Data: Representation, Algorithm, and Sampling

The rapid development of 3D technology and computer vision applications have motivated a thrust of methodologies for depth acquisition and estimation. However, most existing hardware and software methods have limited performance due to poor depth precision, low resolution and high computational cost. In this paper, we present a computationally efficient method to recover dense depth maps from sparse measurements. We make three contributions. First, we provide empirical evidence that depth maps can be encoded much more sparsely than natural images by using common dictionaries such as wavelets and contourlets. We also show that a combined wavelet-contourlet dictionary achieves better performance than using either dictionary alone. Second, we propose an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to achieve fast reconstruction. A multi-scale warm start procedure is proposed to speed up the convergence. Third, we propose a two-stage randomized sampling scheme to optimally choose the sampling locations, thus maximizing the reconstruction performance for any given sampling budget. Experimental results show that the proposed method produces high quality dense depth estimates, and is robust to noisy measurements. Applications to real data in stereo matching are demonstrated.
Early environment contributes to developmental disruption of MPFC after neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions in rats

Using a putative animal model of schizophrenia, neonatal rat ventral hippocampal (VH) lesions, combined with cross‐fostering Lewis and Fisher rats, we previously demonstrated that the postpubertal expression of amphetamine‐induced hyperlocomotion after lesioning depends on the early environment of the pups. However, an important question that emerged from our studies was whether the early environment leads to sparing of function within the VH or to the disruption of another structure, such as the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). To answer this question, we took advantage of the natural variation in maternal care of Sprague‐Dawley rat dams and separated them into high and low arched back nursing (ABN) groups. Then, on postnatal day 7 (PD7) the pups from the two groups of dams were lesioned in the VH. As a measure of VH function, the rats were tested in a reference memory paradigm, which demonstrated that nVH‐lesioned rats raised by high or low ABN dams had pronounced deficits, suggesting that VH functions are not fully spared. Next, the integrity of the MPFC was tested in a number of paradigms in which MPFC function has been implicated. In all three paradigms a similar result was found, that only lesioned rats raised by high ABN dams displayed deficits, such as a lack of MPFC control of amphetamine‐induced locomotion, decreased working memory, and decreased anxiety. These results suggest that the early environment does not affect the recovery of the VH to nVH lesion. Rather, the early environment interacts with nVH lesions in such a way that disrupts the development and function of MPFC. Synapse 50:223–232, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Nitrogen pollution: an assessment of its threat to amphibian survival.

The potential for nitrate to affect amphibian survival was evaluated by examining the areas in North America where concentrations of nitrate in water occur above amphibian toxicity thresholds. Nitrogen pollution from anthropogenic sources enters bodies of water through agricultural runoff or percolation associated with nitrogen fertilization, livestock, precipitation, and effluents from industrial and human wastes. Environmental concentrations of nitrate in watersheds throughout North America range from < 1 to > 100 mg/L. Of the 8,545 water quality samples collected from states and provinces bordering the Great Lakes, 19.8% contained nitrate concentrations exceeding those which can cause sublethal effects in amphibians. In the laboratory lethal and sublethal effects in amphibians are detected at nitrate concentrations between 2.5 and 100 mg/L. Furthermore, amphibian prey such as insects and predators of amphibians such as fish are also sensitive to these elevated levels of nitrate. From this we conclude that nitrate concentrations in some watersheds in North America are high enough to cause death and developmental anomalies in amphibians and impact other animals in aquatic ecosystems. In some situations, the use of vegetated buffer strips adjacent to water courses can reduce nitrogen contamination of surface waters. Ultimately, there is a need to reduce runoff, sewage effluent discharge, and the use of fertilizers, and to establish and enforce water quality guidelines for nitrate for the protection of aquatic organisms. ImagesFigure 1Figure 2