Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving recruitment to pharmacological trials for illicit opioid use: findings from a qualitative focus group study

Abstract Aim To explore potential study participants’ views on willingness to join clinical trials of pharmacological interventions for illicit opioid use to inform and improve future recruitment strategies. Design Qualitative focus group study [six groups: oral methadone (two groups); buprenorphine tablets (two groups); injectable opioid agonist treatment (one group); and former opioid agonist treatment (one group)]. Settings Drug and alcohol services and a peer support recovery service (London, UK). Participants Forty people with experience of opioid agonist treatment for heroin dependence (26 males, 14 females; aged 33–66 years). Measurements Data collection was facilitated by a topic guide that explored willingness to enrol in clinical pharmacological trials. Groups were audio‐recorded and transcribed. Transcribed data were analysed inductively via Iterative Categorization. Findings Participants’ willingness to join pharmacological trials of medications for opioid dependence was affected by factors relating to study burden, study drug, study design, study population and study relationships. Participants worried that the trial drug might be worse than, or interfere with, their current treatment. They also misunderstood aspects of trial design despite the researchers’ explanations. Conclusions Recruitment of participants for clinical trials of pharmacological interventions for illicit opioid use could be improved if researchers became better at explaining clinical trials to potential participants, dispelling misconceptions about trials and increasing trust in the research process and research establishment. A checklist of issues to consider when designing pharmacological trials for illicit opioid use is proposed.
The Governance Impact of Index Funds : Evidence from Regression Discontinuity

To examine the effect of institutional ownership on the governance dynamics of firms and corporate outcomes, I exploit an exogenous change in index fund ownership generated by the mechanical reconstitution of the Russell equity indices. Following reconstitution, I show that firms that are just included in the Russell 1000 index have over 10% higher institutional ownership (IO) than those just included in the Russell 2000 index of smaller firms. This is composed of both a change in index fund ownership and a change in active IO, suggesting a complementarity between different types of institutional investors. Firms just included in the Russell 1000 substantially increase the performance sensitivity of their CEO’s pay, and have a much higher likelihood of CEO turnover within two years. These firms also display greater resistance to management proposals at shareholder meetings and lower rate of failure for shareholder proposals. Finally, they have materially lower capital expenditures, and make fewer cash and diversifying acquisitions. Overall, these results are consistent with the notion that IO increases monitoring and sharpens CEO incentives. ∗wmullins@mit.edu. I am indebted to Antoinette Schoar, my Committee Chair, for her invaluable guidance and insight, and also to Nittai Bergman, Xavier Giroud, and Stephen Ross for their perceptive suggestions and encouragement. Any errors are my own. I thank Joshua Angrist, Paul Asquith, Jean-Noel Barrot, Asaf Bernstein, Marco Di Maggio, Rajkamal Iyer, Dirk Jenter, Leonid Kogan, Greg Leiserson, Indrajit Mitra, Stewart Myers, Felipe Severino, Daan Stuyven, Yang Sun, Christopher Walters and Tyler Williams for valuable comments. I am especially grateful to Francesca Rogers. Young Soo Jang, and Charlie Chen provided excellent research assistance. I thank Russell Indexes for providing their index data. The latest version of this paper is available at www.mit.edu/∼wmullins
Signpost: Scalable MU-MIMO Signaling with Zero CSI Feedback

Poor scalability is a long standing problem in multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) networks: in order to select concurrent uplink users with strong channel orthogonality and thus high total capacity, channel state information (CSI) feedback from users is required. However, when the user population is large, the overhead from CSI feedback can easily overwhelm the actual channel time spent on data transmission. Moreover, due to spontaneous uplink traffic, uplink user selection cannot rely on the access point's central assignment and needs a distributed realization instead, which makes the problem even more challenging. In this paper, we propose a fully scalable and distributed uplink MU-MIMO protocol called Signpost. Firstly, Signpost is scalable, i.e., it achieves zero CSI overhead by exploiting a novel orthogonality evaluation mechanism that enables each user to speculate its orthogonality to other users, using its own CSI only. Secondly, Signpost realizes distributed user selection through a two-dimensional prioritized contention mechanism, which can single out the best users efficiently by utilizing both the time and frequency domain resources. The contention mechanism includes a unique collision recovery scheme, which enables Signpost to achieve a collision probability as low as one-tenth compared with traditional 802.11-like mechanism. Software-radio based implementation and testbed experimentation show that Signpost significantly outperforms state-of-the-art user selection methods under various traffic patterns and node mobility.
Explorer PAX 6 dosage effects on comeal development , growth , and wound healing

The requirement for correct dosage of the transcription factor Pax6 during corneal growth and development was investigated using the Pax6-overexpressing (PAX77) transgenic mouse. Transgenics had a microcornea phenotype due to failure of postnatal growth, associated with reduction in the number of cells layers in the corneal epithelium. Cell cycle progression was monitored using bromodeoxyuridine, p63, cyclin E, and phosphohistone-3 labeling: proliferation rates were higher in PAX77+ than wild-type, without a concomitant increase in apoptosis. Hence, failure of proliferation did not underlie microcornea. PAX77+ corneal epithelia had reduced levels of cytokeratin-12, and exhibited severe wound healing delay that, in contrast to Pax6+/mice, could not be modulated by exogenous growth factors. PAX77+ lenses showed partial failure of lens fiber differentiation. The data demonstrate that anterior eye development is very sensitive to Pax6 dosage. Although there are similarities between the eye phenotype of Pax6 heterozygotes and overexpressing mice, there are also striking differences.
The Role of Muscle microRNAs in Repairing the Neuromuscular Junction

microRNAs have been implicated in mediating key aspects of skeletal muscle development and responses to diseases and injury. Recently, we demonstrated that a synaptically enriched microRNA, miR-206, functions to promote maintenance and repair of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ); in mutant mice lacking miR-206, reinnervation is impaired following nerve injury and loss of NMJs is accelerated in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, we asked whether other microRNAs play similar roles. One attractive candidate is miR-133b because it is in the same transcript that encodes miR-206. Like miR-206, miR-133b is concentrated near NMJs and induced after denervation. In miR-133b null mice, however, NMJ development is unaltered, reinnervation proceeds normally following nerve injury, and disease progression is unaffected in the SOD1(G93A) mouse model of ALS. To determine if miR-206 compensates for the loss of miR-133b, we generated mice lacking both microRNAs. The phenotype of these double mutants resembled that of miR-206 single mutants. Finally, we used conditional mutants of Dicer, an enzyme required for the maturation of most microRNAs, to generate mice in which microRNAs were depleted from skeletal muscle fibers postnatally, thus circumventing a requirement for microRNAs in embryonic muscle development. Reinnervation of muscle fibers following injury was impaired in these mice, but the defect was similar in magnitude to that observed in miR-206 mutants. Together, these results suggest that miR-206 is the major microRNA that regulates repair of the NMJ following nerve injury.
The effects of prenatal exposure to a 900-MHz electromagnetic field on the 21-day-old male rat heart

Abstract The growing spread of mobile phone use is raising concerns about the effect on human health of the electromagnetic field (EMF) these devices emit. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on rat pup heart tissue of prenatal exposure to a 900 megahertz (MHz) EMF. For this purpose, pregnant rats were divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental group rats were exposed to a 900 MHz EMF (1 h/d) on days 13–21 of pregnancy. Measurements were performed with rats inside the exposure box in order to determine the distribution of EMF intensity. Our measurements showed that pregnant experimental group rats were exposed to a mean electrical field intensity of 13.77 V/m inside the box (0.50 W/m2). This study continued with male rat pups obtained from both groups. Pups were sacrificed on postnatal day 21, and the heart tissues were extracted. Malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase and catalase values were significantly higher in the experimental group rats, while glutathione values were lower. Light microscopy revealed irregularities in heart muscle fibers and apoptotic changes in the experimental group. Electron microscopy revealed crista loss and swelling in the mitochondria, degeneration in myofibrils and structural impairments in Z bands. Our study results suggest that exposure to EMF in the prenatal period causes oxidative stress and histopathological changes in male rat pup heart tissue.
Multicentre analysis of second-line antiretroviral treatment in HIV-infected children: adolescents at high risk of failure

Introduction: The number of HIV‐infected children and adolescents requiring second‐line antiretroviral treatment (ART) is increasing in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC). However, the effectiveness of paediatric second‐line ART and potential risk factors for virologic failure are poorly characterized. We performed an aggregate analysis of second‐line ART outcomes for children and assessed the need for paediatric third‐line ART.
Discrepancies between patient-reported outcomes, and endoscopic and histological appearance in UC

Objective Both endoscopy and histology may be included in the definition of mucosal healing in UC. This study aimed to establish the association between patient-reported outcomes, specifically symptom measures, and the presence of inflammation as measured by endoscopy and histology in UC. Design Using patient data from an observational multicentre study of UC (n=103), rectal bleeding (RB) and stool frequency (SF) symptom subscores of the Mayo Clinic Score (MCS) were compared with the endoscopic subscore (MCSe) and histology. Faecal calprotectin and biopsy cytokine expression were also evaluated. Results When identifying UC patients with inactive disease, RB scores were superior to SF scores and the combination (sensitivity/specificity: MCSe=0/1, RB 77%/81%, SF 62%/95%, RB+SF 54%/95%; MCSe=0, RB 87%/66%, SF 76%/83%, RB+SF 68%/86%). Across different definitions of mucosal healing (MCSe≤1; 0; or 0 plus inactive histology), a larger subset of patients reported increased SF (39%, 25% and 27%, respectively) compared with RB (24%, 13% and 10%). Faecal calprotectin and inflammatory cytokine expression were higher in patients with active disease compared with patients with mucosal healing, but there were no differences between patients using increasingly stringent definitions of mucosal healing. Conclusions Endoscopically inactive disease is associated with absence of RB but not with complete normalisation of SF. Achieving histological remission did not improve symptomatic relief. In addition, in these patients, higher inflammatory biomarker levels were not observed. These data suggest that non-inflammatory changes, such as bowel damage, may contribute to SF in UC.
How Economic Analysis Can Contribute to Understanding the Links between Housing and Health

An economic analysis of housing’s linkages to health can assist policy makers and researchers to make better decisions about which housing interventions and policies are the most cost-beneficial. The challenge is to include cobenefits. The adoption in 2015 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals underscores the importance of understanding how policies interact, and the merit of comprehensively evaluating cobenefits. We explain our approach to the empirical assessment of such cobenefits in the housing and health context, and consider lessons from empirical economic appraisals of the impact of housing on health outcomes. Critical assumptions relating to cobenefits are explicitly examined. A key finding is that when wider policy outcome measures are included, such as mental health impacts and carbon emission reductions, it is important that effects of assumptions on outcomes are considered. Another is that differing values underlie appraisal, for example, the weight given to future generations through the discount rate. Cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) can better facilitate meaningful debate when they are based on explicit assumptions about values. In short, the insights drawn from an economic framework for housing-and-health studies are valuable, but nonetheless contingent. Given that housing interventions typically have both health and other cobenefits, and incorporate social value judgements, it is important to take a broad view but be explicit about how such interventions are assessed.
Planar Microstrip Ring Resonators for Microwave-Based Gas Sensing: Design Aspects and Initial Transducers for Humidity and Ammonia Sensing

A planar microstrip ring resonator structure on alumina was developed using the commercial FEM software COMSOL. Design parameters were evaluated, eventually leading to an optimized design of a miniaturized microwave gas sensor. The sensor was covered with a zeolite film. The device was successfully operated at around 8.5 GHz at room temperature as a humidity sensor. In the next step, an additional planar heater will be included on the reverse side of the resonator structure to allow for testing of gas-sensitive materials under sensor conditions.
In2Ga2ZnO7 oxide semiconductor based charge trap device for NAND flash memory

The programming characteristics of charge trap flash memory device adopting amorphous In2Ga2ZnO7 (a-IGZO) oxide semiconductors as channel layer were evaluated. Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and RF-sputtering processes were used to grow a 45 nm thick a-IGZO layer on a 20 nm thick SiO2 (blocking oxide)/p++-Si (control gate) substrate, where 3 nm thick atomic layer deposited Al2O3 (tunneling oxide) and 5 nm thick low-pressure CVD Si3N4 (charge trap) layers were intervened between the a-IGZO and substrate. Despite the identical stoichiometry and other physicochemical properties of the MOCVD and sputtered a-IGZO, a much faster programming speed of MOCVD a-IGZO was observed. A comparable amount of oxygen vacancies was found in both MOCVD and sputtered a-IGZO, confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and bias-illumination-instability test measurements. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed a higher Fermi level (EF) of the MOCVD a-IGZO (∼0.3 eV) film than that of the sputtered a-IGZO, which could be ascribed to the higher hydrogen concentration in the MOCVD a-IGZO film. Since the programming in a flash memory device is governed by the tunneling of electrons from the channel to charge trapping layer, the faster programming performance could be the result of a higher EF of MOCVD a-IGZO.
[18F]AV‐1451 clustering of entorhinal and cortical uptake in Alzheimer's disease

To use a cluster analysis of [18F]AV‐1451 tau‐PET data to determine how subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) vary in the relative involvement of the entorhinal cortex and neocortex, and determine whether relative involvement of these two regions can help explain variability in age and clinical phenotype in AD.
Dynamic fuzzy Q-learning for handover parameters optimization in 5G multi-tier networks

The mobility robustness optimization can significantly enhance the quality of service in scenarios characterized by dense uncoordinated deployment of small cells, as targeted by future 5th generation (5G) radio access technology. Current solutions mostly rely on priori knowledge and rule based algorithms, these solutions do have achieved good performance. There is still, however, a lot of room for further improvements, especially when enough priori knowledge is not available. In this paper, we propose a dynamic fuzzy Q-Learning algorithm for mobility management in small-cell networks. There are no fuzzy rules initially, this algorithm gradually generates new fuzzy rules and gets the required parameters through system learning, so as to reach a balance between the signaling cost caused by handover and the user experience affected by call dropping ratio. Performances are evaluated in a LTE system level simulator and impact of UE speed is considered. Simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in minimizing the number of handovers while maintaining call dropping ratio at a minimal level.
Self-Reported Interpersonal Problems and Impact Messages as Perceived by Significant Others Are Differentially Associated With the Process and Outcome of Depression Therapy

Interpersonal factors play a major role in causing and maintaining depression. This study sought to investigate how patients’ self-perceived interpersonal problems and impact messages as perceived by significant others are interrelated, change over therapy, and differentially predict process and outcome in psychotherapy of depression. For the present study, we used data from 144 outpatients suffering from major depression that were treated within a psychotherapy study. Interpersonal variables were assessed pre- and posttherapy with the self-report Inventory of Interpersonal Problems–Circumplex Scale (IIP-32; Thomas, Brähler, & Strauss, 2011) and with the informant-based Impact Message Inventory (Caspar, Berger, Fingerle, & Werner, 2016). Patients’ levels on the dimensions of Agency and Communion were calculated from both measures; their levels on Interpersonal Distress were measured with the IIP. Depressive and general symptomatology was assessed at pre-, post-, and at 3-month follow-up; patient-reported process measures were assessed during therapy. The Agency scores of IIP and IMI correlated moderately, but the Communion scores did not. IIP Communion was positively associated with the quality of the early therapeutic alliance and with the average level of cognitive–emotional processing during therapy. Whereas IIP Communion and IMI Agency increased over therapy, IIP Distress decreased. A pre–post-decrease in IIP Distress was positively associated with pre–postsymptomatic change over and above the other interpersonal variables, but pre–post-increase in IMI Agency was positively associated with symptomatic improvement from post- to 3-month follow-up. These findings suggest that significant others seem to provide important additional information about the patients’ interpersonal style.
Fracture behavior of sisal fiber–reinforced starch-based composites

The fracture behavior of biodegradable fiber–reinforced composites as a function of fiber content under different loading conditions was investigated. Composites with different fiber content, ranging from 5 to 20 wt%, were prepared using commercial starch-based polymer and short sisal fibers. Quasistatic fracture studies as well as instrumented falling weight impact tests were performed on the composites and the plain matrix. Results showed a significant increase in the crack initiation resistance under quasistatic loading. This was caused by the incorporation of sisal fibers to the matrix and the development of failure mechanisms induced by the presence of the fibers. On the other hand, a modest increasing trend of the resistance to crack initiation with fiber loading was detected. An improved fracture behavior was also observed when the impact loading was parallel to the thickness direction. Under these experimental conditions, the composites exhibited higher values of ductility index, energy at initiation and total fracture energy than the plain matrix. Furthermore, an increasing trend of these parameters with fiber content was detected in the biocomposites. Overall, the addition of sisal fibers to the biodegradable matrix appears to be an efficient mean of improving fracture behavior under both quasistatic and impact loading conditions. POLYM. COMPOS. 26:316–323, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers
The impact of prenatal vitamin A and zinc supplementation on growth of children up to 2 years of age in rural Java, Indonesia

Abstract Objective To determine whether prenatal vitamin A and/or Zn supplementation affects postnatal growth. Design Follow-up of a randomized controlled trial monitoring growth in children from birth up to 24 months of age. Setting Central Java, Indonesia. Subjects Children (n 343) of mothers participating in a double-blinded, randomized controlled study of vitamin A and/or Zn supplementation during pregnancy. We report the effects of prenatal supplementation on infant growth, measured as weight-for-age Z-scores (WAZ), height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) and weight-for-height Z-scores (WHZ ), from 0 to 24 months, as well as differences in growth faltering among the supplementation groups. Results For HAZ, the absolute differences between the vitamin A-only and vitamin A + Zn groups at 3 and 9 months were 0·34 sd and 0·37 sd, respectively, and the absolute difference between the vitamin A-only and Zn-only groups at 18 months was 0·31 sd. Compared with placebo, none of the supplements affected growth. Defining growth faltering as a downward crossing of two or more major percentile lines, 50–75 % of the children were found to be growth faltering within 9 months of age, whereas 17 % and 8 % scored <−2 sd for WAZ and HAZ, respectively. Prenatal supplementation did not reduce the prevalence of growth faltering. Conclusions Prenatal vitamin A supplementation had a small but significant effect on postnatal growth of children's length until 18 months of age compared with supplementation with either vitamin A + Zn or Zn alone, but not compared with placebo. It had no effects on other anthropometric measures and did not reduce the prevalence of growth faltering. Future studies should duplicate these findings before recommendations can be made.
HEV infection not evident in rodents on English pig farms

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the cause of hepatitis E in humans, typically an acute self-limiting hepatitis but with known risk groups.1 There is now growing awareness of locally acquired infections in industrialised countries and since 2010 there has been a yearly increase in the detection of autochthonous hepatitis E cases in England and Wales.2 While originally identified in humans, genetically diverse HEV have since been detected in an expanding list of animals. Of particular interest are genotypes HEV-1 to HEV-4 which can infect humans. HEV-3 and HEV-4 can also infect other animal species including pigs, wild boar, deer and rabbits. The cases of locally acquired hepatitis E in industrialised countries, including Great Britain (GB), are associated with HEV-3 and HEV-4.3 The transmission routes for such cases still require elucidation but include zoonotic transmission.3 Pigs are a natural reservoir of HEV-3 and HEV-4 and infection is widespread in the pig population worldwide. Zoonotic transmission of HEV through the consumption of contaminated food, including pork product is established.3 With regard to the dynamics of HEV infections on pig farms, there is particular interest in the role of rodents due to their historical association with disease transmission and their potential abundance on farms. Mice can be experimentally infected with HEV (HEV-4)4 and two …