Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Successful Treatment of Dry Mouth and Dry Eye Symptoms in Sjögren's Syndrome Patients With Oral Pilocarpine: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Adjustment Study

Background:Sjögren’s syndrome is characterized by the presence of xerostomia and/or xerophthalmia. Pilocarpine, a muscarinic cholinergic agonist, has been proven to be efficacious in treating radiation-induced xerostomia (up to 30 mg/day) and symptoms of dry mouth in Sjögren’s patients (up to 20 mg/day). Objective:To compare the safety and efficacy of oral pilocarpine (dose-adjusted) versus placebo in the treatment of dry eye and dry mouth symptoms in Sjögren’s syndrome at 6 and 12 weeks. Methods:In this 11-center, 256-patient placebo-controlled study, the safety and efficacy of oral pilocarpine (20 mg to 30 mg daily) for relief of Sjögren’s-related dry mouth and dry eye symptoms was assessed. Changes in symptoms and salivary flow were measured over 12 weeks. Results:Compared with placebo, salivary flow was significantly increased in the pilocarpine group (P≤ 0.0001) after the first dose and throughout the study. Significant improvement in patients’ global assessment of dry mouth (P≤ 0.0001) with relief in 5 of 7 separate oral symptoms (P≤ 0.02) was reported by the treated patients throughout study. Minimal differences in 3 of 8 ocular symptoms were noted at 6 weeks (5-mg dose), but at 12 weeks (5- to 7.5-mg dose), the pilocarpine group demonstrated both significant improvement in global assessment of dry eyes (P≤ 0.0001) and relief in 6 of 8 related symptoms (P≤ 0.04). The drug was well tolerated at both doses. The most common pilocarpine-related side effects were sweating, urinary frequency, flushing, and chills. Conclusions:Significant relief in dry mouth symptoms was noted at 20 mg/day, and significant relief in ocular symptoms, including lower artificial tear requirement, was noted after the dose was increased to 30 mg/day.
Defect Oriented Analog Testing: Strengths and Weaknesses

In this article, we investigate the potential of process defect oriented test methods over analog circuits. Large number of simulations and tested silicon devices bring out the potential of simple, defect based, non-specification oriented test methods for analog testing. The carried out study also demonstrates that a small number of parametric failures are not caught by the method. Therefore, the method is supplemented by very limited specification testing to catch such failures. As a result, the overall test quality is improved while the test cost is reduce.
Brain Evolution across the Puerto Rican Anole Radiation

Patterns of brain evolution have been widely studied across vertebrates, with the bulk of studies using mammals and/or birds as model systems. Within these groups, species occupying different habitats have been shown to have divergent neuroanatomy, particularly with regard to differences in the relative size of different brain structures, correlated with differences in habitat complexity. We examined the pattern of allometric scaling across the telencephalon, dorsal cortex, dorsomedial cortex, medial cortex, dorsal ventricular ridge, medulla and cerebellum in six species of Puerto Rican Anolis lizards, which are grouped in three distinct ecomorphs (i.e. ecological types) according to interspecific differences in preferred habitat type. The differences in habitat preferences are accompanied by morphological and behavioral adaptations for effective use of each habitat type. Our results challenge this trend and demonstrate a lack of convergence in the relative size of different brain structures between species belonging to the same ecomorph type. Overall brain volume explained between 92.5 and 99.8% of the variance in the volume of each of the brain regions measured and 93.8 and 98.5% of the variance in the volume of each component measured within the telencephalon. This pattern of brain allometry is consistent with concerted brain evolution. However, in the case of the cerebellum, interspecific differences in volume exhibit a trend in accordance with mosaic brain evolution. This suggests that both concerted and mosaic brain evolution have shaped the anole brain, with the former playing a dominant role. Concerted brain evolution is the primary mechanism shaping the brain in mammals and cartilaginous fishes, and its presence in Anolis lizards provides additional evidence supporting the hypothesis that concerted brain evolution might result from a conserved pattern of brain development common to all vertebrates. More generally, our findings highlight the necessity of further studies of brain evolution in reptiles as they can provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying vertebrate brain evolution.
Functional and radiological outcome of Intramedullary nailing vs. plate fixation for humeral shaft fractures. Does treatment method bring any difference?

BACKGROUD Operative Management of Humeral shaft fractures may be accomplished with the help of Plate fixation or IM Nails. Controversy exists as to which modality is superior to the other in terms of fewer complications and better functional and radiological outcome. OBJECTIVE To compare the differences in radiological and functional outcome of humeral shaft fractures managed by platefixation and antegrade intramedullary nails. METHODS The retrospective study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised records of Patients managed surgically for uncomplicated humeral shaft fractures between 2007 and 2012. The patients were followed up for one year at clinic, and radiographs and clinical assessment were used to complete the Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and HandQuestionnaire. SPSS 19 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS Of the total 61 patients, 39(64%) underwent plating and 22(36%) had intramedullary nailing. There was no significant difference in terms of mean age and mean duration of surgery in the two groups (p>0.05 each). Also, no significant difference was noted in the duration of healing with either of the two methods (p>0.05). Mean Questionnaire score for plating was 23.9±17.7, while for intramedullary nailing it was 21.7±19.8 (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS There was no significant difference in the radiological and functional outcome of patients in the two groups.
Control of Cholesterol Metabolism and Plasma High-Density Lipoprotein Levels by microRNA-144

Rationale: Foam cell formation because of excessive accumulation of cholesterol by macrophages is a pathological hallmark of atherosclerosis, the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Western societies. Liver X nuclear receptors (LXRs) regulate the expression of the adenosine triphosphate–binding cassette (ABC) transporters, including adenosine triphosphate–binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and adenosine triphosphate–binding cassette transporter G1 (ABCG1). ABCA1 and ABCG1 facilitate the efflux of cholesterol from macrophages and regulate high-density lipoprotein (HDL) biogenesis. Increasing evidence supports the role of microRNA (miRNAs) in regulating cholesterol metabolism through ABC transporters. Objective: We aimed to identify novel miRNAs that regulate cholesterol metabolism in macrophages stimulated with LXR agonists. Methods and Results: To map the miRNA expression signature of macrophages stimulated with LXR agonists, we performed an miRNA profiling microarray analysis in primary mouse peritoneal macrophages stimulated with LXR ligands. We report that LXR ligands increase miR-144 expression in macrophages and mouse livers. Overexpression of miR-144 reduces ABCA1 expression and attenuates cholesterol efflux to apolipoproteinA1 in macrophages. Delivery of miR-144 oligonucleotides to mice attenuates ABCA1 expression in the liver, reducing HDL levels. Conversely, silencing of miR-144 in mice increases the expression of ABCA1 and plasma HDL levels. Thus, miR-144 seems to regulate both macrophage cholesterol efflux and HDL biogenesis in the liver. Conclusions: miR-144 regulates cholesterol metabolism via suppressing ABCA1 expression and modulation of miRNAs may represent a potential therapeutical intervention for treating dyslipidemia and atherosclerotic vascular disease.
Model of Illusions and Virtual Reality

In Virtual Reality (VR) it is possible to induce illusions in which users report and behave as if they have entered into altered situations and identities. The effect can be robust enough for participants to respond “realistically,” meaning behaviors are altered as if subjects had been exposed to the scenarios in reality. The circumstances in which such VR illusions take place were first introduced in the 80's. Since then, rigorous empirical evidence has explored a wide set of illusory experiences in VR. Here, we compile this research and propose a neuroscientific model explaining the underlying perceptual and cognitive mechanisms that enable illusions in VR. Furthermore, we describe the minimum instrumentation requirements to support illusory experiences in VR, and discuss the importance and shortcomings of the generic model.
Analysis of Physiological Response to Two Virtual Environments: Driving and Flying Simulation

As virtual reality technology continues to attract significant attention in clinical psychology, especially in the treatment of phobias, physiological monitoring is increasingly considered as an objective measurement tool for studying participants. There are few studies, however, of the normal physiological response to virtual environments or reactions to different virtual environments. The goal of this study is to analyze nonphobic participants' physiological reactions to two virtual environments: driving and flying. Eleven nonphobic participants were exposed to each virtual environment for 15 min. Heart rate, skin resistance, and skin temperature were measured during physiological monitoring, and the Presence and Simulator Sickness Questionnaire scores were obtained after each exposure. This study found that skin resistance and heart rate variability can be used to show arousal of participants exposed to the virtual environment experience and that such measures generally returned to normal over time. The data suggest that skin resistance and heart rate can be used as objective measures in monitoring the reaction of non-phobic participants to virtual environments. We also noted that heart rate variability could be useful for assessing the emotional states of participants.
The relevance of body positioning and its training effect on badminton smash

ABSTRACT One of the dominant skills in badminton is the forehand overhead smash, which consists of 1/5 attacks during games. Empirical evidences show that one has to adjust the body position in relation to the coming shuttlecock to produce a powerful and accurate smash. Therefore, positioning is a fundamental aspect influencing smash quality. Unfortunately, a search of literature has shown that there is a dearth/lack of study on this fundamental aspect. The goals of this study were to determine the influence of positioning and training experience on smash quality in order to discover information that could help learn/acquire the skill. Using 3D motion capture and full-body biomechanical modelling, 14 skilled and 15 novice players were analysed. Results have revealed that the body positioning has direct influence on shuttlecock release angle and clearance height of the offensive player. The results also suggest that, for training the positioning of beginners, one could conduct a self-selected comfort position towards a statically hanged shuttlecock and then step one foot back – a practical reference marker for learning. As one gains experience through repetitive training, improved limbs’ coordination would increase smash quality further. We hope our findings will benefit practitioners for developing effective training programmes for beginners.
Edge Structure of Montmorillonite from Atomistic Simulations

Classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to investigate the effects of substitutions in the octahedral sheet (Mg for Al) and layer charge on an atomistic model of the montmorillonite edge. The edge models considered substitutions in both the solvent accessible and inaccessible octahedral positions of the edge bond chain for a representative edge surface. The MD simulations based on CLAYFF, a fully-flexible forcefield widely used in the MD simulations of bulk clay minerals, predicted Mg–O bond distances at the edge and in bulk that agreed with those of the density functional theory (DFT) geometry optimizations and available experimental data. The DFT results for the edge surfaces indicated that substitutions in the solvent inaccessible positions of the edge bond chain are energetically favorable and an increase in layer charge and local substitution density coincided with the occurrence of five-coordinate, square pyramidal Mg and Al edge structures. Both computational methods predicted these square pyramidal structures, which are stabilized by water bridging H-bonds between the unsaturated bridging oxygen [(Al or Mg)–O–Si] and other surface O atoms. The MD simulations predict that the presence of Mg substitutions in the edge bond chain results in increased disorder of the edge Al polyhedra relative to the unsubstituted edge. In addition to the square pyramidal Al, these disordered structures include trigonal bipyramidal and tetrahedral Al at the edge and inverted Si tetrahedra. These simulation results represent the first test of the fully-flexible CLAYFF forcefield for classical MD simulations of the Na-monmorillonite edge and demonstrate the potential of combined classical MD simulations and DFT geometry-optimizations to elucidate the edge structure of 2:1 phyllosilicate minerals.
Educating Students in Official Statistics using Embedded Geovisual Analytics Storytelling Methods

Official statistics such as demographics, environment, health, social-economy and education from national and subnational sources are a rich and important source of information for many important aspects of life and should be considered to be more used and acknowledged in education. Educators and their students would be able to get informed and at the same time participate in increasing the knowledge on how life is lived and can be improved. A lot of this statistics information can be reached on the Internet. This is producing what is often called information overload and causing people to be increasingly faced with the problems of filtering and interpreting enormous quantities of information. We know that official statistics are used as a more or less important background for decisions especially in public planning and policy making. However, in education, official statistics are much less recognized and used than they ought to be and among the informed public they are even less used. Web-enabled GeoAnalytics is a technique that can help illustrating complex statistical data which for the eye are hard to uncover or even are not possible to perceive or interpret. In this paper, we introduce novel “storytelling” means for the author (educator) to 1) select any spatiotemporal and multidimensional national or sub-national statistical data, 2) explore and discern trends and patterns, 3) then orchestrate and describe metadata, 4) collaborate with colleagues to confirm and 5) finally publish essential gained insight and knowledge embedded as dynamic visualization “Vislet” in blogs or wikis with associate metadata. The author can guide the reader in the directions of both context and discovery while at the same time follow the analyst’s way of logical reasoning. We are moving away from a clear distinction between authors and readers affecting the process through which knowledge is created and the traditional models which support editorial work. Value no longer relies solely on the content but also on the ability to access this information. Audiences are increasingly gathered around Web enabled technologies and this distribution channel is, more than ever, in control of the information value chain.
The Normal Synovium

This paper describes the structure and function of the normal synovium including the cellular content, nerve and vascular supply and how normal synovium maintains homeostasis within the joint. It is important to understand normal synovium before appreciating the changes that occur in the synovial membrane which leads to the pathology seen in inflammatory arthritides such as Rheumatoid Arthritis.
A Role for Fibroblast Growth Factor 19 and Bile Acids in Diabetes Remission After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

OBJECTIVE Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) in humans can remit type 2 diabetes, but the operative mechanism is not completely understood. In mice, fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 15 (FGF19 in humans) regulates hepatic bile acid (BA) production and can also resolve diabetes. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the FGF19–BA pathway plays a role in the remission of human diabetes after RYGB surgery. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Cohorts of diabetic and nondiabetic individuals of various body weights were used. In addition, RYGB patients without diabetes (No-Diabetes), RYGB patients with diabetes who experienced remission for at least 12 months after surgery (Diabetes-R), and RYGB patients with diabetes who did not go into remission after surgery (Diabetes-NoR) were studied. Circulating FGF19 and BA levels, hepatic glycogen content, and expression levels of genes regulating the FGF19–BA pathway were compared among these groups of patients using pre- and postoperative serum samples and intraoperative liver biopsies. RESULTS Preoperatively, patients with diabetes had lower FGF19 and higher BA levels than nondiabetic patients, irrespective of body weight. In diabetic patients undergoing RYGB, lower FGF19 levels were significantly correlated with increased hepatic expression of the cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase 1 (CYP7A1) gene, which modulates BA production. Following RYGB surgery, however, FGF19 and BA levels (particularly cholic and deoxycholic acids) exhibited larger increases in Diabetic-R patients compared with nondiabetic and Diabetic-NoR patients. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, the baseline and postoperative data implicate the FGF19–CYP7A1–BA pathway in the etiology and remission of type 2 diabetes following RYGB surgery.
Terminological cleansing for improved information retrieval based on ontological terms

Ontologies are frequently used in information retrieval being their main applications the expansion of queries, semantic indexing of documents and the organization of search results. However, the optimization of an ontology to perform information retrieval tasks is still unclear. In this paper, we propose an ontology query model to analyze the usefulness of ontologies in effectively performing document searches. Moreover, we propose a series of heuristic techniques that optimize ontologies for information retrieval tasks. Preliminary results demonstrate that current domain ontologies provide enough information to support user requests and that ontologies might be improved with simple methods.
Explaining the Decline in Coronary Heart Disease Mortality in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2007

Objective We set out to determine what proportion of the mortality decline from 1997 to 2007 in coronary heart disease (CHD) in the Netherlands could be attributed to advances in medical treatment and to improvements in population-wide cardiovascular risk factors. Methods We used the IMPACT-SEC model. Nationwide information was obtained on changes between 1997 and 2007 in the use of 42 treatments and in cardiovascular risk factor levels in adults, aged 25 or over. The primary outcome was the number of CHD deaths prevented or postponed. Results The age-standardized CHD mortality fell by 48% from 269 to 141 per 100.000, with remarkably similar relative declines across socioeconomic groups. This resulted in 11,200 fewer CHD deaths in 2007 than expected. The model was able to explain 72% of the mortality decline. Approximately 37% (95% CI: 10%-80%) of the decline was attributable to changes in acute phase and secondary prevention treatments: the largest contributions came from treating patients in the community with heart failure (11%) or chronic angina (9%). Approximately 36% (24%-67%) was attributable to decreases in risk factors: blood pressure (30%), total cholesterol levels (10%), smoking (5%) and physical inactivity (1%). Ten% more deaths could have been prevented if body mass index and diabetes would not have increased. Overall, these findings did not vary across socioeconomic groups, although within socioeconomic groups the contribution of risk factors differed. Conclusion CHD mortality has recently halved in The Netherlands. Equally large contributions have come from the increased use of acute and secondary prevention treatments and from improvements in population risk factors (including primary prevention treatments). Increases in obesity and diabetes represent a major challenge for future prevention policies.
Misleading one detail: a preventable mode of diagnostic error?

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Despite advances in our understanding of cognitive biases in clinical practice, little is known about correction or prevention of diagnostic errors. The presence of a single misleading detail may lead clinicians down a cognitive and actual path toward an incorrect diagnosis. METHODS In a large teaching hospital, we surveyed 51 attending doctors in internal medicine, presenting each with 10 clinical vignettes and soliciting their diagnosis of the condition leading to the presentation. Each of the 10 clinical cases included a single misleading detail. RESULTS This survey elicited a wrong diagnosis in 90% of cases, which was reduced to 30% when omitting the misleading detail from the vignette. Diagnostic accuracy did not improve by warning doctors about potentially misleading information. Asking doctors to identify a leading diagnostic detail and then to formulate an alternative diagnosis after omission of the detail, significantly reduced diagnostic error rate by nearly 50%. CONCLUSION Systematic re-examination of leading diagnostic clues may help to reduce errors in diagnosis.
Reasons for Increasing Trends in Large for Gestational Age Births

OBJECTIVE: To describe the magnitude of change in the proportion of term and postterm (37 completed weeks or more) large for gestational age (LGA) infants between 1992–2001 in Sweden and to examine whether time trends in prevalence of LGA births can be explained by changes in maternal risk factors. METHODS: Using the population-based Swedish Birth Register, we analyzed data from 1992 through 2001 on births of women who delivered live, singleton, term infants without malformations (N = 874,163). Unconditional logistic regression was used to model the odds of LGA birth. RESULTS: Mean birth weight and proportions of LGA births and births 4,500 g or more rose during the period 1992 to 2001. An unadjusted analysis estimated that the risk of LGA birth increased by 23% over 10 years. However, the prevalence of overweight and obesity (body mass index of 25 or greater) increased from 25% to 36%, and the prevalence of smoking decreased from 23% to 11% during the same period. After adjusting trends in all covariates simultaneously, the association between risk of LGA birth and calendar year disappeared. CONCLUSION: The increasing proportions of LGA births over time is explained by concurrent increases in maternal body mass index and decreases in maternal smoking. With the increasing prevalence of overweight among adolescents and young women, the prevalence of LGA infants and associated risks may increase over time. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE II-2