Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The NordICC Study: Rationale and design of a randomized trial on colonoscopy screening for colorectal cancer

Background and study aim: While colonoscopy screening is widely used in several European countries and the United States, there are no randomized trials to quantify its benefits. The Nordic-European Initiative on Colorectal Cancer (NordICC) is a multinational, randomized controlled trial aiming at investigating the effect of colonoscopy screening on colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality. This paper describes the rationale and design of the NordICC trial. Study design: Men and women aged 55 to 64 years are drawn from the population registries in the participating countries and randomly assigned to either once-only colonoscopy screening with removal of all detected lesions, or no screening (standard of care in the trial regions). All individuals are followed for 15 years after inclusion using dedicated national registries. The primary end points of the trial are cumulative CRC-specific death and CRC incidence during 15 years of follow-up. Power analysis: We hypothesize a 50 % CRC mortality-reducing efficacy of the colonoscopy intervention and predict 50 % compliance, yielding a 25 % mortality reduction among those invited to screening. For 90 % power and a two-sided alpha level of 0.05, using a 2:1 randomization, 45 600 individuals will be randomized to control, and 22 800 individuals to the colonoscopy group. Interim analyses of the effect of colonoscopy on CRC incidence and mortality will be performed at 10-year follow-up. Conclusions: The aim of the NordICC trial is to quantify the effectiveness of population-based colonoscopy screening. This will allow development of evidence-based guidelines for CRC screening in the general population. Trial registration: NCT 00883792.
Platonic model of mind as an approximation to neurodynamics

One of the biggest challenges of science today is to outline connec- tions between the subjective world of human experience, as studied by psychology, and the objective world of measurable brain events, as studied by neuroscience. In this paper a series of approximations to neural dynamics is outlined, leading to a phenomenological theory of mind based on concepts directly related to human cog- nition. Behaviorism is based on an engineering approach, treating the mind as a con- trol system for the organism. This corresponds to an approximation of the recurrent neural dynamics (brain states) by finite state automata (behavioral states). Another approximations to neural dynamics is described, leading to a Platonic-like model of mind based on psychological spaces. Objects and events in these spaces correspond to quasi-stable states of brain dynamics and may be interpreted from psychological point of view. Platonic model bridges the gap between the neurophysiological brain events and higher cognitive functions realized by the mind. Categorization exper- iments with human subjects are presented as a challenge for mind-brain theories. Wider implications of this model as a basis for cognitive science are discussed and possible extensions outlined. 1
Energy-Efficient Cooperative Relaying over Fading Channels with Simple Relay Selection

We consider a cooperative wireless network where a set of nodes cooperate to relay in parallel the information from a source to a destination using a decode-and-forward approach. The source broadcasts the data to the relays, some or all of which cooperatively beamform to forward the data to the destination. We generalize the standard approaches for cooperative communications in two key respects: (i) we explicitly model and factor in the cost of acquiring channel state information (CSI), and (ii) we consider more general selection rules for the relays and compute the optimal one among them. In particular, we consider simple relay selection and outage criteria that exploit the inherent diversity of relay networks and satisfy a mandated outage constraint. These criteria include as special cases several relay selection criteria proposed in the literature. We obtain expressions for the total energy consumption for general relay selection and outage criteria for the non-homogeneous case, in which different relay links have different mean channel power gains, and the homogeneous case, in which the relay links statistics are identical. We characterize the structure of the optimal transmission scheme. Numerical results show that the cost of training and feedback of CSI is significant. The optimal strategy is to use a varying subset (and number) of relay nodes to cooperatively beamform at any given time. Depending on the relative location of the relays, the source, and the destination, numerical computations show energy savings of about 16% when an optimal relay selection rule is used. We also study the impact of shadowing correlation on the energy consumption for a cooperative relay network.
The Florence Statement on Triclosan and Triclocarban

Summary: The Florence Statement on Triclosan and Triclocarban documents a consensus of more than 200 scientists and medical professionals on the hazards of and lack of demonstrated benefit from common uses of triclosan and triclocarban. These chemicals may be used in thousands of personal care and consumer products as well as in building materials. Based on extensive peer-reviewed research, this statement concludes that triclosan and triclocarban are environmentally persistent endocrine disruptors that bioaccumulate in and are toxic to aquatic and other organisms. Evidence of other hazards to humans and ecosystems from triclosan and triclocarban is presented along with recommendations intended to prevent future harm from triclosan, triclocarban, and antimicrobial substances with similar properties and effects. Because antimicrobials can have unintended adverse health and environmental impacts, they should only be used when they provide an evidence-based health benefit. Greater transparency is needed in product formulations, and before an antimicrobial is incorporated into a product, the long-term health and ecological impacts should be evaluated. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1788
Intermediate Crack Debonding in FRP-Strengthened RC Beams: FE Analysis and Strength Model

Reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in flexure with a bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) plate may fail by intermediate crack (IC) debonding, in which debonding initiates at a critical section in the high moment region and propagates to a plate end. This paper first presents a finite-element (FE) model based on the smeared crack approach for concrete for the numerical simulation of the IC debonding process. This finite-element model includes two novel features: (1) the interfacial behavior within the major flexural crack zone is differentiated from that outside this zone and (2) the effect of local slip concentrations near a flexural crack is captured using a dual local debonding criterion. The FE model is shown to be accurate through comparisons with the results of 42 beam tests. The paper also presents an accurate and simple strength model based on interfacial shear stress distributions from finite-element analyses. The new strength model is shown to be accurate through comparisons with the t.
Spirituality and medicine: a proposal.

Dissatisfaction with medical care has increased among patients and providers, despite unprecedented medical successes.1-3 This paradox may be caused by a number of possible reasons, including a higher degree of patient education, improved access to information, criticism of the profession by the media, emergence of alternative forms of medicine that make unrealistic promises, increased cost of care, fragmentation of care into specialties and subspecialties, and divestment of primary care of its original role of patient advocacy.
A Stereo Vision System for an Autonomous Vehicle

Several techniques for use in a stereo vision system are described. These include a stereo camera model solver, a high resolution stereo correlator for producing accurate matches with accuracy and confidence estimates, a search technique for using the correlator to produce a dense sampling of matched points for a pair of pictures, and a ground surface finder for distinguishing the ground from objects, in the resulting three-dimensional data. Possible ways of using these techniques in an autonomous vehicle designed to explore its environment are discussed. An example is given showing the detection of objects from a stereo pair of pictures.
Sublingual Sugar Administration as an Alternative to Intravenous Dextrose Administration to Correct Hypoglycemia Among Children in the Tropics

Background. Hypoglycemia is a common determining factor of poor prognosis for children with severe malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Intravenous dextrose administration is rarely available. Oral mucosal delivery may be an alternative to parenteral administration. A randomized, clinical trial was performed in Burkina Faso among moderately hypoglycemic children, comparing sublingual sugar administration with oral water, oral sugar, and dextrose infusion administrations. Methods. Sixty-nine children with glucose concentrations of <0.8 g/L were assigned randomly to 1 of 4 methods of administration, 1 with 3 different doses of sugar, as follows: oral group (OG) (n = 15): 2.5 g of sugar; sublingual group (SG) (n = 27): 2.5 g of sugar under the tongue, with 3 treatment subgroups, ie, 0.1 g/kg, 0.15 g/kg, and 0.2 g/kg; intravenous group (IG) (n = 8): 8 mL of 30% dextrose in a single bolus; water group (n = 11). Eight children received sublingual sugar twice, ie, 0.1 g/kg at baseline and 20 minutes later. Blood glucose concentrations were measured every 20 minutes for 80 minutes. Treatment failures, peak glucose concentrations, times to glucose concentration normalization, and kinetic profiles were evaluated. Results. No treatment failures were observed in the SG and IG, compared with 8 (53%) and 9 (81.8%) failures in the OG and water group, respectively. SG children exhibited glucose kinetic profiles and bioavailabilities (77%, 99%, and 81% in the 3 SG groups) similar to those of IG children. Bioavailabilities were 84% and 38% in the SG and OG, respectively. Children >7 years of age required repeated sublingual administrations to maintain normoglycemia. Conclusions. The sublingual administration of sugar proved to be effective among moderately hypoglycemic children. It is a simple and promising method to control hypoglycemia among children in both developing and developed countries. This pediatric practice should be investigated in more detail among children with severe malaria.
Feeding the world's largest fish: highly variable whale shark residency patterns at a provisioning site in the Philippines

Provisioning wildlife for tourism is a controversial yet widespread practice. We analysed the residency patterns of juvenile whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Oslob, Philippines, where provisioning has facilitated a large shark-watching operation since 2011. We identified 208 individual sharks over three years, with an average of 18.6 (s.d. = 7.8, range = 6–43) individuals sighted per week. Weekly shark abundance varied seasonally and peak-season abundance (approx. May–November) increased across years. Whale sharks displayed diverse individual site visitation patterns ranging from a single visit to sporadic visits, seasonal residency and year-round residency. Nine individuals became year-round residents, which represents a clear response to provisioning. The timing of the seasonal peak at Oslob did not align with known non-provisioned seasonal aggregations elsewhere in the Philippines, which could suggest that seasonal residents at Oslob exploit this food source when prey availability at alternative sites is low. Since prolonged residency equates to less time foraging naturally, provisioning could influence foraging success, alter distributions and lead to dependency in later life stages. Such impacts must be carefully weighed against the benefits of provisioning (i.e. tourism revenue in a remote community) to facilitate informed management decisions.
Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex Involvement in Initial Negative Aesthetic Impression Formation

It is well established that aesthetic appreciation is related with activity in several different brain regions. The identification of the neural correlates of beauty or liking ratings has been the focus of most prior studies. Not much attention has been directed towards the fact that humans are surrounded by objects that lead them to experience aesthetic indifference or leave them with a negative aesthetic impression. Here we explore the neural substrate of such experiences. Given the neuroimaging techniques that have been used, little is known about the temporal features of such brain activity. By means of magnetoencephalography we registered the moment at which brain activity differed while participants viewed images they considered to be beautiful or not. Results show that the first differential activity appears between 300 and 400 ms after stimulus onset. During this period activity in right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) was greater while participants rated visual stimuli as not beautiful than when they rated them as beautiful. We argue that this activity is associated with an initial negative aesthetic impression formation, driven by the relative hedonic value of stimuli regarded as not beautiful. Additionally, our results contribute to the understanding of the nature of the functional roles of the lOFC.
Mechanical, Thermal, and Flow Properties of HDPE–Mica Composites

A high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is compounded with surfacetreated mica in a twin-screw extruder, with filler weight fractions (øf) of 5, 10, and 15%. The tensile, flexural, impact, heat distortion temperature and melt flow properties of the composites are measured to identify the effect of mica loading on these properties. The results show that the tensile yield strength and tensile fracture strength increase nonlinearly, while the flexural strength and flexural modulus increase linearly with an addition of øf. When øf is <5%, the tensile fracture elongation of the composites increases and then reduces, while the impact strength drops down quickly, and then decreases slightly with increasing øf. The melt volume flow rate (MVR) of the composites decreases linearly with increasing øf. The heat distortion temperature of the composites increases considerably when øf is <10%, and then decreases gently.
A Model-Based Fault Detection and Prognostics Scheme for Takagi–Sugeno Fuzzy Systems

In this paper, a novel model-based fault detection (FD) and prediction scheme is developed for a class of Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems. Unlike other FD schemes, in the proposed design, an FD observer with online fault learning capability is utilized to generate a residual which is obtained by comparing the system output with respect to the observer output. A fault is declared active if the generated residual exceeds an a priori chosen threshold. Subsequently, the fault magnitude is estimated online by using a suitable parameter update law. Upon detection, the online estimate of the fault magnitude is used in a mathematical equation to determine time-to-failure (TTF) or remaining useful life. TTF is determined by projecting the estimated fault magnitude at the current time instant against a failure threshold. Note that the previously reported FD schemes could neither estimate the magnitude of a growing fault in real time nor were they able to predict the remaining useful life of the fuzzy system. In this paper, the stability of the proposed FD and prognostics scheme is verified using the Lyapunov theory. Finally, two different simulation case studies are considered to verify the theoretical conjectures presented in this paper.
Testing the cranial evolutionary allometric ‘rule’ in Galliformes

Recent comparative studies have indicated the existence of a common cranial evolutionary allometric (CREA) pattern in mammals and birds, in which smaller species have relatively smaller faces and bigger braincases than larger species. In these studies, cranial allometry was tested using a multivariate regression between shape (described using landmarks coordinates) and size (i.e. centroid size), after accounting for phylogenetic relatedness. Alternatively, cranial allometry can be determined by comparing the sizes of two anatomical parts using a bivariate regression analysis. In this analysis, a slope higher or lower than one indicates the existence of positive or negative allometry, respectively. Thus, in those species that support the CREA ‘rule’, positive allometry is expected for the association between face size and braincase size, which would indicate that larger species have disproportionally larger faces. In this study, I applied these two approaches to explore cranial allometry in 83 Galliformes (Aves, Galloanserae), ranging in mean body weight from 30 g to 2.5 kg. The multivariate regression between shape and centroid size revealed the existence of a significant allometric pattern resembling CREA, whereas the second analysis revealed a negative allometry for beak size and braincase size (i.e. contrary to the CREA ‘rule’, larger galliform species have disproportionally shorter beaks than smaller galliform species). This study suggests that the presence of CREA may be overestimated when using cranium size as the standard measurement.
Gramicidin A channels switch between stretch activation and stretch inactivation depending on bilayer thickness

The patch clamp-liposome technique was used to examine the stretch sensitivity of a model membrane ion channel, gramicidin A, in membrane patches of different bilayer thickness. We found that small changes in phospholipid acyl chain length (i.e., PC-20 to PC-18) can switch gramicidin A from a stretch-activated to a stretch-inactivated channel. The demonstration that subnanometer changes in bilayer thickness can reverse the response polarity of a model channel has implications for other signaling proteins that may experience local changes in bilayer thickness as a consequence of dynamic targeting to lipid microdomains, electrocompression, or chemical modification of the bilayer.
Simha-Somcynsky Equation of State Modeling of the PVT Behavior of PP/Clay-Nanocomposite/CO2 Mixtures

Abstract The Pressure-Volume-Temperature (PVT) property of polymer nanocomposite (PNC)/gas solutions is an important fundamental property in the foaming of PNC. However, accurate data have not yet been reported. We examined the PVT behaviors of polypropylene (PP) and PP/organoclay polymer nanocomposite (PP-PNC) by monitoring the swelling changes of the polymer melt in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). A model was adopted that describes the PVT behaviors of PP-PNC with and without dissolved gas. Based on the model, a PNC consists of two sections: a hard section (a nanoparticle surrounded by solidified polymer) and a soft section (neat polymer). It was observed that an infusion of nanoparticles decreased the swelling. It seems that the hard section had a minimal free volume in which to dissolve the blowing agents, and that the number of hard sections increased with the infusion of nanoparticles. As a result, the total gas absorption capacity of the system decreased, and consequently, the swelling also decreased.
Using mobile instant messaging to leverage learner participation and transform pedagogy at a South African University of Technology

One of the most complicated academic endeavours in transmission pedagogies is to generate democratic participation of all students and public expression of silenced voices. While the potential of mobile phones, particularly mobile instant messaging ( MIM), to trigger broadened academic participation is increasingly acknowledged in literature, integrating MIM into classrooms and out-of-the-classroom tasks has often been confronted with academic resistance. Academic uncertainty about MIM is often predicated on its perceived distractive nature and potential to trigger off-task social behaviours. This paper argues that MIM has potential to create alternative dialogic spaces for student collaborative engagements in informal contexts, which can gainfully transform teaching and learning. An instance of a MIM, Whats App, was adopted for an information technology course at a South African university with a view to heighten lecturer-student and peer-based participation, and enhance pedagogical delivery and inclusive learning in formal (lectures) and informal spaces. The findings suggest heightened student participation, the fostering of learning communities for knowledge creation and progressive shifts in the lecturer's mode of pedagogical delivery. However, the concomitant challenge of using MIM included mature adults' resentment of the merging of academic and family life occasioned by Whats App consultations after hours. Students also expressed ambivalence about MIM's wide-scale roll-out in different academic programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Attention Deﬁcit Hyperactivity Disorder: Fine Mapping Supports Linkage to 5p13, 6q12, 16p13, and 17p11

We completed ﬁne mapping of nine positional candidate regions for attention-deﬁcit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in an extended population sample of 308 affected sibling pairs (ASPs), constituting the largest linkage sample of families with ADHD published to date. The candidate chromosomal regions were selected from all three published genomewide scans for ADHD, and ﬁne mapping was done to comprehensively validate these positional candidate regions in our sample. Multipoint maximum LOD score (MLS) analysis yielded signiﬁcant evidence of linkage on 6q12 (MLS 3.30; empiric ) and 17p11 (MLS 3.63; empiric ), as well as suggestive evidence on P p . 024 P p . 015 5p13 (MLS 2.55; empiric ). In conjunction with the previously reported signiﬁcant linkage on the basis P p . 091 of ﬁne mapping 16p13 in the same sample as this report, the analyses presented here indicate that four chromosomal regions—5p13, 6q12, 16p13, and 17p11—are likely to harbor susceptibility genes for ADHD. The reﬁnement of linkage within each of these regions lays the foundation for subsequent investigations using association methods to detect risk genes of moderate effect size.
Inhibitory Effect of Herbal Remedy PERVIVO and Anti-Inflammatory Drug Sulindac on L-1 Sarcoma Tumor Growth and Tumor Angiogenesis in Balb/c Mice

Anticancer activity of many herbs was observed for hundreds of years. They act as modifiers of biologic response, and their effectiveness may be increased by combining multiple herbal extracts . PERVIVO, traditional digestive herbal remedy, contains some of them, and we previously described its antiangiogenic activity. Numerous studies documented anticancer effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. We were the first to show that sulindac and its metabolites inhibit angiogenesis. In the present paper the combined in vivo effect of multicomponent herbal remedy PERVIVO and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug sulindac on tumor growth, tumor angiogenesis, and tumor volume in Balb/c mice was studied. These effects were checked after grafting cells collected from syngeneic sarcoma L-1 tumors into mice skin. The strongest inhibitory effect was observed in experimental groups treated with PERVIVO and sulindac together. The results of our investigation showed that combined effect of examined drugs may be the best way to get the strongest antiangiogenic and antitumor effect.