Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of the rapid test Carestart(tm) G6PD among malaria vivax-infected subjects in the Brazilian Amazon.

INTRODUCTION In the Brazilian Amazon, malaria infections are primarily caused by Plasmodium vivax. The only drug that kills the hypnozoite form of P. vivax is primaquine, thereby preventing relapse. However, treating glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD)-deficient individuals with primaquine can lead to severe hemolysis. G6PD deficiency (G6PDd) affects approximately 400 million people worldwide, most of whom live in malaria-endemic areas. Therefore, clinicians need tools that can easily and reliably identify individuals with G6PDd. This study estimated the accuracy of the Carestart(tm) G6PD rapid test (Access Bio) in the diagnosis of G6PDd in male participants with and without P. vivax acute malaria. METHODS Male participants were recruited in Manaus. Malaria diagnosis was determined by thick blood smear. G6PD quantitative analysis was performed spectro photometrically at a wave length of 340nm. The Carestart(tm) G6PD test was performed using venous blood. Genotyping was performed for individuals whose samples had an enzyme activity less than 70% of the normal value. RESULTS Six hundred and seventy-four male participants were included in this study, of whom 320 had a diagnosis of P. vivax malaria. In individuals with enzyme activity lower than 30% (n=13), the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the Carestart(tm) G6PD test were as follows: 61.5% (95%CI: 35.5%-82.3%), 98.3% (95%CI: 97.0%-99.1%), 42.1% (95%CI: 23.1%-63.7%), and 99.2% (95%CI: 98.2%-82.3%), 98.3% (95%CI: 97.0%-99.1%), 42.1% (95%CI: 23.1%-63.7%), and 99.2% (95%CI: 98.2%-99.7%), respectively. Increases in sensitivity were observed when increasing the cut-off value. CONCLUSIONS Despite low sensitivity, Carestart(tm) G6PD remains a good alternative for rapid diagnosis of G6PDd in malaria-endemic regions.
The Influence of Childhood

A conceptual and operational model examined relationships among childhood participation in nature-based activities, motivations, constraints, mitigation of constraints, and adult visits to Minnesota State Parks. The results support a model in which (a) higher childhood participation in nature-based activities increased motivation and mitigation strategies, (b) constraints decreased state park visitation and also triggered the use of mitigation strategies that in turn increased state park visits, and (c) higher levels of motivation improved efforts to negotiate constraints and visit more. Consistent with the main hypothesis, the more nature-based activities people participate in during childhood, the more they desire such activities and are able to mitigate constraints to participation, and consequently, the higher the level of participation, as an adult. The results suggest a rather indirect association between childhood participation in nature-based activities and adulthood participation in such activities.
Deep Q-Networks for Accelerating the Training of Deep Neural Networks

In this paper, we propose a principled deep reinforcement learning (RL) approach that is able to accelerate the convergence rate of general deep neural networks (DNNs). With our approach, a deep RL agent (synonym for optimizer in this work) is used to automatically learn policies about how to schedule learning rates during the optimization of a DNN. The state features of the agent are learned from the weight statistics of the optimizee during training. The reward function of this agent is designed to learn policies that minimize the optimizee's training time given a certain performance goal. The actions of the agent correspond to changing the learning rate for the optimizee during training. As far as we know, this is the first attempt to use deep RL to learn how to optimize a large-sized DNN. We perform extensive experiments on a standard benchmark dataset and demonstrate the effectiveness of the policies learned by our approach.
The Term Structure of Variance Swap Rates and Optimal Variance Swap Investments

Abstract This paper performs specification analysis on the term structure of variance swap rates on the S&P 500 index and studies the optimal investment decision on the variance swaps and the stock index. The analysis identifies 2 stochastic variance risk factors, which govern the short and long end of the variance swap term structure variation, respectively. The highly negative estimate for the market price of variance risk makes it optimal for an investor to take short positions in a short-term variance swap contract, long positions in a long-term variance swap contract, and short positions in the stock index.
Discussion: What, If Anything, Is “The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology?” A Comment on Levins (1966) and Odenbaugh (2003)*

In our 1993 paper, “A Critical Look,” Elliott Sober and I concluded that the famous claim about model formulation and constraints made by Richard Levins in his influential 1966 article on model building in population biology is neither true nor normative. Here, I comment upon the claim of Odenbaugh (2003) that the conclusions of “A Critical Look” are incorrect. My conclusions remain that Levins’ claim about the tradeoff between model properties (1) lacks logical coherence, (2) generates an arbitrary model classification, and (3) lacks normative utility. Accordingly, I view his claim as providing no useful insight into the nature of models and model building in population biology.
Long-term, multicenter study of the safety and efficacy of topical alprostadil cream in male patients with erectile dysfunction.

INTRODUCTION Alprostadil is approved for treatment of male erectile dysfunction (ED) by injection or urethral insertion. Topical delivery of alprostadil offers an improved alternative. AIM To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of topical alprostadil cream. METHODS This was a multicenter, open-label, long-term study in 1,161 patients (998 double-blind rollover; 163 naïve) with ED. For the first 4 weeks, patients could administer eight doses of 200 mcg alprostadil to the penis meatus before intercourse (up to 2 per/week). Patients then self-selected to administer 300 or 100 mcg doses if hypo-responsive or hyper-responsive, respectively, or 200 mcg if no change, for up to 9 months (2 doses/week). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Safety evaluated patient/partner adverse events (AEs), changes in vital signs, clinical laboratory tests, physical examinations, and electrocardiograms. Efficacy assessed International Index of Erectile Function, Sexual Encounter Profile, Patient Self Assessment of Erection, and Global Assessment Questionnaire. RESULTS Approximately 12% of patients discontinued due to hypo-/hyper-responsiveness, 16% withdrew consent for a variety of reasons, and less than 5% discontinued because of AEs. The majority of patients (73%) selected 300 mcg alprostadil as the final dose. The most common AEs involved application site burning or erythema (12.2%), meatal or glans pain (4.4%), and prolonged or painful erection (1.3%). Only 5 (0.4%) patients reported a prolonged erection of >or=4 hours (priapism). Vaginal burning or itching (2.1%) was reported most frequently by partners. The majority of patients (74%) demonstrated an overall improvement in erectile function on most end-points, especially after adjusting dose strength to their individual responsiveness. CONCLUSIONS Topical alprostadil cream was considered effective and safe by most patients and their partners, with most AEs limited to the application site. Dose adjustment to 300 mcg alprostadil facilitated the greatest improvement in erectile function in the majority of patients. A separate report will integrate patient data from the open-label extension and prior double-blind studies.
Testing Old Theories in New Surroundings: The Timing of First Social Security Laws in Africa

This article examines the timing of the introduction of four major social security programmes — work accident insurance, sickness benefits, pensions, and family allowances — in 43 African countries. Further, it explores whether legislative structure, dominant religion or the colonial past of the country is of importance when we control for year of independence, prosperity, degree of democracy, government stability, industrialization and the size and ethnic homogeneity of the population. On the basis of Cox hazard rate modelling it is concluded that industrialized, homogeneous and rather populous countries that were under French rule tend to be pioneers in African social security legislation. issr_1420 73.98
The role of personality in household saving and borrowing behaviour

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which personality influences saving and borrowing behaviour. We do this by exploiting a Dutch data set, which provides both detailed information on households' assets and debt as well as answers to two different personality inventories (the 16PA and the FFPI). Our findings are in line with previous investigations on the role of personality for saving. We found that the personality factors emotional stability, autonomy, and extraversion were robust predictors of saving and borrowing behaviour. Agreeableness, inflexibility, and tough‐mindedness could explain certain types of saving. The inclusion of the personality factors significantly increased the explained variance in saving. The results suggest that when studying the effect of psychological variables on saving it is fruitful to divide saving into saving categories that differ with respect to the psychological mechanisms governing them. We also found that a partner's personality could contribute to predicting saving behaviour, which means that data should be collected from both heads of the households and their partners in multi‐person households. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The impact of Co-active Life Coaching on female university students with obesity

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the impact of Co-active life coaching on obese female university students. Five obese (BMI ≥ 30kg/m 2 ), female university students received an average of nine weekly, 35-minute, one-on-one sessions with a certified coach. Semistructured, in-depth interviews before and after participating in the coaching intervention were conducted, and inductive content analysis was utilized. Strategies to enhance data trustworthiness were incorporated throughout. Participants initially reported: struggling with barriers and experiencing pressure from family to lose weight; negative relationships with themselves; feeling self-conscious and remorse for their size and lifestyle choices. At the conclusion of the study period, participants attributed enhanced self-acceptance; living healthier lifestyles; and making themselves a priority to their coaching experience. They appreciated being treated as the expert in their lives. Life coaching has potential as a method for supporting obese individuals in improving their relationships with themselves, and may serve as a catalyst in facilitating weight-loss.
Measuring the Moderating Effect of Gender and Age on E-Learning Acceptance in England: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach for An Extended Technology Acceptance Model

The success of an e-learning intervention depends to a considerable extent on student acceptance and use of the technology. Therefore, it has become imperative for practitioners and policymakers to understand the factors affecting the user acceptance of e-learning systems in order to enhance the students' learning experience. Based on an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the main aims of this study are to investigate the factors affecting students' behavioral intention to adopt e-learning technology and to explore the moderating effect of age and gender on the relationships among the determinants affecting e-learning acceptance. This study is based on a total sample of 604 students who used a Web-based learning system at Brunel University in England. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to perform reliability and validity checks, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the research model. The results indicate that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, social norm, and self-efficacy were critical factors for students' behavioral intention to use e-learning, with the effect of perceived usefulness found to have the highest magnitude among the main determinants. We also found that age moderates the effect of PEOU, PU, and SE on BI, and that gender moderates the effect of PEOU and SN on BI. However, surprisingly, no significant moderating effect of age on the relationship between SN and BI was found; results also revealed no moderating of gender on PU or SE and BI. Overall, the proposed model achieves acceptable fit and explains 62% of its variance, which is higher than that explained by the original TAM. Based on these findings, implications to both theory and practice are discussed.
A Ruthenium-Based Multimetal-Contact RF MEMS Switch With a Corrugated Diaphragm

This paper presents a ruthenium metal-contact RF microelectromechanical system switch based on a corrugated silicon oxide/silicon nitride diaphragm. The corrugations are designed to substantially reduce the influence of the fabrication-induced stress in the membrane, resulting in a highly insensitive design to process parameter variations. Furthermore, a novel multilayer metal-contact concept, comprising a 50-nm chromium/50-nm ruthenium/500-nm gold/50-nm ruthenium structure, is introduced to improve the contact reliability by having a hard-metal surface of ruthenium without substantial compromise in the contact and transmission-line resistances, which is shown by theoretical analysis of the contact physics and confirmed by measurement results. The contact resistance of the novel metallization stack is investigated for different contact pressures and is compared to pure-gold contacts. The contact reliability is investigated for different dc signal currents. At a measurement current of 1.6 mA, the Ru-Au-Ru contacts have an average lifetime of about 100 million cycles, whereas the Au-Au contacts reach 24 million cycles only. For larger signal currents, the metal contacts have proven to be more robust over the Au-Au contacts by a factor of ten. The measured pull-in voltage is reduced significantly from 61 V for flat diaphragm to 36 V for corrugated diaphragm with the introduction of corrugation. The measured RF isolation with a nominal contact separation of 5 mum is better than -30 dB up to 4 GHz and still -21 dB at 15 GHz, whereas the insertion loss of the fully packaged switch including its transmission line is about -0.7 dB up to 4 GHz and -2.8 dB at 15 GHz.
Distribution of cholinesterases in the mammalian pancreas.

1. Histochemical examination of the pancreas of the dog, sheep, goat, horse, rabbit and cat revealed that only in the dog did the gland cells contain pseudo-cholinesterase. In this species the cytoplasm of both acinar and Islet cells contained the enzyme. 2. True cholinesterase was present in the nervous tissue of the glands of all species examined, as well as in some unidentified cells of the glands of the horse, goat and sheep. 3. The Pacinian corpuscles in the cat pancreas contained pseudo-cholinesterase. 4. The cholinesterase in the pancreatic juice of the dog was identified as pseudo-cholinesterase. 5. Sheep pancreatic juice differed from dog pancreatic juice in two respects: it contained no cholinesterase, and hydrolyzed olive oil at a much slower rate.
Characteristics of Effective Collaborative Care for Treatment of Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression of 74 Randomised Controlled Trials

Background Collaborative care is a complex intervention based on chronic disease management models and is effective in the management of depression. However, there is still uncertainty about which components of collaborative care are effective. We used meta-regression to identify factors in collaborative care associated with improvement in patient outcomes (depressive symptoms) and the process of care (use of anti-depressant medication). Methods and Findings Systematic review with meta-regression. The Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group trials registers were searched from inception to 9th February 2012. An update was run in the CENTRAL trials database on 29th December 2013. Inclusion criteria were: randomised controlled trials of collaborative care for adults ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of depression or mixed anxiety and depressive disorder. Random effects meta-regression was used to estimate regression coefficients with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between study level covariates and depressive symptoms and relative risk (95% CI) and anti-depressant use. The association between anti-depressant use and improvement in depression was also explored. Seventy four trials were identified (85 comparisons, across 21,345 participants). Collaborative care that included psychological interventions predicted improvement in depression (β coefficient −0.11, 95% CI −0.20 to −0.01, p = 0.03). Systematic identification of patients (relative risk 1.43, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.81, p = 0.004) and the presence of a chronic physical condition (relative risk 1.32, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.65, p = 0.02) predicted use of anti-depressant medication. Conclusion Trials of collaborative care that included psychological treatment, with or without anti-depressant medication, appeared to improve depression more than those without psychological treatment. Trials that used systematic methods to identify patients with depression and also trials that included patients with a chronic physical condition reported improved use of anti-depressant medication. However, these findings are limited by the observational nature of meta-regression, incomplete data reporting, and the use of study aggregates.
Women in the Middle Years: A Critique of Research and Theory

Research and theory on women in the middle years reflect assumptions and biases that limit our understanding and impair our ability to resolve conflicting findings about women's well-being. Such theorists as Erikson and Levinson focus on chronological age and assume an inappropriate sequence of stages and events. In most research, the centrality of women's reproductive role is assumed and the importance of their work role pattern is ignored. Thus menopause and the “empty nest” receive disproportionate attention. Too little attention is given to stage of the family life cycle and the conditions and status of work. Two active research areas that appear promising for understanding adult women are also discussed: locus of control and attributions; and social networks and support systems.
Fundamental Cellular Processes Do Not Require Vertebrate-specific Sequences within the TATA-binding Protein*

The 180-amino acid core of theTATA-binding protein (TBPcore) is conserved from Archae bacteria to man. Vertebrate TBPs contain, in addition, a large and highly conserved N-terminal region that is not found in other phyla. We have generated a line of mice in which the tbp allele is replaced with a version, tbpΔN , which lacks 111 of 135 N-terminal amino acid residues. MosttbpΔN/ΔN fetuses die in midgestation. To test whether a disruption of general cellular processes contributed to this fetal loss, primary fibroblast cultures were established from +/+, ΔN/+, and ΔN/ΔN fetuses. The cultures exhibited no genotype-dependent differences in proliferation or in expression of the proliferative markers dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) mRNA (S phase-specific) and cdc25B mRNA (G2-specific). The mutation had no effect on transcription initiation site fidelity by either RNA polymerase II (pol II) or pol III. Moreover, the mutation did not cause differences in levels of U6 RNA, a pol III-dependent component of the splicing machinery, in mRNA splicing efficiency, in expression of housekeeping genes from either TATA-containing or TATA-less promoters, or in global gene expression. Our results indicated that general eukaryotic cell functions are unaffected by deletion of these vertebrate-specific sequences from TBP. Thus, all activities of this polypeptide domain must either be compensated for by redundant activities or be restricted to situations that are not represented by primary fibroblasts.
Evaluation of Alveolar Bone Grafting: A Survey of ACPA Teams

Objective To evaluate the management of alveolar clefts by cleft palate and craniofacial teams in North America. Design An anonymous survey was mailed to 240 American Cleft Palate– Craniofacial Association teams across North America regarding alveolar bone grafting. The questionnaire included multiple questions about each team's approach to alveolar bone grafting and options for the missing tooth. Results Consensus was achieved in three areas: 90% of centers performed secondary alveolar bone grafting, 78% performed grafting between ages 6 and 9 years, and iliac crest donor site was the most popular site (83%). There was no consensus with respect to dental criteria for the timing of grafting, follow-up x-rays, or the use of a grading system for evaluating results. In addition, there was no consensus on the management of the missing tooth. Conclusion There is wide acceptance of secondary bone grafting and there is a consensus for the age of grafting (6 to 9 years) and donor site (iliac crest). The disturbing finding was the lack of postoperative x-ray evaluation of the results. With so much variability in management, the use of a routine, standardized scale to measure postoperative results would allow for better outcome studies in alveolar bone grafting.
Memory Illusions: Recalling, Recognizing, and Recollecting Events that Never Occurred

Three experiments that document a powerful false memory effect in recall and recognition are reported. Subjects studied lists of items related to critical nonpresented themes (e.g., sleep, needle) and then completed recognition and/or recall tests, as well as various metamemory tasks (e.g., remember/know, source monitoring). Results showed that the critical nonpresented items were recalled and recognized nearly as often as studied items. False recognition of critical nonpresented items did not decrease over a 24-h retention interval, whereas the recognition rate for studied items did decrease significantly. The false memory effect also increased across successive recall tests. Subjects’ responses on the metamemory tasks indicated that they experienced the critical nonpresented items as being very similar to the presented items that were recalled and/or recognized. Subjects were even willing to indicate which of two persons speaking the study items had spoken the critical nonpresented items that were recalled. Results are discussed in terms of fuzzy trace theory and it is argued that these false memory effects represent memory illusions that may yield important insights into normal human memory processes.