Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Needle fixation, the drug user's perspective: a qualitative study.

AIMS Changing drug users' injecting behaviour is central to the project of drug services. Information about the idea of "needle fixation" is fragmentary and of uncertain relevance to contemporary injecting drug users. The aim of the study is to describe injecting drug users' ideas about needle fixation. PARTICIPANTS AND DESIGN Twenty-four participants, some of whom identified themselves as needle fixated, were recruited from four drugs agencies in south Wales. Participants took part in semi-structured interviews, recorded, transcribed and qualitatively analysed using Atlas/ti software. FINDINGS Participants describe a range of behaviours and experiences which fit with previous ideas of needle fixation, including ritualization, substitution of other drugs, injection of water and associations with deliberate-self-harm and sex. Participants describe high levels of needle aversion and add detail to previous partial descriptions of needle fixation. CONCLUSIONS Issues conveniently considered together as needle fixation are current among injecting drug users and may be relevant to the inability of some drug users to change from injecting drug use.
Cardiovascular Response to Graded Lower Body Negative Pressure in Young and Elderly Man

Lower body negative pressure (LBNP) reduces central venous pressure (CVP) and cardiac output. The elderly are reported to have a limited capacity to increase cardiac output by increasing heart rate (HR), are especially dependent on end diastolic volume to maintain stroke volume and therefore should be especially vulnerable to LBNP. The present study compared the effects of LBNP in the young and old. Stroke volume was assessed non‐invasively as stroke distance (SD) by aortovelography. Two groups of healthy male volunteers were studied: eight young (29.7 ± 2.0 years, mean ± S.E.M.) and nine old (70.1 ± 0.9 years). LBNP was applied progressively at 17.5, 35 and 50 mmHg in 20 min steps, with measurements taken during each steady state. There were similar, significant, falls in CVP in both groups. SD fell significantly in both groups from respective control values of 24.8 ± 1.6 and 16.6 ± 0.9 cm to 12.5 ± 1.3 and 8.9 ± 0.4 cm at a LBNP of 50 mmHg. Although SD in the elderly was significantly lower than in the young, the LBNP‐induced changes were not different between groups. Both groups produced similar significant increases in vascular resistance, HR, plasma vasopressin (AVP) and noradrenaline. Mean arterial blood pressure (MBP) and plasma adrenaline did not change significantly. Therefore healthy old men respond to LBNP in a similar manner to the young, although MBP and SD are regulated around different baselines in the two groups.
Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Associated with a Novel Presenilin-1 Mutation

We report a kindred with three cases of dementia. The proband presented with forgetfulness and personality changes at age 56, followed shortly thereafter by behavioral dyscontrol, hyperphagia, hypersexuality, delusions, illusions, disinhibition and double incontinence. Neuroimaging studies were consistent with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In one allele, an arginine insertion at codon 352 in the presenilin 1 (PSEN1) gene was identified; no mutation was identified in the amyloid precursor protein or tau genes. We conclude that the clinical features of the Kluver-Bucy syndrome and FTD can be associated with PSEN1 mutations. Furthermore, presenilin analyses may be helpful to characterize kindreds with familial dementing illnesses regardless of the phenotype, particularly if no tau mutation is present.
Real-Time PCR Coupled with Automated DNA Extraction and Detection of Galactomannan Antigen in Serum by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Diagnosis of Invasive Aspergillosis

ABSTRACT To improve the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA), we developed a LightCycler PCR assay targeted to Aspergillus fumigatus and A. flavus mitochondrial DNA. To avoid contamination, fully automated nucleic acid extraction with the MagNA Pure LC apparatus was used. The linearity of the results was achieved over a 6-log range of input A. fumigatus DNA, from 0.3 ng to 3 fg/10 μl of water. We retrospectively compared the LightCycler PCR and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of galactomannan (GM) in serum from 14 patients with IA. The GM assay was more frequently positive (57 of 109; 52%) than the PCR assay (49 of 109; 45%). The LightCycler PCR assay, combined with automated DNA extraction, could be used in association with the GM assay to improve the reliability of IA diagnosis.
Understanding illness experiences of employees with common mental health disorders.

BACKGROUND Common mental health disorders (CMHDs) are a leading cause of sickness absence. To address this, a Fit for Work Service (FFWS) was introduced in Greater Manchester, UK, in 2010, offering case-managed and multidisciplinary interventions to early-stage sickness absentees experiencing physical health conditions and/or associated psychosocial problems, to enable a speedy return to work. AIMS To explore the illness experiences of employees who contacted or were referred to the Greater Manchester FFWS (GM-FFWS). METHODS A qualitative in-depth study, using narrative interviews with GM-FFWS service users who experienced mental ill-health. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed for key themes. RESULTS There were 21 interviews available for analysis. Multiple disruptive life events overwhelmed employees' capacity to cope, triggering mental ill-health. For some individuals, the onset of mental ill-health was unexpected and had profound psychological effects on participants' sense of self and personal identity. In certain cases, previous bouts of emotional distress contributed to an underlying psychology of low self-esteem. Mobilizing resources was often a significant factor in supporting recovery. The illness experience led to a process of self-re-evaluation among some participants. CONCLUSIONS Disruptive events at work have the potential to threaten an individual's sense of self. Employee's experiences of CMHDs can only be fully understood if there is awareness of how these experiences emerge from a person's biography and subsequently inform their responses to contemporary life events. The design of future clinical and non-clinical workplace interventions should take account of these biographical aspects of the illness experience.
The natural history of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

There have been great advances in the conservative and surgical treatment for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in the last few decades. The challenge for the physician is the decision for the optimal time to institute therapy for the individual child. This makes an understanding of the natural history and risk factors for curve progression of significant importance. Reported rates of curve progression vary from 1.6% for skeletally mature children with a small curve magnitude to 68% for skeletally immature children with larger curve magnitudes. Although the patient’s age at presentation, the Risser sign, the patient’s menarchal status and the magnitude of the curve have been described as risk factors for curve progression, there is evidence that the absolute curve magnitude at presentation may be most predictive of progression in the long term. A curve magnitude of 25° at presentation may be predictive of a greater risk of curve progression. Advances in research may unlock novel predictive factors, which are based on the underlying pathogenesis of this disorder.
Noise reduction and targeted exploration in imitation learning for Abstract Meaning Representation parsing

Semantic parsers map natural language statements into meaning representations, and must abstract over syntactic phenomena, resolve anaphora, and identify word senses to eliminate ambiguous interpretations. Abstract meaning representation (AMR) is a recent example of one such semantic formalism which, similar to a dependency parse, utilizes a graph to represent relationships between concepts (Ba-narescu et al., 2013). As with dependency parsing, transition-based approaches are a common approach to this problem. However, when trained in the traditional manner these systems are susceptible to the accumulation of errors when they ﬁnd undesirable states during greedy decoding. Imitation learning algorithms have been shown to help these systems recover from such errors. To effectively use these meth-ods for AMR parsing we ﬁnd it highly beneﬁcial to introduce two novel extensions: noise reduction and targeted exploration. The former mitigates the noise in the feature representation, a result of the complexity of the task. The latter targets the exploration steps of imitation learning towards areas which are likely to provide the most information in the context of a large action-space. We achieve state-of-the art results, and improve upon standard transition-based parsing by 4.7 F 1 points.
Study of Variation in Total Facial Index of North Indian Population.

Background: Human face is a distinct criterion in personal identification and is a reflection of uniqueness of every individual. This makes it desirable to have some means of giving quantitative expression of variation that such traits exhibit. Although there are several methods are the metric (anthropometry) and morphological (anthroposcopy) assessment of characteristics of living and skeletal remains. Anthropometric measurements especially facial measurements are important for determining various face shape. Climatic adaptations and nutritional factors are found to be detrimental to body shape and size. Objective: The main objective of this study was to examine Facial Index of North Indian population and to find out the distribution of their face type. This information will be highly important for Anatomists, Forensic Scientists, Criminologists, Plastic surgeons & Physical Anthropologists. Methodology: A total number of 400 students (200 males & 200 females) of 18-25 year of age. Facial index is the facial height measured from Nasion to Menton with the help of sliding caliper and the facial width measured between the Zygion of each side with the help of spreading caliper. Result: Mesoprosopic is the most common facial type in both males and females and the difference is statistically highly significant. Euriprosopic and Hypereuriprosopic facial types are more commonly seen in females whereas Mesoprosopic, Leptoprosopic and Hyperleptoprosopic facial types are common in males.
Genetic variability in the Skyros pony and its relationship with other Greek and foreign horse breeds

In Greece, seven native horse breeds have been identified so far. Among these, the Skyros pony is outstanding through having a distinct phenotype. In the present study, the aim was to assess genetic diversity in this breed, by using different types of genetic loci and available genealogical information. Its relationships with the other Greek, as well as foreign, domestic breeds were also investigated. Through microsatellite and pedigree analysis it appeared that the Skyros presented a similar level of genetic diversity to the other European breeds. Nevertheless, comparisons between DNA-based and pedigree-based results revealed that a loss of genetic diversity had probably already occurred before the beginning of breed registration. Tests indicated the possible existence of a recent bottleneck in two of the three main herds of Skyros pony. Nonetheless, relatively high levels of heterozygosity and Polymorphism Information Content indicated sufficient residual genetic variability, probably useful in planning future strategies for breed conservation. Three other Greek breeds were also analyzed. A comparison of these with domestic breeds elsewhere, revealed the closest relationships to be with the Middle Eastern types, whereas the Skyros itself remained isolated, without any close relationship, whatsoever.
On Heisenberg Uncertainty Relationship, Its Extension, and the Quantum Issue of Wave-Particle Duality

Within the path integral Feynman formulation of quantum mechanics, the fundamental Heisenberg Uncertainty Relationship (HUR) is analyzed in terms of the quantum fluctuation influence on coordinate and momentum estimations. While introducing specific particle and wave representations, as well as their ratio, in quantifying the wave-to-particle quantum information, the basic HUR is recovered in a close analytical manner for a large range of observable particle-wave Copenhagen duality, although with the dominant wave manifestation, while registering its progressive modification with the factor 1-n2, in terms of magnitude n∈[0,1]. of the quantum fluctuation, for the free quantum evolution around the exact wave-particle equivalence. The practical implications of the present particle-to-wave ratio as well as of the free-evolution quantum picture are discussed for experimental implementation, broken symmetry and the electronic localization function.
Hypertriglyceridemia in extremely low birth weight infants receiving lipid emulsions.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of high TG levels in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants and what the risk factors are for high TG levels. STUDY DESIGN We performed a prospective observational study of triglyceride concentrations in extremely low birth weight infants receiving lipid infusions. Lipid infusions were begun at 0.5 grams/kg/day at age one day and the dose advanced by 0.5 grams/kg/day. Triglyceride concentrations were drawn when the dose reached 1 and 2 grams/kg/day. We compared infants with normal triglyceride levels (≤200 mg/dl) with those with elevated triglyceride levels (>200 mg/dl) with univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS There were 75 infants included in the analysis. Twenty (26.7% , 95% CI = 16.6-36.7%) had triglyceride levels >200 mg/dl. On multiple logistic regression analysis, lower birth weight was associated with the risk of an elevated triglyceride level. Triglyceride levels >200 mg/dl did not predict future mortality or morbidity. CONCLUSION Elevated TG levels occur commonly in ELBW infants and are associated with a lower birth weight.
SECRET: On the Feasibility of a Secure, Efficient, and Collaborative Real-Time Web Editor

Real-time editing tools like Google Docs, Microsoft Office Online, or Etherpad have changed the way of collaboration. Many of these tools are based on Operational Transforms (OT), which guarantee that the views of different clients onto a document remain consistent over time. Usually, documents and operations are exposed to the server in plaintext -- and thus to administrators, governments, and potentially cyber criminals. Therefore, it is highly desirable to work collaboratively on encrypted documents. Previous implementations do not unleash the full potential of this idea: They either require large storage, network, and computation overhead, are not real-time collaborative, or do not take the structure of the document into account. The latter simplifies the approach since only OT algorithms for byte sequences are required, but the resulting ciphertexts are almost four times the size of the corresponding plaintexts. We present SECRET, the first secure, efficient, and collaborative real-time editor. In contrast to all previous works, SECRET is the first tool that (1.) allows the encryption of whole documents or arbitrary sub-parts thereof, (2.) uses a novel combination of tree-based OT with a structure preserving encryption, and (3.) requires only a modern browser without any extra software installation or browser extension. We evaluate our implementation and show that its encryption overhead is three times smaller in comparison to all previous approaches. SECRET can even be used by multiple users in a low-bandwidth scenario. The source code of SECRET is published on GitHub as an open-source project:https://github.com/RUB-NDS/SECRET/
TRIGGERED LIGHTNING RISK ASSESSMENT FOR REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLES AT THE SOUTHWEST REGIONAL AND OKLAHOMA SPACEPORTS

Oklahoma and New Mexico are actively seeking to obtain a license to operate a launch site from the Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST). Because commercial space activities are expected at both launch sites, The Aerospace Corporation was tasked by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center to provide technical support to FAA/AST in assessing the risks involved with triggered lightning during suborbital launches and reentries of reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) from the proposed Southwest Regional Spaceport in New Mexico and from the proposed Oklahoma Spaceport, Burns Flat, Oklahoma.
Feminist Perspectives in Therapy: Empowering Diverse Women

Prologue. PART I: FOUNDATIONS OF FEMINIST THERAPY.Foundations of Feminist Counseling and Therapy.Socialization for Womanhood: Developing Personal and Social Identities.Empowerment Feminist Therapy.Feminist Transformation of Counseling Theories.A Feminist Approach to Assessment.PART II: LIFE SPAN ISSUES IN COUNSELING WOMEN.Dealing with Depression.Choosing a Career Path.Surviving Sexual Assault.Confronting Abuse.PART III: BECOMING A FEMINIST THERAPIST.Reconsidering Research.Exploring Ethics and Practice Issues.Implementing a Feminist-Diversity Model of Training.References. Author Index. Subject Index.
Hippotherapy on Gross Motor Function in a Child with Hypotonic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy: A 1-year Follow-up

Hippotherapy is used to improve gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP). However, the therapeutic effects of hippotherapy using specific position and its longitudinal improvements in children of hypotonic CP have not been thoroughly examined. A 6-year-old girl with hypotonic quadriplegic CP was noted to have generalized hypotonia and global delay in development before intervention. There was sustained improvement in gross motor function after 12-month hippotherapy. She received a 15-minute intervention twice a week for one year with two treatment positions being used, sitting backwards for the first 3 months and prone propped position for the next 9 months. Gross motor function was measured using Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-88), Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), and selected GMFM-88 items assessed on horseback (GMFM-h). The improvement was limited after initial 3-month hippotherapy with sitting backward; however, marked improvement was noted after replacing the sitting backwards program by prone propped position in the following courses. GMFM scores increased from 31.37% to 82.35% and from 0 to 25% in dimension A and B, respectively. GMFCS improved from Level V to Level IV and GMFM-h total scores also increased from 29.17% to 81.25% after the prone propped treatment. We suggested that hippotherapy might enhance gross motor performance and functional ability in hypotonic CP with appropriate treatment position.
Persistent Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio >3 during Treatment with Enzalutamide and Clinical Outcome in Patients with Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

The baseline value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been found to be prognostic in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). We evaluated the impact of baseline NLR and its change in patients receiving enzalutamide. We included consecutive metastatic CRPC patients treated with enzalutamide after docetaxel and studies the change of NLR (>3 vs ≤3) after week 4 and 12 weeks. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and their 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. The impact of NLR on PFS and OS was evaluated by Cox regression analyses and on prostate-specific antigen response rates (PSA RR; PSA decline >50%) were evaluated by binary logistic regression. Data collected on 193 patients from 9 centers were evaluated. Median age was 73.1 years (range, 42.8–90.7). The median baseline NLR was 3.2. The median PFS was 3.2 months (95% CI = 2.7–4.2) in patients with baseline NLR >3 and 7.4 months (95% CI = 5.5–9.7) in those with NLR ≤3, p < 0.0001. The median OS was 10.4 months (95% CI = 6.5–14.9) in patients with baseline NLR >3 and 16.9 months (95% CI = 11.2–20.9) in those with baseline NLR ≤3, p < 0.0001. In multivariate analysis, changes in NLR at 4 weeks were significant predictors of both PFS [hazard ratio (HR) 1.24, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.07–1.42, p = 0.003, and OS (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.10–1.51, p = 0.001. A persistent NLR >3 during treatment with enzalutamide seems to have both prognostic and predictive value in CRPC patients.
QUASI-STELLAR OBJECT SELECTION ALGORITHM USING TIME VARIABILITY AND MACHINE LEARNING: SELECTION OF 1620 QUASI-STELLAR OBJECT CANDIDATES FROM MACHO LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD DATABASE

We present a new quasi-stellar object (QSO) selection algorithm using a Support Vector Machine, a supervised classification method, on a set of extracted time series features including period, amplitude, color, and autocorrelation value. We train a model that separates QSOs from variable stars, non-variable stars, and microlensing events using 58 known QSOs, 1629 variable stars, and 4288 non-variables in the MAssive Compact Halo Object (MACHO) database as a training set. To estimate the efficiency and the accuracy of the model, we perform a cross-validation test using the training set. The test shows that the model correctly identifies ∼80% of known QSOs with a 25% false-positive rate. The majority of the false positives are Be stars. We applied the trained model to the MACHO Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) data set, which consists of 40 million light curves, and found 1620 QSO candidates. During the selection none of the 33,242 known MACHO variables were misclassified as QSO candidates. In order to estimate the true false-positive rate, we crossmatched the candidates with astronomical catalogs including the Spitzer Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution LMC catalog and a few X-ray catalogs. The results further suggest that the majority of the candidates, more than 70%, are QSOs.