Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validity and Reproducibility of a Spanish Dietary History

Objective To assess the validity and reproducibility of food and nutrient intake estimated with the electronic diet history of ENRICA (DH-E), which collects information on numerous aspects of the Spanish diet. Methods The validity of food and nutrient intake was estimated using Pearson correlation coefficients between the DH-E and the mean of seven 24-hour recalls collected every 2 months over the previous year. The reproducibility was estimated using intraclass correlation coefficients between two DH-E made one year apart. Results The correlations coefficients between the DH-E and the mean of seven 24-hour recalls for the main food groups were cereals (r = 0.66), meat (r = 0.66), fish (r = 0.42), vegetables (r = 0.62) and fruits (r = 0.44). The mean correlation coefficient for all 15 food groups considered was 0.53. The correlations for macronutrients were: energy (r = 0.76), proteins (r = 0.58), lipids (r = 0.73), saturated fat (r = 0.73), monounsaturated fat (r = 0.59), polyunsaturated fat (r = 0.57), and carbohydrates (r = 0.66). The mean correlation coefficient for all 41 nutrients studied was 0.55. The intraclass correlation coefficient between the two DH-E was greater than 0.40 for most foods and nutrients. Conclusions The DH-E shows good validity and reproducibility for estimating usual intake of foods and nutrients.
Obesity-Related Metabolic Syndrome: Mechanisms of Sympathetic Overactivity

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome has increased worldwide over the past few years. Sympathetic nervous system overactivity is a key mechanism leading to hypertension in patients with the metabolic syndrome. Sympathetic activation can be triggered by reflex mechanisms as arterial baroreceptor impairment, by metabolic factors as insulin resistance, and by dysregulated adipokine production and secretion from visceral fat with a mainly permissive role of leptin and antagonist role of adiponectin. Chronic sympathetic nervous system overactivity contributes to a further decline of insulin sensitivity and creates a vicious circle that may contribute to the development of hypertension and of the metabolic syndrome and favor cardiovascular and kidney disease. Selective renal denervation is an emerging area of interest in the clinical management of obesity-related hypertension. This review focuses on current understanding of some mechanisms through which sympathetic overactivity may be interlaced to the metabolic syndrome, with particular regard to the role of insulin resistance and of some adipokines.
Genome-wide association study identified ITPA / DDRGK 1 variants reflecting thrombocytopenia in pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy for chronic hepatitis C

ITPA/DDRGK1 variants reflecting thrombocytopenia in pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy for chronic hepatitis C Yasuhito Tanaka1,2,, Masayuki Kurosaki3,, Nao Nishida4, Masaya Sugiyama1,2,5, Kentaro Matsuura1,6, Naoya Sakamoto7, Nobuyuki Enomoto8, Hiroshi Yatsuhashi9, Shuhei Nishiguchi10, Keisuke Hino11, Shuhei Hige12, Yoshito Itoh13, Eiji Tanaka14, Satoshi Mochida15, Masao Honda16, Yoichi Hiasa17, Asako Koike18, Fuminaka Sugauchi1,6, Shuichi Kaneko16, Namiki Izumi3, Katsushi Tokunaga4 and Masashi Mizokami5,∗
Capital mobility and financial repression in Italy, 1960-1990 : a public finance perspective

After significant headway towards liberalization of capital movements in the early 1960s, European governments resorted massively to capital controls in the turmoil of the demise of the Bretton Woods system. In some countries (Italy among others), what looked like a temporary backlash against incipient financial globalisation caused an escalation of domestic and external controls, leading to a comprehensive and long-lasting regime of financial repression. Why financial repression was so hard to dismantle, in spite of its widely recognized distortionary impact? Why did governments stick so long to sub-optimal policy instruments? By concentrating on the Italian case, this paper argues that a public finance approach may provide an answer to such questions. More specifically, following the literature on the political economy of capital controls and the fiscal implications of financial repression, the paper suggests that policies increasing revenues from implicit taxation may be regarded as an attempt to postpone the structural change in the established fiscal policy regime that capital liberalization necessarily entailed. As capital controls (and financial repression, more generally) substantially contributed to ease the government's budget constraint under conditions of structural deficit and rapidly rising debt, liberalization was expected to exacerbate fiscal problems. The paper illustrates the policy measures deployed to increase seigniorage revenues, grant implicit subsidies to the government and enforce financial protectionism. It also provides for the first time an estimation of the economic relevance of revenues from financial repression, which proved to be of a magnitude comparable to revenues from seigniorage. High revenues from implicit taxation (relative to GDP) can be considered a rough approximation of the cost of financial liberalization and may explain why the process of financial reform was slow and controversial.
The COOH-terminal Domain of the JIL-1 Histone H3S10 Kinase Interacts with Histone H3 and Is Required for Correct Targeting to Chromatin*

The JIL-1 histone H3S10 kinase in Drosophila localizes specifically to euchromatic interband regions of polytene chromosomes and is enriched 2-fold on the male X chromosome. JIL-1 can be divided into four main domains including an NH2-terminal domain, two separate kinase domains, and a COOH-terminal domain. Our results demonstrate that the COOH-terminal domain of JIL-1 is necessary and sufficient for correct chromosome targeting to autosomes but that both COOH- and NH2-terminal sequences are necessary for enrichment on the male X chromosome. We furthermore show that a small 53-amino acid region within the COOH-terminal domain can interact with the tail region of histone H3, suggesting that this interaction is necessary for the correct chromatin targeting of the JIL-1 kinase. Interestingly, our data indicate that the COOH-terminal domain alone is sufficient to rescue JIL-1 null mutant polytene chromosome defects including those of the male X chromosome. Nonetheless, we also found that a truncated JIL-1 protein which was without the COOH-terminal domain but retained histone H3S10 kinase activity was able to rescue autosome as well as partially rescue male X polytene chromosome morphology. Taken together these findings indicate that JIL-1 may participate in regulating chromatin structure by multiple and partially redundant mechanisms.
Sparse decompositions in "incoherent" dictionaries

The purpose of this paper is to generalize a result by Donoho, Huo, Elad and Bruckstein on sparse representations of signals/images in a union of two orthonormal bases. We consider general (redundant) dictionaries in finite dimension, and derive sufficient conditions on a signal/image for having a unique sparse representation in such a dictionary. In particular, it is proved that the result of Donoho and Huo, concerning the replacement of a combinatorial optimization problem with a linear programming problem when searching for sparse representations, has an analog for dictionaries that may be highly redundant. The special case where the dictionary is given by a union of several orthonormal bases is studied in more detail and some examples are given.
The Single-Bout Forearm Critical Force Test: A New Method to Establish Forearm Aerobic Metabolic Exercise Intensity and Capacity

No non-invasive test exists for forearm exercise that allows identification of power-time relationship parameters (W′, critical power) and thereby identification of the heavy-severe exercise intensity boundary and scaling of aerobic metabolic exercise intensity. The aim of this study was to develop a maximal effort handgrip exercise test to estimate forearm critical force (fCF; force analog of power) and establish its repeatability and validity. Ten healthy males (20–43 years) completed two maximal effort rhythmic handgrip exercise tests (repeated maximal voluntary contractions (MVC); 1 s contraction-2 s relaxation for 600 s) on separate days. Exercise intensity was quantified via peak contraction force and contraction impulse. There was no systematic difference between test 1 and 2 for fCFpeak force (p = 0.11) or fCFimpulse (p = 0.76). Typical error was small for both fCFpeak force (15.3 N, 5.5%) and fCFimpulse (15.7 N⋅s, 6.8%), and test re-test correlations were strong (fCFpeak force, r = 0.91, ICC = 0.94, p<0.01; fCFimpulse, r = 0.92, ICC = 0.95, p<0.01). Seven of ten subjects also completed time-to-exhaustion tests (TTE) at target contraction force equal to 10%fCFpeak force. TTE predicted by W′ showed good agreement with actual TTE during the TTE tests (r = 0.97, ICC = 0.97, P<0.01; typical error 0.98 min, 12%; regression fit slope = 0.99 and y intercept not different from 0, p = 0.31). MVC did not predict fCFpeak force (p = 0.37), fCFimpulse (p = 0.49) or W′ (p = 0.15). In conclusion, the poor relationship between MVC and fCF or W′ illustrates the serious limitation of MVC in identifying metabolism-based exercise intensity zones. The maximal effort handgrip exercise test provides repeatable and valid estimates of fCF and should be used to normalize forearm aerobic metabolic exercise intensity instead of MVC.
Neonatal Thrombocytopenia after Perinatal Asphyxia Treated with Hypothermia: A Retrospective Case Control Study

Our objective was to estimate the effect of therapeutic hypothermia on platelet count in neonates after perinatal asphyxia. We performed a retrospective case control study of all (near-) term neonates with perinatal asphyxia admitted between 2004 and 2012 to our neonatal intensive care unit. All neonates treated with therapeutic hypothermia were included in this study (hypothermia group) and compared with a historic control group of neonates with perinatal asphyxia treated before introduction of therapeutic hypothermia (2008). Primary outcome was thrombocytopenia during the first week after birth. Thrombocytopenia was found significantly more often in the hypothermia group than in the control group, 80% (43/54) versus 59% (27/46) (P = .02). The lowest mean platelet count in the hypothermia group and control group was 97 × 109/L and 125 × 109/L (P = .06), respectively, and was reached at a mean age of 4.1 days in the hypothermia group and 2.9 days in the control group (P < .001). The incidence of moderate/severe cerebral hemorrhage was 6% (3/47) in the hypothermia group versus 9% (3/35) in the control group (P = .64). In conclusion, neonates with perinatal asphyxia treated with therapeutic hypothermia are at increased risk of thrombocytopenia, without increased risk of cerebral hemorrhage.
1 Event-related brain potentials : an introduction

1.1 INTRODUCTION This book is concerned with the intersection of two research areas: event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and cognitive psychology. In particular, we will be considering what has been learned and what might be learned about human cognitive function by measuring the . electrical activity of the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp. In this first chapter we focus on the methodology of ERP research and on the problem of isolating ERP components, while in Chapter 2 we review issues that arise in making inferences from ERPs about cognition. We begin by considering how an ERP signal is obtained, as well as how such a signal is analysed. We consider at some length the issue of the definition of a component and we provide a brief review of some of the more well-known components. This latter review is intended to give a historical context for cognitive ERP research and the chapter as a whole should provide the reader with some understanding of the vocabulary of the ERP researcher and the 'lore' of the cognitive electrophysiologist. 1.2 ERP RECORDING AND ANALYSIS In this section we review some of the basic facts and concepts germane to ERP recording and analysis. (Portions of this section are derived from Coles et a/. 1.2.1 Derivation When a pair of electrodes are attached to the surface of the human scalp and connected to a differential amplifier, the output of the amplifier reveals a pattern of variation in voltage over time. This voltage variation is known as the 'electro-encephalogram' (or EEG). The amplitude of the normal EEG can vary between approximately-100 and + 100 PV, and its frequency ranges to 40 Hz or more. Suppose that we present a stimulus to a human subject while recording the EEG. We can define an epoch of the EEG that is time-locked to the stimulus. For example, the epoch may begin 100 ms before the onset of the stimulus and end 1000 ms later. Within this epoch, there may be voltage changes that are
Is the Surgical Safety Checklist successfully conducted? An observational study of social interactions in the operating rooms of a tertiary hospital

Objectives To determine whether the items on the Time Out and the Sign Out of the Surgical Safety Checklist are properly checked by operating room (OR) staff and to explore whether the number of checked items is influenced by the severity of the intervention and the use of the checklist as a memory tool during the Time Out and the Sign Out periods. Methods From March to July 2010, data were collected during elective surgery at the Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland. The main outcome was to assess whether each item of the Time Out and the Sign Out checklists have been checked, that is, ‘confirmed’ by at least one member of the team and ‘validated’ by at least one other member of the team. The secondary outcome was the number of validated items during the Time Out and the Sign Out. Results Time Outs (N=80) and Sign Outs (N=81) were conducted quasi systematically (99%). Items were mostly confirmed during the Time Out (range 100–72%) but less often during the Sign Out (range 86–19%). Validation of the items was far from optimal: only 13% of Time Outs and 3% of Sign Outs were properly checked (all items validated). During the Time Out, the validation process was significantly improved among the highest risk interventions (29% validation vs 15% among interventions at lower risk). During the Sign Out, a similar effect was observed (19% and 8%, respectively). A small but significant benefit was observed when using a printed checklist as a memory tool during the Sign Out, the proportion of interventions with almost all validated items being higher compared with those without the memory tool (20% and 0%, respectively). Conclusions Training on the proper completion of the checklist must be provided to OR teams. The severity of the interventions influenced the number of items properly checked.
Intimate partner violence influence on deliveries assisted by skilled health personnel

Objective: Millennium Development Goal 5 calls for increasing proportions of deliveries assisted by skilled health personnel to reduce maternal mortality. This study aims to identifying the implication of exposure to intimate partner violence on these proportions. Methodology: This study used domestic violence modules data of Demographic and Health Surveys of six countries from 2005 to 2007. Proportions of assisted deliveries were examined by sociodemographic characteristics and exposure to intimate partner violence in the studied countries. Influence on the proportion was examined against exposure to intimate partner violence through odds ratio and 95% of logistic regression analysis after controlling for women age, residence (urban/rural), household wealth level, economic level of country, educational level and working status of women and their husbands/partners. Results: Data sets of 18,507 participants over 20 years of age showed that almost three-quarters (73%) of women had deliveries assisted by skilled health personnel. One-third of the women were ever exposed to intimate partner violence (37%) and 9% of them to the severe level. Exposure to intimate partner violence statistically significantly lowered this proportion to 69% (odds ratio: 0.73; 95% confidence interval: 0.67–0.78) meanwhile severe violence lowered it to 65% (odds ratio 0.64; 95% confidence interval: 0.58–0.72). When running multiple regression analysis, exposure to intimate partner violence retained its statistically significant decreasing influence on proportions and was not biased by the other stronger socioeconomic characteristics. Conclusion and recommendations: Intimate partner violence has an independent influence on reducing assisted deliveries by skilled health personnel. Programs working for increasing proportions of assisted deliveries by skilled health personnel are recommended to integrate protection women from violence.
Dendritic Excitability of Mouse Frontal Cortex Pyramidal Neurons Is Shaped by the Interaction among HCN, Kir2, and Kleak Channels

Dendritically placed, voltage-sensitive ion channels are key regulators of neuronal synaptic integration. In several cell types, hyperpolarization/cyclic nucleotide gated (HCN) cation channels figure prominently in dendritic mechanisms controlling the temporal summation of excitatory synaptic events. In prefrontal cortex, the sustained activity of pyramidal neurons in working memory tasks is thought to depend on the temporal summation of dendritic excitatory inputs. Yet we know little about how this is accomplished in these neurons and whether HCN channels play a role. To gain a better understanding of this process, layer V–VI pyramidal neurons in slices of mouse prelimbic and infralimbic cortex were studied. Somatic voltage-clamp experiments revealed the presence of rapidly activating and deactivating cationic currents attributable to HCN1/HCN2 channels. These channels were open at the resting membrane potential and had an apparent half-activation voltage near –90 mV. In the same voltage range, K+ currents attributable to Kir2.2/2.3 and K+-selective leak (Kleak) channels were prominent. Computer simulations grounded in the biophysical measurements suggested a dynamic interaction among Kir2, Kleak, and HCN channel currents in shaping membrane potential and the temporal integration of synaptic potentials. This inference was corroborated by experiment. Blockade of Kir2/Kleak channels caused neurons to depolarize, leading to the deactivation of HCN channels, the initiation of regular spiking (4–5 Hz), and enhanced temporal summation of EPSPs. These studies show that HCN channels are key regulators of synaptic integration in prefrontal pyramidal neurons but that their functional contribution is dependent on a partnership with Kir2 and Kleak channels.
Uncertainties in relation to CO 2 capture and sequestration . Preliminary results

This paper has been presented at an expert meeting on CO2 capture technology learning at the IEA headquarters, January 24th 2003. The electricity sector is a key source of CO2 emissions and a strong increase of emissions is forecast in a business-as-usual scenario. A range of strategies have been proposed to reduce these emissions. This paper focuses on one of the promising strategies, CO2 capture and storage. The future role of CO2 capture in the electricity sector has been assessed, using the Energy Technology Perspectives model. Technology data have been collected and reviewed in cooperation with the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D implementing agreement and other expert groups. CO2 capture and sequestration is based on relatively new technology. Therefore its characteristics and its future role in the energy system is subject to uncertainties, as for any new technology. The analysis suggests that the choice of a reference electricity production technology and the characteristics of the CO2 storage option constitute the two main uncertainties, apart from a large number of other factors of lesser importance. Based on the choices made cost estimates can range from less than zero USD for coal fired power plants to more than 150 USD per ton of CO2 for gas fired power plants. The results suggest that learning effects are important, but they do not affect the CO2 capture costs significantly, other uncertainties dominate the cost estimates. The ETP model analysis, where choices are based on the ideal market hypothesis and rational price based decision making, suggest up to 18% of total global electricity production will be equipped with CO2 capture by 2040, in case of a penalty of 50 US$ per ton of CO2. However this high penetration is only achieved in case coal fired IGCC-SOFC power plants are developed successfully. Without such technology only a limited amount of CO2 is captured from gas fired power plants. Higher penalties may result in a higher share of CO2 capture and sequestration. While CO2 capture technology will be important for the future role of coal, the model results suggest that the future role of natural gas is not affected significantly. Model results indicate only limited competition between CO2 capture and renewables. Both CO2 mitigation strategies show a significant growth in case of the 50 USD/t CO2 penalty. In conclusion it is recommended to develop CO2 capture and sequestration technology, to reduce remaining uncertainties regarding the permanence of CO2 storage, and to reduce the costs of this strategy through advanced power plant designs. In a next step, this model will be further developed with CO2 capture in industry and in other parts of the energy sector. A report on CO2 capture and sequestration, building on the work that is described in this paper, is planned for the fall of 2003.
Investigation of the Phenomenological and Psychopathological Features of Trichotillomania in an Italian Sample

Trichotillomania (TTM) is still a scarcely known and often inadequately treated disorder in Italian clinical settings, despite growing evidence about its severe and disabling consequences. The current study investigated the phenomenology of TTM in Italian individuals; in addition, we sought to examine patterns of self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and OCD-related symptoms in individuals with TTM compared to healthy participants. The current study represents the first attempt to investigate the phenomenological and psychopathological features of TTM in Italian hair pullers. One hundred and twenty-two individuals with TTM were enrolled: 24 were assessed face-to-face (face-to-face group) and 98 were recruited online (online group). An additional group of 22 face-to-face assessed healthy controls (HC group) was included in the study. The overall female to male ratio was 14:1, which is slightly higher favoring female than findings reported in literature. Main results revealed that a higher percentage of individuals in the online group reported pulling from the pubic region than did face-to-face participants; furthermore, the former engaged in examining the bulb and running the hair across the lips and reported pulling while lying in bed at higher frequencies than the latter. Interestingly, the online TTM group showed greater functional and psychological impairment, as well as more severe psychopathological characteristics (self-esteem, physiological and social anxiety, perfectionism, overestimation of threat, and control of thoughts), than the face-to-face one. Differences between the two TTM groups may be explained by the anonymity nature of the online group, which may have led to successful recruitment of more serious TTM cases, or fostered more open answers to questions. Overall, results revealed that many of the phenomenological features of Italian TTM participants matched those found in U.S. clinical settings, even though some notable differences were observed; therefore, cross-cultural invariance might represent a characteristic of OCD-related disorders.