Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health Literacy, Glycemic Control, and Physician-Advised Glucose Self-Monitoring Use in Type 2 Diabetes

Purpose. Many people with diabetes have difficulty achieving glycemic targets, and social and psychosocial determinants of health may influence their ability to obtain glycemic goals. The objective of this study was to identify characteristics independently associated with A1C >9% or untested A1C compared to those with A1C ≤9% at a federally qualified health center. Methods. This retrospective cohort study included people with a diagnosis of diabetes, who were 18–89 years of age and had a medical evaluation from a primary care provider between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017. The primary outcome was to identify characteristics associated with an A1C >9% or untested A1C compared to those with an A1C ≤9%. Results. Of 6,185 patients meeting inclusion criteria, 2,965 (48%) had uncontrolled A1C. In the uncontrolled A1C group, 1,549 patients (52%) were female, 1,296 (44%) preferred care in a language other than English (1,273 [43%] in Spanish), and 535 (18%) had a concurrent mental health diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression of 4,774 patients with complete data revealed that poor appointment adherence (odds ratio [OR] 3.24, 95% CI 2.30–4.57) and/or a positive Patient Health Questionnaire-2 depression screen (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.12–1.62) had an increased risk of being in the uncontrolled A1C group. Patients with a prescription for antidepressant medication were more likely to be in the controlled group. Conclusion. Poor adherence to appointments and presence of depressive symptoms were associated with high A1C values. Interventions can be developed targeting these determinants to improve blood glucose levels.
MR MORPHOMETRY ANALYSIS OF GREY MATTER VOLUME REDUCTION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: ASSOCIATION WITH HALLUCINATIONS

The authors used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to study GM volume differences in the whole brain volume between a group of patients with schizophrenia and a healthy control group. There were 12 patients and 12 control subjects. The subjects were scanned in a 1.5 T MR scanner. The patients had all been evaluated by a senior psychiatrist on the brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS). The VBM data was correlated with reports of rate and frequency of hallucinations based on their scores on the BPRS hallucination item. There were significant grey matter volume reductions in the schizophrenia patient group in the left superior (transverse) temporal gyrus, the left middle frontal gyrus, and in the right cuneus. Areas of grey matter volume reduction that correlated negatively with hallucinations were found in the left superior (transverse) temporal gyrus, left thalamus, and left and right cerebellum. This article proposes that significant reductions in grey matter volume may be instrumental in generating spontaneous neuronal activity that is associated with speech perception experiences in the absence of an external acoustic stimulus that may cause hallucinations.
Record-Breaking Northward Shift of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High in July 2018

The northward shift of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High (WNPSH) in July 2018 broke the historical record since 1958 and resulted in extreme heat waves and casualties across Northeast Asia (NEA). In the present work, we associated this extreme WNPSH anomaly with the anomalies of barotropic anticyclone above NEA originating from the strongest positive tripole pattern of sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the North Atlantic in July. Both data analysis and numerical experiments indicated that the positive tripole SSTA pattern could produce an upper-tropospheric wave source over Europe, which stimulated an eastward propagating wave train along the subpolar westerly jet over the Eurasian Continent. When its anticyclonic node reached NEA, the WNPSH started to shift northward. After the cyclonic node in the circulation anomaly encountered the Tibetan Plateau (TP), atmospheric diabatic heating was enhanced over the eastern TP, initiating another subtropical wave train, which furthered the northward shift of the WNPSH. Therefore, the wave source over Europe was critical for the northward shift of the WNPSH in July, connecting the tripole SSTA pattern in the North Atlantic with the WNPSH anomaly and maintaining the downstream effects of thermal forcing over the eastern TP on the Asian summer monsoon.
Perceiving Fully Occluded Objects via Physical Simulation

Conventional theories of visual object recognition treat objects effectively as abstract, arbitrary patterns of image features. They do not explicitly represent objects as physical entities in the world, with physical properties such as three-dimensional shape, mass, stiffness, elasticity, surface friction, and so on. However, for many purposes, an object’s physical existence is central to our ability to recognize it and think about it. This is certainly true for recognition via haptic perception, i.e., perceiving objects by touch, but even in the visual domain an object’s physical properties may directly determine how it looks and thereby how we recognize it. Here we show how a physical object representation can allow the solution of visual problems, like perceiving an object under a cloth, that are otherwise difficult to accomplish without extensive experience, and we provide behavioral and computational evidence that people can use such a representation.
Fuzzy Changes-in Changes

The changes-in-changes model extends the widely used difference-in-differences to situations where outcomes may evolve heterogeneously. Contrary to difference-in-differences, this model is invariant to the scaling of the outcome. This paper develops an instrumental variable changes-in-changes model, to allow for situations in which perfect control and treatment groups cannot be defined, so that some units may be treated in the "control group", while some units may remain untreated in the "treatment group". This is the case for instance with repeated cross sections, if the treatment is not tied to a strict rule. Under a mild strengthening of the changes-in-changes model, treatment effects in a population of compliers are point identified when the treatment rate does not change in the control group, and partially identified otherwise. We show that simple plug-in estimators of treatment effects are asymptotically normal and that the bootstrap is valid. Finally, we use our results to reanalyze findings in Field (2007) and Duflo (2001).
Programming Live Distributed Objects with Distributed Data Flows

This paper presents a new object-oriented approach to modeling the semantics of distributed multi-party protocols such as leader election, distributed locking, or reliable multicast, and a programming language that supports it. The approach builds on and extends our live distributed objects model [37] by introducing a new concept of a distributed flow, a stream of messages flowing concurrently at multiple locations. Our flows correspond to variables, private fields, and method parameters in Java-like languages; they are the means by which we store and communicate state. Active protocol instances, which correspond to Java objects, consume and output flows; their internal states are encapsulated as internal flows, and all of their internal logic is represented as operations on flows. Our language supports a new type of concern separation: the semantic structure of protocols is decoupled from implementation details such as the construction and maintenance of overlays, trees, or other hierarchical structures needed for scalability. The latter can be addressed by the compiler or at the deployment time; it can be done differently in different parts of the network, to match local network characteristics. The paper introduces the basic language concepts, syntax, and semantics, illustrating formal definitions with a discussion of example protocols such as leader election, distributed locking, agreement, and loss recovery. It shows examples of rules for a formal reasoning about programs in our language. While full implementation details of the supporting compiler and runtime are beyond the scope of this paper, we do briefly describe how our new language primitives can be implemented. Our approach is practical: the core language constructs, including hierarchical monotonic aggregations, have been implemented and evaluated in a simulator [38]. The full compiler framework is in preparation and will be publicly released as a part of our live distributed objects platform [1].
The Evolving Role of Thiopurines for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

CREATIVE EVOLUTION: HOW IT ALL STARTED The use of 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) and azathioprine (AZA) for the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) dates back to the 1960s, when the treatment success for other inflammatory conditions, including systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune hemolytic anemia, led to case reports on the use of these immunosuppressive agents for both Crohn’s Disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). In 1980, Present et al more rigorously studied 6-MP in a placebo-controlled trial that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 6-MP was started at an initial dose of 1.5 mg$kg21$d21 and titrated to keep the white blood cell (WBC) count greater than 4500, and the platelet count greater than 100,000. They found that 6-MP was more effective than the placebo in inducing and maintaining remission of CD. The mean response time was 3 months with 20% not demonstrating a response until 16 weeks of therapy. This led to the conclusion that these therapies take at least 3 months to take effect. However, this may not be the case, as Sandborn et al showed in the IV–AZA-loading dose study that response may occur earlier.
Impact of Coexisting Coronary Artery Disease on the Occurrence of Cerebral Ischemic Lesions after Carotid Stenting

Background Coronary artery disease (CAD) may coexist with extracranial carotid artery stenosis (ECAS), but the influence of CAD on procedure-related complications after carotid artery stenting (CAS) has not been well investigated. The study aimed to determine the impact of CAD on the occurrence of peri-CAS cerebral ischemic lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) scanning. Methods Coronary angiography was performed within six months before CAS. DWI scanning was repetitively done within 1 week before and after CAS. Clinical outcome measures were stroke, angina, myocardial infarction and death within 30 days. Results Among 126 patients (69.5±9.0 years) recruited for unilateral protected CAS, 33 (26%) patients had peri-CAS DWI-positive lesions. CAD was noted in 79% (26 in 33) and 48% (45 in 93) of patients with and without peri-CAS DWI-positive lesions (OR, 4.0; 95% CI, 1.6–10.0; P = .0018), and the number of concomitant CAD on coronary angiography was positively correlated with the risk for peri-CAS DWI-positive lesions (P = .0032). In patients with no CAD (n = 55), asymptomatic CAD (n = 41) and symptomatic CAD (n = 30), the occurrence rates of peri-CAS DWI-positive lesions were 13%, 41% and 30% (P = .0048), and the peri-CAS stroke rates were 2%, 7% and 0% (P = .2120). Conclusions The severity of morphological CAD and the presence of either symptomatic or asymptomatic CAD are associated with the occurrence of peri-CAS cerebral ischemic lesions.
Automatic Generation of Lead Sheets from Polyphonic Music Signals

A lead sheet is a type of music notation which summarizes the content of a song. The usual elements that are reproduced are the melody, chords, tempo, time signature, style and the lyrics, if any. In this paper we propose a system that aims at transcribing both the melody and the associated chords in a beat-synchronous framework. A beat tracker identifies the pulse positions and thus defines a beat grid on which the chord sequence and the melody notes are mapped. The harmonic changes are used to estimate the time signature and the down beats as well as the key of the piece. The different modules perform very well on each of the different tasks, and the lead sheets that were rendered show the potential of the approaches adopted in this paper.
Patients' Perceptions of Their Pain Condition Across a Multidisciplinary Pain Management Program: Do They Change and if So Does It Matter?

ObjectivesThe primary aim of this study was to determine whether changes in cognitive processes are related to improved functional outcomes across a multidisciplinary pain management program. MethodsA longitudinal design was employed where patients completed 6 versions of the same questionnaire at the beginning, middle, and end of the 4-week treatment program and at 1, 3, and 6 months follow-up. Seventy-six patients consented to participate in this study. Outcome was assessed using the physical and mental component scores of the Short Form Health Questionnaire. Measures of cognitive processes included the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire Revised, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire. Fifty-eight patients (76%) completed all 6 questionnaires. ResultsWe found reductions in catastrophizing and beliefs about the serious consequences of pain were most strongly associated with improved physical functioning, whereas reductions in pain vigilance, emotional representations of pain, and sense of coherence about pain were the best predictors of improved mental functioning. Overall, change in cognitive processes accounted for 26% of the variance in improved physical functioning and 23% of the variance in mental functioning. DiscussionThese findings suggest that interventions that specifically target cognitive processes may enhance treatment effects for patients with chronic pain.
Ureteral tissue engineering: development of a bioreactor system and subsequent characterization of the generated biohybrids

Today, 1-2.5% of all genitourinary tract trauma affect the ureters, leading to severe impairments of the urine’s drainage. Till now, classical reconstructive surgery has the possibility to bridge up to 15 cm of damaged tissue, depending on the location. Even the “gold standard”, with intestine interposition, where longer distances can be overcome, can lead to postoperative side effects like stricture formation, calcification or excessive mucous production. This thesis presents a new attempt for the replacement of damaged ureters by the use of tissue engineering technologies. A bioreactor system is developed for the generation of tubular biohybrids consisting of a natural and a composite biomaterial (pure collagen or fibrin and PVDF) in combination with different cell types (Urotsa, C2C12, fibroblasts and primary smooth muscle cells). A mechanotransduction is established for a mechanical stimulation and orientation of the applied cells. The bioreactor system allows a reliable incubation of a modularly constructed bioreactor for the cultivation of mammalian cells for up to two weeks. Incubation parameters are kept in defined ranges with deviations of ≤1 °C (temperature), ≤0.2 (pH value) and ≤0.3% (CO2 concentration). Cocultivations of Urotsa and C2C12 cells are possible in combination with a porous OPTIMAIX 3D, which has radially oriented pores with varying diameters. Mechanical stimulation that is based on a kyphoplasty catheter is applied on primary smooth muscle cells that are embedded in a PVDF-supported fibrin matrix. Biochemical and mechanical evaluations reveal that there is no significant difference between a mechanically stimulated and an unstimulated prosthesis with respect to the diffusion of urea/creatinine or the rupture pressure. Histological analysis shows two distinguishable cell layers with a longitudinal alignment on the outer surface and a circular orientation in the matrix of the stimulated fibrin-based prosthesis. It can be concluded that biohybrids can be generated in this bioreactor system with at least two different cellular orientations. These biohybrids need to be characterised in further (animal) experiments.
Epidemiology of Cyclospora Species in Humans in Malatya Province in Turkey

Background: Cyclospora species are rare among other Coccidia parasites and can cause recurrent gastroenteritis. Cyclospora spp. can infect reptiles, insects, rodents, and mammals. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the epidemiology of Cyclospora spp. in Malatya province and its neighboring provinces. Patients and Methods: Totally, 2281 stool samples taken from patients with digestive system complaints who referred to the polyclinics affiliated with Inonu University, Faculty of Medicine in Malatya Province and its neighboring provinces, in 2006, and whose stool specimens were submitted to the parasitology department were examined. A questionnaire was developed to determine the epidemiology of Cyclospora spp. in the patients as the dependent variable of the study. All the participants signed an informed written consent. The samples were coated with Entellan™ after staining via acid-fast staining and were examined on an immersion microscope objective. The data are presented as mean, standard deviation, or number/percentage. The chi-square test was used for the statistical analyses. Statistically, a P value < 0.05 was accepted as meaningful. Results: The stool samples were examined via direct microscopic examination and acid-fast staining. Positivity was determined in 129 (5.7%) cases. In the overall assessment of the patients with respect to general body itching, rectal itching, allergy, immunosuppression plus cancer, shortness of breath, ulcerative colitis, diarrhea, abdominal pain, salivation, constipation, nausea, vomiting, growth retardation, and anemia, there was no significant relationship. However, in the statistical evaluations among the positive cases, the difference was found to be significant. Conclusions: The study was conducted in Malatya Province, but patients from the neighboring provinces were also included in the evaluation during the study. Of all the positive cases, 5.6% were those from Malatya Province and its surrounding areas. Additionally, Cyclospora spp. were observed among the patients referring to the polyclinics with digestive system complaints in 8.1% of those from the Adiyaman province and in 6.9% of those from the Kahramanmaraş region. The incidence of Cyclospora cayetanensis may be higher in these regions if an epidemiological study is performed. Consequently, we suggest that Cyclospora spp. be investigated in digestive system disorders, especially in immunosuppressed patients.
Age Estimation Based on Pulp Cavity to Tooth Volume Ratio Using Postmortem Computed Tomography Images

Pulp cavity size is known to decrease with age and can therefore serve as an indicator for age estimation. Here, we evaluated whether reconstructed images of multidetector‐row computed tomography (MDCT) acquired before forensic autopsy are useful for estimating age at death. Images of 136 mandibular first premolars obtained from bodies of known age at death were analyzed, and the volume of the regions corresponding to pulp cavity and that of the whole tooth were determined using a voxel counting function. The pulp cavity was clearly distinguishable from dental hard tissue on the reconstructed images when using a cutoff value of 1400 Hounsfield units. Regression analysis adjusted for sex showed that estimated age correlated significantly with the pulp cavity to tooth volume ratio (r = 0.76). MDCT is gaining more widespread use in forensic medicine, and analyzing dental images to obtain parameters for age prediction is a practical approach for postmortem identification.
Improving session-to-session transfer performance of motor imagery-based BCI using adaptive extreme learning machine

Non-stationarity of electroencephalograph (EEG) data from session-to-session transfer is one of the challenges for EEG-based brain-computer interface systems, which can inversely affect their performance. Among methods proposed to address non-stationarity, adaptation is a promising method. In this study, an adaptive extreme learning machine (AELM) is proposed to update the initial classifier from the calibration session by using chunks of EEG data from the evaluation session whereby the common spatial pattern (CSP) algorithm is used to extract the most discriminative features. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is on motor imagery data collected from 12 healthy subjects during a calibration session and an evaluation session on a separate day. The results from the proposed AELM were compared with non-adaptive ELM and SVM classifiers. The results showed that AELM was significantly better (p=0.03). Moreover, the results also showed that accumulating the evaluation session data and useing them for adapting the classifier will significantly improve the performance (p=0.001). Hence, the proposed AELM is effective in addressing the non-stationarity of EEG signal for online BCI systems.
Walking and running energy expenditure estimated by Caltrac and indirect calorimetry.

The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of the Caltrac personal activity computer during walking and running. Ten women and 10 men walked at speeds of 2-5 mph and ran at speeds of 4-8 mph on a horizontal treadmill. Two Caltrac monitors were attached over opposite hips: one programed to give caloric expenditure and the other to give Caltrac counts. Oxygen uptake was measured simultaneously. Significant correlations were found during walking between Caltrac estimated and actual energy expenditure (r = 0.91) and between activity counts and net exercise VO2.kg-1 (r = 0.87). However, the Caltrac significantly overestimated energy cost during horizontal walking at speeds above 2 mph. Although there was a significant correlation between Caltrac estimated and actual energy expenditure during running (r = 0.71), the correlation between Caltrac counts and net exercise VO2.kg-1 was not significant (r = 0.29). There was no significant increase in Caltrac kcal or counts with increased running speed between 5 and 8 mph. It is concluded that the Caltrac is a valid indicator of physical activity during walking but does not adequately discriminate between running speeds of 5-8 mph.
Necessity of transnasal gastroscopy in routine diagnostics: a patient-centred requirement analysis

Introduction Numerous indications require regular upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (oesophagogastroduodenoscopy; EGD) in outpatients. In most cases, peroral gastroscopy is performed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the need of transnasal gastroscopy (nEGD) in outpatients. Methods A questionnaire was used to assess patients’ preferred choice of method, previous experience with EGD, psychological aspects and sociodemographic data. Furthermore, patient satisfaction with and potentially perceived discomfort during the examination as well as preference for a method in regard to future examinations was evaluated. Results From September 2016 to March 2017, a total of 283 outpatients at endoscopy of the University Hospital of Leipzig were approached to participate in the study. 196 patients were eligible, of whom 116 (60%) chose nEGD. For 87 patients (87/283, 31%) nEGD had to be excluded for medical reasons. The average age in the total sample was 53 (±17) years. 147 (77%) have had previous experience with peroral EGD (oEGD). Of the nEGD examined patients 83% were fairly up to extremely satisfied with the procedure. Satisfaction significantly predicted the choice of future EGD examinations. Nasal pain experienced during nEGDs was associated with rejection of nEGD in further EGD examinations (p<0.01). Patients who did choose a specific procedure were more likely to select the same procedure as their future preference (χ²= 73.6, df=1, p<0.001); this preference was unaffected by the procedure that had been chosen previously (reselecting nEGD: 84%, oEGD: 89%, p=0.874). Conclusion nEGD without sedation is a viable alternative. Patient satisfaction with nEGD is high, and reselection rate for nEGD is similar to that for oEGD. As a result of this study nEGD is now offered as a routine procedure at the University of Leipzig. Trial registration number NCT03663491.