Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Systematic review of prognostic factors predicting outcome in non‐surgically treated patients with sciatica

Identification of prognostic factors for surgery in patients with sciatica is important to be able to predict surgery in an early stage. Identification of prognostic factors predicting persistent pain, disability and recovery are important for better understanding of the clinical course, to inform patient and physician and support decision making. Consequently, we aimed to systematically review prognostic factors predicting outcome in non‐surgically treated patients with sciatica. A search of Medline, Embase, Web of Science and Cinahl, up to March 2012 was performed for prospective cohort studies on prognostic factors for non‐surgically treated sciatica. Two reviewers independently selected studies for inclusion and assessed the risk of bias. Outcomes were pain, disability, recovery and surgery. A best evidence synthesis was carried out in order to assess and summarize the data. The initial search yielded 4392 articles of which 23 articles reporting on 14 original cohorts met the inclusion criteria. High clinical, methodological and statistical heterogeneity among studies was found. Reported evidence regarding prognostic factors predicting the outcome in sciatica is limited. The majority of factors that have been evaluated, e.g., age, body mass index, smoking and sensory disturbance, showed no association with outcome. The only positive association with strong evidence was found for leg pain intensity at baseline as prognostic factor for subsequent surgery.
Evaluation of risk level assessment strategies in life Insurance: A review of the literature

The viability of every insurance company depends on risk assessment of new life policy proposals. Machine learning techniques are increasingly shown to double case processing speed, reducing manual evaluation time. The underwriter evaluates the risk in several ways, including financial and medical evaluations and category classification based on customer data and other factors like previous insurance information, clinical history, and financial data. This research examines different academics’ publications on risk prediction while offering a new insurance policy to an applicant. Multiple machine learning models developed by researchers have been extensively investigated. The researchers’ model evaluation criteria were analyzed to understand and discover study gaps. The article additionally analyses how researchers found an accurate machine-learning model. This report also analyses various scholars’ future work proposals to identify what could possibly be modified for further research. This study details the measures used by other academics to evaluate machine learning models. This study describes the criteria used by other scholars to evaluate machine learning models. The criteria used by investigators to assess the produced models were carefully evaluated to understand and spot any untapped potential for advancement. Researchers’ methods for finding an accurate machine-learning model are also examined in this article. In addition, this study analyses several researchers’ future work proposals to discover what may be changed for further research. Using previous academics’ work, this review suggests ways to enhance insurance manual procedures.
Major histocompatibility complex class I antigens and the control of viral infections by natural killer cells

Natural killer (NK) cells are large, granular cytotoxic lymphocytes which represent a major portion of the lymphocyte infiltrate of infected tissue at early stages of viral infections (35, 37). NK cells become cytolytically activated and proliferate in vivo after exposure either to alpha, beta, or gamma interferon (IFN-a, -b or -g) or interleukin-2 (4, 6–8, 50). The peak in NK cell activation and proliferation occurs early in viral infections, in parallel with the IFN-a/b response (7, 50); at later stages of infection, when there is substantial T-cell proliferation and production of IFN-g and interleukin-2, the NK cells are inhibited by large quantities of transforming growth factor b produced by macrophages receiving signals from the activated T cells (4, 46). Considerable evidence has amassed to indicate that NK cells provide natural resistance to a number of viral infections (52). NK cell depletion and reconstitution experiments in mice have been reported to demonstrate a role for NK cells in the control of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), vaccinia virus (VV), mouse hepatitis virus, herpes simplex virus (HSV), influenza virus, coxsackievirus, and other viral infections (reviewed in reference 52). Examples of human NK cell deficiencies are rare, but at our institution an adolescent presenting with a complete and selective NK cell deficiency had unusually severe infections with varicella-zoster virus, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and HSV (5). The control of virus infections by NK cells in vivo is not well understood but is likely to be a consequence of the direct lysis of virus-infected cells and/or of the antiviral or immunomodulatory properties of NK cell-produced cytokines such as IFN-g or tumor necrosis factor alpha (28, 38, 52). Direct lysis of virus-infected cells but not of uninfected cells would require either some form of selective NK cell recognition of targets at the binding or triggering steps or else would result from an increased sensitivity of virus-infected cells to cytolytic mechanisms. How NK cells recognize targets is not understood, but it has now become clear that altered class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) expression can render target cells more sensitive to NK cell-mediated lysis and that viruses, through a variety of mechanisms, can alter class I MHC expression (32, 39, 43). NEGATIVE REGULATION OF NK CELL-MEDIATED CYTOTOXICITY BY CLASS I MHC ANTIGENS ON TARGET CELLS
Piperine activates testicular apoptosis in adult rats

Piperine, an alkaloid present in the fruits of commonly used spice pepper, is known to impair reproductive functions. In the present study, piperine was administered to adult male rats at the dose levels of 1, 10, and 100 mg/kg body weight for 30 days to evaluate its effects on the testis. A significant decrease in the activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase in the testis was observed at 10 and 100 mg of piperine administration when compared with the controls. A dose‐dependent increase in lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide generation was also observed. Sialic acid levels in the testis were also found to be decreased when piperine was administered at 10 and 100 mg dose levels. Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated a dose‐dependent increase in caspase 3 and Fas protein in testicular germ cells after piperine treatment. These observations indicate that piperine induces oxidative stress and thereby triggers apoptosis in the testis, contributing to hampered reproductive functions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 22:382–388, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jbt.20251
Renal denervation after the symplicity HTN-3 trial

Renal denervation (RDN) by radiofrequency ablation is a minimally invasive catheter-based technique targeting the renal sympathetic nerves which has emerged as a promising therapy for resistant hypertension since the initial Symplicity HTN-1 study was published in 2009 [1]. At the time, the role of sympathetic renal nerves in the development and course of hypertension had already been proven [2, 3] and the safety and efficacy of renal nerve ablation had been confirmed in animals models [4]. The “proof of concept” Symplicity HTN-1 trial demonstrated the safety and initial efficacy of the procedure in humans and led to the design of the first randomized trial, Symplicity HTN-2 [5]. Both trials revealed an impressive blood pressure-lowering effect and the safety of RDN [1, 5]. The 36-month long-term follow-up of the Symplicity HTN-1 study confirmed a sustained blood pressure (BP) reduction of 33/19 mm Hg [6]. These promising results were also confirmed later in many registries reporting on the effects of RDN on office and ambulatory BP [7]. Also the early results of the Global Symplicity Registry (GSR) – an open label, multi-indication registry, currently being conducted worldwide to evaluate the safety and efficacy of RDN with the Symplicity RDN System – support the view that RDN is an effective and safe procedure in reducing BP. The Symplicity Trials and later reports led to great enthusiasm in the medical community and resulted in a consensus statement on RDN of European experts published in the “European Heart Journal” [7] followed by the position statement of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) [8] and current ESH/ESC Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension [9]. According to the ESH/ESC Guidelines, renal denervation may be considered as a possible treatment for patients with resistant hypertension meeting the restricted criteria for the procedure. Knowing the limitations of previous trials (including small sample sizes, limited assessment of ambulatory BP, lack of blinding, and lack of sham procedure as a control) all above-mentioned documents underlined however the necessity of a larger and properly designed, blinded trial with a masked procedure to determine the role of RDN.
Adult neurogenesis modifies excitability of the dentate gyrus

Adult-born dentate granule neurons contribute to memory encoding functions of the dentate gyrus (DG) such as pattern separation. However, local circuit-mechanisms by which adult-born neurons partake in this process are poorly understood. Computational, neuroanatomical and electrophysiological studies suggest that sparseness of activation in the granule cell layer (GCL) is conducive for pattern separation. A sparse coding scheme is thought to facilitate the distribution of similar entorhinal inputs across the GCL to decorrelate overlapping representations and minimize interference. Here we used fast voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) imaging combined with laser photostimulation and electrical stimulation to examine how selectively increasing adult DG neurogenesis influences local circuit activity and excitability. We show that DG of mice with more adult-born neurons exhibits decreased strength of neuronal activation and more restricted excitation spread in GCL while maintaining effective output to CA3c. Conversely, blockade of adult hippocampal neurogenesis changed excitability of the DG in the opposite direction. Analysis of GABAergic inhibition onto mature dentate granule neurons in the DG of mice with more adult-born neurons shows a modest readjustment of perisomatic inhibitory synaptic gain without changes in overall inhibitory tone, presynaptic properties or GABAergic innervation pattern. Retroviral labeling of connectivity in mice with more adult-born neurons showed increased number of excitatory synaptic contacts of adult-born neurons onto hilar interneurons. Together, these studies demonstrate that adult hippocampal neurogenesis modifies excitability of mature dentate granule neurons and that this non-cell autonomous effect may be mediated by local circuit mechanisms such as excitatory drive onto hilar interneurons. Modulation of DG excitability by adult-born dentate granule neurons may enhance sparse coding in the GCL to influence pattern separation.
Mothers’ knowledge of child health matters: Are we doing enough?

Background: Child care is mostly the responsibility of mothers. Several studies have revealed that the mothers’ education has a positive impact on their knowledge and practice in child health matters. Objectives: The study was undertaken to assess the level of mothers’ knowledge on certain aspects of child health care and whether there is any correlation between their level of knowledge and the number of years of formal education they have had. Materials and Methods: A two-part questionnaire was distributed. The first part comprised information about mother's nationality, age, work, level of education and number of children, in addition to sources of health information and the role of school education in child health matters. The second part contained 40 statements about different aspects of child health matters. A structured interview with the mothers who attended with their children at the pediatric outpatient clinic of King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh during July and August 2007, was conducted by a trained non-medical research assistant using the items and statements of the questionnaire as a base. A knowledge score was calculated from the number of correct answers. The maximum score was 40. An arbitrary cut-off score of 25 was considered satisfactory. Results: Three-hundred-seventy-three questionnaires were completed. The mean score of the total sample was 25 (out of 40) and the minimum score obtained was 14, and the maximum 36. Fifty-eight percent scored 25 or more. Scrutiny of individual items on the questionnaire revealed significant and serious gaps in mother's knowledge. No statistically significant correlation was evident between mothers’ knowledge of child health related matters and level of education, age, or number of children. Conclusion: Mothers’ knowledge of child health related matters is deficient. At present, knowledge on child health matters taught in schools in the Kingdom is inadequate. Health care institutions play a limited role in health education. There should be proper effective practical means of disseminating information on child health matters among mothers in our community.
Hybrid Block Diagonalization for Massive Multiuser MIMO Systems

For a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system, restricting the number of RF chains to far less than the number of antenna elements can significantly reduce the implementation cost compared to the full complexity RF chain configuration. In this paper, we consider the downlink communication of a massive multiuser MIMO (MU-MIMO) system and propose a low-complexity hybrid block diagonalization (Hy-BD) scheme to approach the capacity performance of the traditional BD processing method. We aim to harvest the large array gain through the phase-only RF precoding and combining and then digital BD processing is performed on the equivalent baseband channel. The proposed Hy-BD scheme is examined in both the large Rayleigh fading channels and millimeter wave (mmWave) channels. A performance analysis is further conducted for single-path channels and large number of transmit and receive antennas. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that our Hy-BD scheme, with a lower implementation and computational complexity, achieves a capacity performance that is close to (sometimes even higher than) that of the traditional high-dimensional BD processing.
Is sparse taxon sampling a problem for phylogenetic inference?

Rosenberg and Kumar (2001) addressed the importance of taxon sampling in phylogenetic analysis and concluded that phylogenetic error is “largely independent of taxon sample size” (2001:10756) and that their “results do not provide evidence in favor of adding taxa to problematic phylogenies” (2001:10756). In response to these conclusions, Zwickl and Hillis (2002) and Pollock et al. (2002) conducted additional simulations and reanalyzed the data presented by Rosenberg and Kumar (2001). Zwickl and Hillis and Pollock et al. showed that these conclusions of Rosenberg and Kumar could not be supported either by analyses of their original data or by new simulations that corrected a number of deficiencies in Rosenberg and Kumar’s original experimental design. Both Zwickl and Hillis and Pollock et al. found that increased taxon sampling resulted in greatly reduced phylogenetic estimation error, and Pollock et al. showed that the benefits of increased taxon sampling were similar to adding an equivalent amount of sequence length for the same taxa (in the ranges simulated by Rosenberg and Kumar). In their response, Rosenberg and Kumar (2002) focused on a slightly different conclusion from that in their original paper, which was that “longer sequences, rather than extensive sampling, will better improve the accuracy of phylogenetic inference” (2001:10751). In 2001, Rosenberg and Kumar argued that the beneficial effect of increasing taxa was 10-fold lower than the beneficial effect of increasing sequence length and that the effects of increased taxon sampling for the same genes were negligible (“largely independently” of phylogenetic error). Rosenberg and Kumar (2002) have now concluded that the beneficial effect of increasing taxon sample size is not small, but they suggested that the benefit comes simply from the overall increase in size of the data matrix (the total number of characters × taxa). Furthermore, they maintained that there is a greater benefit to increasing the total sequence length for few taxa than can be obtained by increasing taxon sampling for the same genes. Here, we discuss the two sets of conclusions reached by Rosenberg and Kumar (2001, 2002).
Does social support predict smoking abstinence in dual-smoker couples? Evidence from a dyadic approach

ABSTRACT Background and Objectives: Romantic partners have a significant influence on their health behaviors. Evidence for the effectiveness of social support for smoking abstinence, however, is mixed and the role of social support for smoking abstinence in dual-smoker couples is understudied. Design: 77 dual-smoker couples were assessed 30 days after a joint quit attempt using a dyadic approach. Methods: Received and provided support, self-reported and objectively measured smoking abstinence were assessed from both partners. Actor and partner effects of received and provided support on self-reported and objectively measured smoking abstinence and their difference for men and women were investigated with the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model using multilevel modeling. Results: A significant actor effect emerged: Higher reports of received emotional support were related to an increased likelihood of objective smoking abstinence for men and women alike. For men only, partner effects of women’s received emotional and instrumental support emerged (p < .10): Higher reports of women’s support receipt were associated with an increased likelihood of men’s self-reported abstinence. Conclusion: Received emotional support seems to play a key role in dual-smoker couple’s abstinence, whereas provided support does not seem to make a difference in successful quitting in dual-smoker couples.
Opportunities and Challenges for Smartphone Applications in Supporting Health Behavior Change: Qualitative Study

Background There is increasing interest from academics and clinicians in harnessing smartphone applications (apps) as a means of delivering behavioral interventions for health. Despite the growing availability of a range of health-related apps on the market, academic research on the development and evaluation of such apps is in the relatively early stages. A few existing studies have explored the views of various populations on using mobile phones for health-related issues and some studies are beginning to report user feedback on specific apps. However, there remains little in depth research on users’ (and potential users’) experiences and views on a wide range of features and technologies that apps are, or will soon be, capable of. In particular, research on young adults is lacking, which is an unfortunate omission considering that this group comprises of a good number of mobile technology adoptors. Objective The current study sought to explore young adults’ perspectives on apps related to health behavior change. It sought their experiences and views of features that might support health behavior change and issues that contribute to interest in and willingness to use such apps. Methods Four focus groups were conducted with 19 students and staff at a University in the United Kingdom. Participants included 13 females and 6 males with a mean age of 23.79 (SD 7.89). The focus group discussions centred on participants’ experiences of using smartphone apps to support a healthy lifestyle, and their interest in and feelings about features and capabilities of such apps. The focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results Study findings suggested that young, currently healthy adults have some interest in apps that attempt to support health-related behavior change. Accuracy and legitimacy, security, effort required, and immediate effects on mood emerged as important influences on app usage. The ability to record and track behavior and goals and the ability to acquire advice and information “on the go” were valued. Context-sensing capabilities and social media features tended to be considered unnecessary and off-putting. Conclusions This study provided insight into the opportunities and challenges involved in delivering health-related behavioral interventions through smartphone apps. The findings suggested a number of valued features and characteristics that app developers may wish to consider when creating health behavior apps. Findings also highlighted several major challenges that appeared to need further consideration and research to ensure the development of effective and well-accepted behavior change apps.
Robust Egress Interdomain Traffic Engineering

BGP is traditionally configured to implement traffic engineering objectives without considering potential network dynamics. This might result in undesirable traffic distribution when network failures occur. In this paper, we present algorithms for interdomain traffic engineering that achieve the interdomain traffic engineering objectives under network failures. That is, we aim to configure routing policies so that traffic is distributed evenly. More importantly, the configuration is robust in the sense that it is able to achieve the specified traffic engineering goals despite network failures. We first investigate the coarsegrained robust configurations. The derived configuration can achieve optimal robust traffic engineering objectives for most network failures. Further, we develop a greedy algorithm to derive robust BGP configuration for any traffic distribution and link capacities. We use simulations to evaluate the robustness of the derived BGP configurations by applying the algorithm to both transit and stub ASs under realistic traffic demands. Our results show that the derived BGP configurations can improve the default configuration significantly in terms of achieving the robust traffic engineering objectives. Furthermore, our algorithm achieves robust traffic engineering goals without diminishing other routing objectives.