Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of statins on risk of new onset diabetes mellitus: a population-based cohort study using the Korean National Health Insurance claims database

Statin therapy is beneficial in reducing cardiovascular events and mortalities in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Yet, there have been concerns of increased risk of diabetes with statin use. This study was aimed to evaluate the association between statins and new onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) utilizing the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service claims database. Among adult patients with preexisting IHD, new statin users and matched nonstatin users were identified on a 1:1 ratio using proportionate stratified random sampling by sex and age. They were subsequently propensity score matched further with age and comorbidities to reduce the selection bias. Overall incidence rates, cumulative rates and hazard ratios (HRs) between statin use and occurrence of NODM were estimated. The subgroup analyses were performed according to sex, age groups, and the individual agents and intensities of statins. A total of 156,360 patients (94,370 in the statin users and 61,990 in the nonstatin users) were included in the analysis. The incidence rates of NODM were 7.8% and 4.8% in the statin users and nonstatin users, respectively. The risk of NODM was higher among statin users (crude HR 2.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.93–2.10; adjusted HR 1.84, 95% CI 1.63–2.09). Pravastatin had the lowest risk (adjusted HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.32–1.81) while those who were exposed to more than one statin were at the highest risk of NODM (adjusted HR 2.17, 95% CI 1.93–2.37). It has been concluded that all statins are associated with the risk of NODM in patients with IHD, and it is believed that our study would contribute to a better understanding of statin and NODM association by analyzing statin use in the real-world setting. Periodic screening and monitoring for diabetes are warranted during prolonged statin therapy in patients with IHD.
Effect of calcium hydroxide dressing on microleakage of composite restorations in endodontically treated teeth subsequent to bleaching.

OBJECTIVE This study evaluates the effect of calcium hydroxide dressing on microleakage of composite restorations following non-vital bleaching. METHODS A total of 45 sound extracted human maxillary central incisors underwent endodontic treatment. The teeth were randomly divided into three groups (n=15). In group 1, access cavities were restored with composite. In group 2, the teeth underwent a bleaching procedure for one week before being restored with composite. In group 3, following a bleaching procedure, calcium hydroxide paste was placed in the pulp chamber for one week. The teeth were then restored with composite. The specimens were subjected to a dye leakage test. The data was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS There were significant differences between the groups (P<0.0005). No statistically significant differences were found between groups 2 and 3, while the differences between other groups were significant. CONCLUSIONS The bleaching agent increased microleakage of composite restorations in non-vital bleaching, whereas microleakage was not found to be increased by calcium hydroxide.
Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Brain Structure Changes during Extensive Learning

The current view regarding human long-term memory as an active process of encoding and retrieval includes a highly specific learning-induced functional plasticity in a network of multiple memory systems. Voxel-based morphometry was used to detect possible structural brain changes associated with learning. Magnetic resonance images were obtained at three different time points while medical students learned for their medical examination. During the learning period, the gray matter increased significantly in the posterior and lateral parietal cortex bilaterally. These structural changes did not change significantly toward the third scan during the semester break 3 months after the exam. The posterior hippocampus showed a different pattern over time: the initial increase in gray matter during the learning period was even more pronounced toward the third time point. These results indicate that the acquisition of a great amount of highly abstract information may be related to a particular pattern of structural gray matter changes in particular brain areas.
Modeling Spatio-Temporal Extreme Events Using Graphical Models

We propose a novel statistical model to describe spatio-temporal extreme events. The model can be used, for instance, to estimate extreme-value temporal pattern such as seasonality and trend, and further to predict the distribution of extreme events in the future. Such model usually involves thousands or even millions of variables in the spatio-temporal domain, whereas only one single observation is available for each location and time point. To address this challenge, previous works usually employ learning and inference methods that are computationally burdensome, and therefore are prohibitive for large-scale data. Moreover, they assume that the shape and scale parameters of the extreme-value distributions are constant across the spatio-temporal domain, which is often too restrictive in practice. In this paper, we break through these limitations by exploring graphical models to capture the highly structured dependencies among the parameters of extreme-value distributions. Furthermore, we develop an efficient stochastic variational inference (SVI) algorithm to learn the parameters of the resulting non-Gaussian graphical model. The computational complexity of the SVI algorithm is sublinear in the number of variables, thus enabling the proposed model to tackle large-scale spatio-temporal data in real-life applications. Results of both synthetic and real data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
How Costly Is External Financing? Evidence from a Structural Estimation

We apply simulated method of moments to a dynamic model to infer the magnitude of financing costs. The model features endogenous investment, distributions, leverage, and default. The corporation faces taxation, costly bankruptcy, and linear-quadratic equity flotation costs. For large (small) firms, estimated marginal equity flotation costs start at 5.0% (10.7%) and bankruptcy costs equal to 8.4% (15.1%) of capital. Estimated financing frictions are higher for low-dividend firms and those identified as constrained by the Cleary and Whited-Wu indexes. In simulated data, many common proxies for financing constraints actually decrease when we increase financing cost parameters. Copyright 2007 by The American Finance Association.
How Ants Drop Out: Ant Abundance on Tropical Mountains

In tropical wet forests, ants are a large proportion of the animal biomass, but the factors determining abundance are not well understood. We characterized ant abundance in the litter layer of 41 mature wet forest sites spread throughout Central America (Chiapas, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) and examined the impact of elevation (as a proxy for temperature) and community species richness. Sites were intentionally chosen to minimize variation in precipitation and seasonality. From sea level to 1500 m ant abundance very gradually declined, community richness declined more rapidly than abundance, and the local frequency of the locally most common species increased. These results suggest that within this elevational zone, density compensation is acting, maintaining high ant abundance as richness declines. In contrast, in sites above 1500 m, ant abundance dropped abruptly to much lower levels. Among these high montane sites, community richness explained much more of the variation in abundance than elevation, and there was no evidence of density compensation. The relative stability of abundance below 1500 m may be caused by opposing effects of temperature on productivity and metabolism. Lower temperatures may decrease productivity and thus the amount of food available for consumers, but slower metabolisms of consumers may allow maintenance of higher biomass at lower resource supply rates. Ant communities at these lower elevations may be highly interactive, the result of continuous habitat presence over geological time. High montane sites may be ephemeral in geological time, resulting in non-interactive communities dominated by historical and stochastic processes. Abundance in these sites may be determined by the number of species that manage to colonize and/or avoid extinction on mountaintops.
Physical fitness profile of competitive young soccer players: Determination of positional differences

The aim of this study was to compare the anthropometric and physical fitness characteristics of the different playing positions in adolescent soccer players. Furthermore, differences among playing ages (under 14, under 16, and under 18 years) were determined. One hundred and sixty-seven young male national level soccer players were tested on anthropometric characteristics and physical performance tests (30 m sprint, ball kicking, overhead medicine ball throw, and countermovement jump). The results demonstrated differences in anthropometric characteristics between positions (p < 0.05). Differences were also found in the physical performance tests; forwards performed better in the throwing, countermovement jump, and sprint tests than defenders. Midfielders demonstrated greater countermovement jump performances than right defenders. Our results highlight that there is an influence of playing position on the anthropometric and physical qualities in adolescent players. This emphasizes the importance of evaluating the physical profile of players and their development according to playing age and playing position.
Approximation of Large Bending Isometries with Discrete Kirchhoff Triangles

We devise and analyze a simple numerical method for the approximation of large bending isometries. The discretization employs a discrete Kirchhoff triangle to deal with second order derivatives and convergence of discrete solutions to minimizers of the continuous formulation is proved. Unconditional stability and convergence of an iterative scheme for the computation of discrete minimizers that is based on a linearization of the isometry constraint is verified. Numerical experiments illustrate the performance of the proposed method.
CPDI: Cross-power-domain interface circuit design in monolithic 3D technology

Optimizing energy consumption for electronic systems has been an important design focus. Multi-power domain design is widely used for low power and high performance applications. Data transfer between power domains needs a cross power domain interface (CPDI). The existing level-conversion flip-flop (LCFF) structures all need dual power rails, which leads to large area and performance overhead. In this paper, we propose a CPDI circuit utilizing monolithic 3D technology. This interface functions as a flip-flop and provides reliable data conversion from one power domain to another. Our design separates power rails in each tier, substantially reducing physical design complexity and area penalty. The design is implemented in a 45nm low power technology. It shows 20%-35% smaller clock to Q and 30% energy saving comparing with existing LCFF designs. The proposed design also shows better robustness with ±10% voltage variation.
When do people take action? The importance of people’s observation that nature is changing for pro-environmental behavior within the field of impersonal, environmental risk

Abstract Prior experience has shown to be a highly influencing factor for risk perceptions and behavioral patterns. Yet, often prior experience is connected to a personal threat and damage. We assume that people’s mere perception of nature changes, even if it is an impersonal risk and therefore not threatening humans but rather nature, is crucial for explaining effects in environmental and risk communication. A joint survey of biologists and communication scientists was conducted within a field experiment in two waves (N1 = 479; N2 = 295) in 12 German districts. Those regions differ in observable nature changes, evoked by the invasive moth Cameraria ohridella, which creates early leaf foliage on white flowering horse chestnut trees. Results show that the biological method, of deciding on sampling region, helps to define a sample of participants, who show different extents in nature change and risk perception. Further we could show that over a longitudinal design, nature change and risk perception increased, having slightly higher change scores in low infested areas, and that changed scores correlate with each other. Mediation analysis reveals that the overall effect of nature change perception on communicative and another active pro-environmental behavior is almost completely mediated by risk perception. Implementations of these results will be discussed.
The neXtProt knowledgebase on human proteins: 2017 update

The neXtProt human protein knowledgebase (https://www.nextprot.org) continues to add new content and tools, with a focus on proteomics and genetic variation data. neXtProt now has proteomics data for over 85% of the human proteins, as well as new tools tailored to the proteomics community. Moreover, the neXtProt release 2016-08-25 includes over 8000 phenotypic observations for over 4000 variations in a number of genes involved in hereditary cancers and channelopathies. These changes are presented in the current neXtProt update. All of the neXtProt data are available via our user interface and FTP site. We also provide an API access and a SPARQL endpoint for more technical applications.
Evolution and pre-service science teachers: Investigating acceptance and rejection

This study utilized three methodological approaches to examine the controversy and concerns associated with evolution education, taking the examination of acceptance and rejection full circle from concept to conflict. Employment of a critical analysis approach determined existing gaps in the literature surrounding evolution education and provided directionality for further study. A quantitative analysis generated findings that explain variance in the acceptance of evolution among pre-service science teachers in a teaching college in the Southeastern United States. A third qualitative method study explored the lived experiences of pre-service science teachers focusing on the variables of interest and generated a theoretical process model of acceptance and rejection for this group of participants. This study's variables explored aspects of Southern cultural and religious identity, socio-cultural influences on teaching and learning, and dilemmas faced by teachers when teaching controversial topics. This exploration illuminated the current state of evolution education in the Southeastern Unites States, as well as obstacles to the acceptance of evolution and possible avenues for improvement of science teacher education and classroom instruction.
Random Distortion Testing and Optimality of Thresholding Tests

This paper addresses the problem of testing whether the Mahalanobis distance between a random signal Θ and a known deterministic model θ0 exceeds some given non-negative real number or not, when Θ has unknown probability distribution and is observed in additive independent Gaussian noise with positive definite covariance matrix. When Θ is deterministic unknown, we prove the existence of thresholding tests on the Mahalanobis distance to θ0 that have specified level and maximal constant power (MCP). The MCP property is a new optimality criterion involving Wald's notion of tests with uniformly best constant power ( UBCP) on ellipsoids for testing the mean of a normal distribution. When the signal is random with unknown distribution, constant power maximality extends to maximal constant conditional power (MCCP) and the thresholding tests on the Mahalanobis distance to θ0 still verify this novel optimality property. Our results apply to the detection of signals in independent and additive Gaussian noise. In particular, for a large class of possible model mismatches, MCCP tests can guarantee a specified false alarm probability, in contrast to standard Neyman-Pearson tests that may not respect this constraint.
Improving the Efficacy of Administrative Data for Evaluation of Holistic Defense

ABSTRACT A college of social work developed a partnership with a state commission on indigent defense to examine existing data-collection procedures, potential case outcomes, and practical implications of implementing holistic defense programs. The holistic defense model responds to the complex challenges of justice-system-involved defendants by providing social services in public defense offices. Using chi-square and logistic regression analyses of administrative data for a sample of 15,994 public defendants from a single judicial circuit, this research study examined case outcomes before and after implementation of a holistic defense program. Results were mixed regarding effectiveness of holistic defense in mitigating the effect of justice involvement for indigent defendants. Implementation of holistic defense was associated with a decrease in case dismissals. However, defendants receiving holistic representation were less likely to be indicted than defendants prior to program implementation. Once indicted, there were no changes in levels of diversions, and more defendants were held on bond, convicted as guilty, and incarcerated. After program implementation, fewer defendants were sentenced to alternatives to incarceration; more defendants were sentenced to time served, avoiding further incarcerative penalty. These findings suggested the need for further research to determine whether holistic defense practices are producing desired legal and social service outcomes.
Azacitidine as post-remission consolidation for sorafenib-induced remission of Fms-like tyrosine kinase-3 internal tandem duplication positive acute myeloid leukemia

Internal tandem duplication (ITD) of the fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ( FLT3 ) gene in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) confers an inferior prognosis. [1][1],[2][2] Multi-kinase inhibitors against FLT3 , including midostaurin, sorafenib and quizartinib, have been evaluated either as single agents or in
A Hierarchical Word Sequence Language Model

Most language models used for natural language processing are continuous. However, the assumption of such kind of models is too simple to cope with data sparsity problem. Although many useful smoothing techniques are developed to estimate these unseen sequences, it is still important to make full use of contextual information in training data. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical word sequence language model to relieve the data sparsity problem. Experiments verified the effectiveness of our model.
Uniform limit theorems for the integrated periodogram of weakly dependent time series and their applications to Whittle's estimate

Abstract. We prove uniform convergence results for the integrated periodogram of a weakly dependent time series, namely a strong law of large numbers and a central limit theorem. These results are applied to Whittle's parametric estimation. Under general weak‐dependence assumptions, the strong consistency and asymptotic normality of Whittle's estimate are established for a large class of models. For instance, the causal θ‐weak dependence property allows a new and unified proof of those results for autoregressive conditionally heteroscedastic (ARCH)(∞) and bilinear processes. Non‐causal η‐weak dependence yields the same limit theorems for two‐sided linear (with dependent inputs) or Volterra processes.
Comparison of Clinico-Radiological Features between Congenital Cystic Neuroblastoma and Neonatal Adrenal Hemorrhagic Pseudocyst

Objective To evaluate the radiological and clinical findings of congenital cystic neuroblastomas as compared with those of the cystic presentation of neonatal adrenal hemorrhage. Materials and Methods We analyzed the US (n = 52), CT (n = 24), and MR (n = 4) images as well as the medical records of 28 patients harboring congenital cystic neuroblastomas (n = 16) and neonatal adrenal hemorrhagic pseudocysts (n = 14). The history of prenatal detection, location, size, presence of outer wall enhancement, internal septations, solid portion, calcification, turbidity, vascular flow on a Doppler examination, and evolution patterns were compared in two groups of cystic lesions, by Fischer's exact test. Results All (100%) neuroblastomas and three (21%) of the 14 hemorrhagic pseudocysts were detected prenatally. Both groups of cystic lesions occurred more frequently on the right side; 11 of 16 (69%) for neuroblastomas and 11 of 14 (79%) for hemorrhagic pseudocysts. The size, presence of solid portion, septum, enhancement, and turbidity did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between the two groups of cystic lesions. However, tiny calcifications (n = 3) and vascular flow on color Doppler US (n = 3) were noted in only neuroblastomas. The cystic neuroblastomas became complex solid and cystic masses, and did not disappear for up to 90 days in the three following cases, whereas 11 of the 14 (79%) hemorrhagic pseudocysts disappeared completely and the three remaining (27%) evolved to calcifications only. Conclusion Although the imaging findings of two groups of cystic lesions were similar, prenatal detection, the presence of calcification on initial images, vascularity on color Doppler US, and evolution to a more complex mass may all favor neuroblastomas.
Evidence for Neural Effects of Repetition that Directly Correlate with Behavioral Priming

Stimulus repetition associates with neural activity reductions during tasks that elicit behavioral priming. Here we present direct evidence for a quantitative relation between neural activity reductions and behavioral priming. Fifty-four subjects performed a word classification task while being scanned with functional MRI. Activity reductions were found in multiple high-level cortical regions including those within the prefrontal cortex. Importantly, activity within several of these regions, including the prefrontal cortex, correlated with behavior such that greater activity reductions associated with faster performance. Whole-brain correlational analyses confirmed the observation of anatomic overlap between regions showing activity reductions and those showing direct brainbehavioral correlations. The finding of a quantitative relation between neural and behavioral effects in frontal regions suggests that repetition reduces frontally mediated processing in a manner that ultimately facilitates behavior.