Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of maternal nutrition on outcome of pregnancy: prospective cohort study

Abstract Objective: To investigate the relations of maternal diet and smoking during pregnancy to placental and birth weights at term. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: District general hospital in the south of England. Participants: 693 pregnant nulliparous white women with singleton pregnancies who were selected from antenatal booking clinics with stratified random sampling. Main outcome measures: Birth and placental weights at term. Results: Placental and birth weights were unrelated to the intake of any macronutrient. Early in pregnancy, vitamin C was the only micronutrient independently associated with birth weight after adjustment for maternal height and smoking. Each ln mg increase in vitamin C was associated with a 50.8 g (95% confidence interval 4.6 g to 97.0 g) increase in birth weight. Vitamin C, vitamin E, and folate were each associated with placental weight after adjustment for maternal characteristics. In simultaneous regression, however, vitamin C was the only nutrient predictive of placental weight: each ln mg increase in vitamin C was associated with a 3.2% (0.4 to 6.1) rise in placental weight. No nutrient late in pregnancy was associated with either placental or birth weight. Conclusions: Concern over the impact of maternal nutrition on the health of the infant has been premature Maternal nutrition, at least in industrialised populations, seems to have only a small effect on placental and birth weights. Other possible determinants of fetal and placental growth should be investigated. Key messages Placental and infant birth weights were not associated with the intake of any macronutrient early or later in pregnancy After adjustment for the effects of maternal height and smoking, only vitamin C independently predicted birth weight. The expected mean difference in birth weight for infants with mothers in the upper and lower thirds of intake was about 70 g Vitamin C was the only nutrient that independently predicted placental weight, but again this relation was of doubtful clinical significance Among relatively well nourished women in industrialised countries, maternal nutrition seems to have only a marginal impact on infant and placental size. Other causes of variation in the size of clinically normal infants should now be investigated
Clostridium difficile Infection Seasonality: Patterns across Hemispheres and Continents – A Systematic Review

Background Studies have demonstrated seasonal variability in rates of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Synthesising all available information on seasonality is a necessary step in identifying large-scale epidemiological patterns and elucidating underlying causes. Methods Three medical and life sciences publication databases were searched from inception to October 2014 for longitudinal epidemiological studies written in English, Spanish or Portuguese that reported the incidence of CDI. The monthly frequency of CDI were extracted, standardized and weighted according to the number of follow-up months. Cross correlation coefficients (XCORR) were calculated to examine the correlation and lag between the year-month frequencies of reported CDI across hemispheres and continents. Results The search identified 13, 5 and 2 studies from North America, Europe, and Oceania, respectively that met the inclusion criteria. CDI had a similar seasonal pattern in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere characterized by a peak in spring and lower frequencies of CDI in summer/autumn with a lag of 8 months (XCORR = 0.60) between hemispheres. There was no difference between the seasonal patterns across European and North American countries. Conclusion CDI demonstrates a distinct seasonal pattern that is consistent across North America, Europe and Oceania. Further studies are required to identify the driving factors of the observed seasonality.
Are all code smells harmful? A study of God Classes and Brain Classes in the evolution of three open source systems

Code smells are particular patterns in object-oriented systems that are perceived to lead to difficulties in the maintenance of such systems. It is held that to improve maintainability, code smells should be eliminated by refactoring. It is claimed that classes that are involved in certain code smells are liable to be changed more frequently and have more defects than other classes in the code. We investigated the extent to which this claim is true for God Classes and Brain Classes, with and without normalizing the effects with respect to the class size. We analyzed historical data from 7 to 10 years of the development of three open-source software systems. The results show that God and Brain Classes were changed more frequently and contained more defects than other kinds of class. However, when we normalized the measured effects with respect to size, then God and Brain Classes were less subject to change and had fewer defects than other classes. Hence, under the assumption that God and Brain Classes contain on average as much functionality per line of code as other classes, the presence of God and Brain Classes is not necessarily harmful; in fact, such classes may be an efficient way of organizing code.
Goat production and marketing: Baseline information for semi-arid Zimbabwe

The role of livestock in rural communities is changing rapidly. Goats are increasingly used to augment cash income and enhance food security, thus serving as an important component in household’s livelihood strategies, particularly in drought-prone areas. While much has been done to improve agricultural production in the small-scale sector, little is known and documented about the current state of goat production and marketing in the communal areas of Zimbabwe. This report aims to set a baseline of the current status of goat production and marketing in southwestern Zimbabwe. The report illustrates the main functions of goats. Basic statistics describe goat ownership patterns with regard to the socioeconomic profi les of goat keepers, and the responsibilities of different household members in day-to-day goat management and marketing. The current productivity of goat fl ocks and seasonal trends are illustrated, indicating major challenges that farmers face in goat production and marketing. The report then provides a detailed description of the current management practices and existing marketing systems, and illustrates differences between districts, proximity to markets, flock sizes, levels of education and gender. Goat mortality has been found to be the most important constraint. Farmers with few goats are unable to sustain their flocks, whereas those with larger flocks do not realize the potential benefits from goats due to high mortality rates. Poor access to animal health support, dry season feed shortages and inadequate housing are the most important immediate factors contributing to high mortalities and can generally be ascribed to a lack of information and poor service structures, both resulting from limited support given to the small stock sector by government and NGO support services. The study also shows that although many farmers attempt to sell goats, markets are underdeveloped, infrastructure is inadequate and market information is not readily available. This results in poor confidence in markets, high transaction costs and low prices for goats. It is hypothesized that improved market access will act as an incentive for farmers to invest more in goat production. Market development is thus singled out as the next important step in further developing the goat industry in Zimbabwe. Practical options to enhance the contribution of goats to food security and income growth are discussed, and priority interventions are recommended to service providers, development agents and policymakers in Zimbabwe.
Consistency of Random Forests and Other Averaging Classifiers

In the last years of his life, Leo Breiman promoted random forests for use in classification. He suggested using averaging as a means of obtaining good discrimination rules. The base classifiers used for averaging are simple and randomized, often based on random samples from the data. He left a few questions unanswered regarding the consistency of such rules. In this paper, we give a number of theorems that establish the universal consistency of averaging rules. We also show that some popular classifiers, including one suggested by Breiman, are not universally consistent.
Serum Free Light Chain Analysis and Urine Immunofixation Electrophoresis in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Purpose: Retrospective studies have shown that immunoassays measuring free light chains (FLC) in serum are useful for diagnosis and monitoring of multiple myeloma. This study prospectively evaluates the use of FLC assays and, for the first time, investigates the relationship between serum FLC concentrations and the presence and detectability of Bence Jones (BJ) proteins in the urine. Patients and Methods: Three hundred seventy-eight paired samples of serum and urine were tested from 82 patients during the course of their disease. The sensitivities of serum FLC analysis and urine immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) in detecting monoclonal FLC were compared. Serum FLC concentrations required for producing BJ proteins detected by IFE were determined. Results: Abnormal FLC were present in 54% of serum samples compared with 25% by urine tests. In abnormal serum samples for κ or λ, the sensitivity of IFE to detect the respective BJ proteins in urine were 51% and 35% and the median serum FLC concentrations required to produce detectable BJ proteins were 113 and 278 mg/L. Renal excretions of monoclonal FLC increased with serum concentrations, but excretions significantly decreased at high serum concentrations combined with renal dysfunction. Conclusion: Serum FLC assays are significantly more sensitive for detecting monoclonal FLC than urine IFE analysis. They also have the advantage of FLC quantification and are more reliable for monitoring disease course and response to treatment.
Fiscal Federalism and Procyclical Spending: The Cases of Argentina and Brazil

This paper studies the sources of procyclicality for the spending of subnational governments in Argentina and Brazil. We find that tax sharing schemes explain only a marginal share of the prociclicality of revenues, with most of the prociclicality coming from subnational government’s own resources. This is more so when the prociclicality of each source is measured vis a vis each jurisdiction’s output. Cross jurisdiction evidence supports the claim that procyclicality of spending results from the procyclicality of revenues, through the so called “voracity effect”. The conclusion is that the debate on prociclical subnational spending should focus on improving the tax collection schemes at the local level and not on reforming the tax sharing agreements.
Clonality and field cancerization in intraductal papillary‐mucinous tumors of the pancreas

Multiple lesions of intraductal papillary‐mucinous tumor of the pancreas (IPMT) in the same pancreas often are encountered. To elucidate field (multicentric) cancerization and clonality of IPMT, clonal analyses of IPMT and its precursor lesion of ductal hyperplasia were performed. K‐ras codon 12 mutations and X‐chromosome inactivation of human androgen receptor gene (HUMARA) were investigated.
Defining the Ischemic Penumbra Using Magnetic Resonance Oxygen Metabolic Index

Background and Purpose— Penumbral biomarkers promise to individualize treatment windows in acute ischemic stroke. We used a novel magnetic resonance imaging approach that measures oxygen metabolic index (OMI), a parameter closely related to positron emission tomography–derived cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen utilization (CMRO2), to derive a pair of ischemic thresholds: (1) an irreversible-injury threshold that differentiates ischemic core from penumbra and (2) a reversible-injury threshold that differentiates penumbra from tissue not-at-risk for infarction. Methods— Forty patients with acute ischemic stroke underwent magnetic resonance imaging at 3 time points after stroke onset: <4.5 hours (for OMI threshold derivation), 6 hours (to determine reperfusion status), and 1 month (for infarct probability determination). A dynamic susceptibility contrast method measured cerebral blood flow, and an asymmetrical spin echo sequence measured oxygen extraction fraction, to derive OMI (OMI=cerebral blood flow×oxygen extraction fraction). Putative ischemic threshold pairs were iteratively tested using a computation-intensive method to derive infarct probabilities in 3 tissue groups defined by the thresholds (core, penumbra, and not-at-risk tissue). An optimal threshold pair was chosen based on its ability to predict infarction in the core, reperfusion-dependent survival in the penumbra, and survival in not-at-risk tissue. The predictive abilities of the thresholds were then tested within the same cohort using a 10-fold cross-validation method. Results— The optimal OMI ischemic thresholds were found to be 0.28 and 0.42 of normal values in the contralateral hemisphere. Using the 10-fold cross-validation method, median infarct probabilities were 90.6% for core, 89.7% for nonreperfused penumbra, 9.95% for reperfused penumbra, and 6.28% for not-at-risk tissue. Conclusions— OMI thresholds, derived using voxel-based, reperfusion-dependent infarct probabilities, delineated the ischemic penumbra with high predictive ability. These thresholds will require confirmation in an independent patient sample.
High Prevalence of Chronic Pituitary and Target-Organ Hormone Abnormalities after Blast-Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Studies of traumatic brain injury from all causes have found evidence of chronic hypopituitarism, defined by deficient production of one or more pituitary hormones at least 1 year after injury, in 25–50% of cases. Most studies found the occurrence of posttraumatic hypopituitarism (PTHP) to be unrelated to injury severity. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and hypogonadism were reported most frequently. Hypopituitarism, and in particular adult GHD, is associated with symptoms that resemble those of PTSD, including fatigue, anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, cognitive deficiencies, and decreased quality of life. However, the prevalence of PTHP after blast-related mild TBI (mTBI), an extremely common injury in modern military operations, has not been characterized. We measured concentrations of 12 pituitary and target-organ hormones in two groups of male US Veterans of combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. One group consisted of participants with blast-related mTBI whose last blast exposure was at least 1 year prior to the study. The other consisted of Veterans with similar military deployment histories but without blast exposure. Eleven of 26, or 42% of participants with blast concussions were found to have abnormal hormone levels in one or more pituitary axes, a prevalence similar to that found in other forms of TBI. Five members of the mTBI group were found with markedly low age-adjusted insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels indicative of probable GHD, and three had testosterone and gonadotropin concentrations consistent with hypogonadism. If symptoms characteristic of both PTHP and PTSD can be linked to pituitary dysfunction, they may be amenable to treatment with hormone replacement. Routine screening for chronic hypopituitarism after blast concussion shows promise for appropriately directing diagnostic and therapeutic decisions that otherwise may remain unconsidered and for markedly facilitating recovery and rehabilitation.
Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A): Psychometric properties in a Spanish-speaking population

The objective of this instrumental study was to investigate the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) in a Spanish-speaking population. The participants were 2407 subjects (1263 boys and 1144 girls), with an average age of 15 years approximately, attending nine public high schools in a medium size county in Spain. The results obtained support the three-factor structure proposed by the original authors (FNE, SAD-New, SAD-Gene- ral). Significantly, interscale correlations and high levels of internal consistency for the SAS-A subscales were found. There were significant gender effects on the SAS-A/Total score and its subscales, with girls scoring higher. Although significant age differences were only found in the FNE subscale, no interaction effects between the two factors were obtained. Findings provide initial support for the use of the SAS-A among a Spanish-speaking adolescent population. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.
A Low-Profile Magneto-Electric Dipole Antenna

A new low-profile magneto-electric dipole antenna composed of a horizontal planar dipole and a vertically oriented folded shorted patch antenna is presented. The antenna is simply excited by a coaxial feed without the need of an additional balun. A rectangular cavity-shaped reflector is introduced for enhancing the stability in radiation pattern over the operating frequencies. A parametric study is performed for providing practical design guidelines. A prototype with a thickness of 0. 173λ was designed, fabricated and measured. Results show that an impedance bandwidth of 54.8% for SWR ≤ 1.5 from 1.88 to 3.3 GHz was achieved. Stable radiation pattern with low cross polarization, low back radiation and an antenna gain of 8.6 ± 0.8 dBi was found over the operating frequencies. In addition, the antenna is d.c. grounded, which satisfies the requirement of many outdoor antennas.
Optical spectroscopy of the quiescent counterpart to EXO 0748-676: a black widow scenario?

We present phase-resolved optical spectroscopy of the counterpart to the neutron star low mass X-ray binary EXO 0748-676, almost one year after it turned into quiescence. The spectra display prominent Hbeta and Hgamma and weak Fe II lines in emission. An average of all the spectra (corrected for the orbital motion) also exhibits a very weak line from Mg I. Tomographic reconstructions show that the accretion disc is not contributing to the optical line emission, which is instead dominated by the irradiated hemisphere of the companion star facing the neutron star. We could not detect absorption features from the mass donor star in the spectra. The emission lines appear broad, with an intrinsic FWHM of 255+-22 km/s. Under the assumption that the width of the Fe II emission lines is dominated by rotational broadening, we obtain a lower limit on the compact object mass which is inconsistent with a NS accretor. We discuss this incongruity and conclude that either the lines are blends of unresolved features (although this requires some fine tuning) or they are broadened by additional effects such as bulk gas motion in an outflow. The fact that the Fe II lines slightly lag in phase with respect to the companion star can be understood as outflowing gas consistent with a Black-Widow like scenario. Nevertheless, we can not rule out the possibility that blends of various emission lines cause the apparent phase lag of the Fe II emission lines as well as their large width.
zyg-11 and cul-2 regulate progression through meiosis II and polarity establishment in C. elegans

The mechanisms that ensure coupling between meiotic cell cycle progression and subsequent developmental events, including specification of embryonic axes, are poorly understood. Here, we establish that zyg-11 and the cullin cul-2 promote the metaphase-to-anaphase transition and M phase exit at meiosis II in Caenorhabditis elegans. Our results indicate that ZYG-11 acts with a CUL-2-based E3 ligase that is essential at meiosis II and that functions redundantly with the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome at meiosis I. Our data also indicate that delayed M phase exit in zyg-11(RNAi) embryos is due to accumulation of the B type cyclin CYB-3. We demonstrate that PAR proteins and P granules become polarized in an inverted manner during the meiosis II delay resulting from zyg-11 or cul-2 inactivation, and that zyg-11 and cul-2 can regulate polarity establishment independently of a role in cell cycle progression. Furthermore, we find that microtubules appear dispensable for ectopic polarity during the meiosis II delay in zyg-11(RNAi) embryos, as well as for AP polarity during the first mitotic cell cycle in wild-type embryos. Our findings suggest a model in which a CUL-2-based E3 ligase promotes cell cycle progression and prevents polarity establishment during meiosis II, and in which the centrosome acts as a cue to polarize the embryo along the AP axis after exit from the meiotic cell cycle.
Relation between Cord Blood Mercury Levels and Early Child Development in a World Trade Center Cohort

Objective This study was designed to determine whether prenatal mercury exposure, including potential releases from the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster, adversely affects fetal growth and child development. Methods We determined maternal and umbilical cord blood total mercury of nonsmoking women who delivered at term in lower Manhattan after 11 September 2001, and measured birth outcomes and child development. Results Levels of total mercury in cord and maternal blood were not significantly higher for women who resided or worked within 1 or 2 miles of the WTC in the month after 11 September, compared with women who lived and worked farther away. Average cord mercury levels were more than twice maternal levels, and both were elevated in women who reported eating fish/seafood during pregnancy. Regression analyses showed no significant association between (ln) cord or maternal blood total mercury and birth outcomes. Log cord mercury was inversely associated with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development psychomotor score [Psychomotor Development Index (PDI)] at 36 months (b = –4.2, p = 0.007) and with Performance (b = –3.4, p = 0.023), Verbal (b = –2.9, p = 0.023), and Full IQ scores (b = –3.8, p = 0.002) on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Revised (WPPSI-R), at 48 months, after controlling for fish/seafood consumption and other confounders. Fish/seafood consumption during pregnancy was significantly associated with a 5.6- to 9.9-point increase in 36-month PDI, and 48-month Verbal and Full IQ scores. Conclusions Blood mercury was not significantly raised in women living or working close to the WTC site in the weeks after 11 September 2001. Higher cord blood mercury was associated with reductions in developmental scores at 36 and 48 months, after adjusting for the positive effects of fish/seafood consumption during pregnancy.
Different Estimation Procedures for the Parameters of the Extended Exponential Geometric Distribution for Medical Data

We have considered different estimation procedures for the unknown parameters of the extended exponential geometric distribution. We introduce different types of estimators such as the maximum likelihood, method of moments, modified moments, L-moments, ordinary and weighted least squares, percentile, maximum product of spacings, and minimum distance estimators. The different estimators are compared by using extensive numerical simulations. We discovered that the maximum product of spacings estimator has the smallest mean square errors and mean relative estimates, nearest to one, for both parameters, proving to be the most efficient method compared to other methods. Combining these results with the good properties of the method such as consistency, asymptotic efficiency, normality, and invariance we conclude that the maximum product of spacings estimator is the best one for estimating the parameters of the extended exponential geometric distribution in comparison with its competitors. For the sake of illustration, we apply our proposed methodology in two important data sets, demonstrating that the EEG distribution is a simple alternative to be used for lifetime data.