Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
and Obesity: Targets and Therapy is adherence a relevant issue in the self-management education of diabetes? A mixed narrative review

: While therapeutic patient education is now recognized as essential for optimizing the control of chronic diseases and patient well-being, adherence to treatment and medical recommendations is still a matter of debate. In type 2 diabetes, the nonadherence to therapy, estimated at more than 40%, is perceived as a barrier for improving the prognosis despite recent therapeutic advances. Interventional studies have barely begun to demonstrate the effectiveness of technical and behavioral actions. The aim of this review is to question the concept of adherence in terms of therapeutic education based on quantitative and qualitative data. The research on therapeutic education has shown the effectiveness of structured actions in type 2 diabetes, but adherence is rarely an end point in randomized trials. A positive but inconsistent or moderate effect of education actions on adherence has been shown in heterogeneous studies of varying quality. Program types, outlines, theoretical bases, and curricula to set up for action effectiveness are still being discussed. Qualitative studies, including sociological studies, provide a useful and constructive focus on this perspective. Adherence is a soft and flexible tool available to the patient in his/her singular chronic disease trajectory, and as such, integrates into individual therapeutic strategies, including socio-cultural interactions, beyond the medical explanation of the disease and the patient. Four key elements for the development of structured therapeutic education are discussed: 1) the access to health literacy, 2) the contextualization of education activities, 3) the long-term chronic dimension of self-management, and 4) the organizational aspects of health and care. Rather than focusing the objective on behavioral changes, structured therapeutic education actions should attempt to provide tools and resources aimed at helping individuals to manage their disease in their own context on a long-term basis, by developing health literacy and relational and organizational aspects of the health professionals and system.
Phylogenomics reveals a new ‘megagroup’ including most photosynthetic eukaryotes

Advances in molecular phylogeny of eukaryotes have suggested a tree composed of a small number of supergroups. Phylogenomics recently established the relationships between some of these large assemblages, yet the deepest nodes are still unresolved. Here, we investigate early evolution among the major eukaryotic supergroups using the broadest multigene dataset to date (65 species, 135 genes). Our analyses provide strong support for the clustering of plants, chromalveolates, rhizarians, haptophytes and cryptomonads, thus linking nearly all photosynthetic lineages and raising the question of a possible unique origin of plastids. At its deepest level, the tree of eukaryotes now receives strong support for two monophyletic megagroups comprising most of the eukaryotic diversity.
Propranolol and infantile hemangiomas: different routes of administration, a randomized clinical trial.

UNLABELLED Oral propranolol has become the treatment of choice of infantile hemangiomas (IH)s. However, the safety of systemic propranolol is questioned. Topical therapy with 1% propranolol has been reported to be safe and effective. Intralesional (IL) administration may possibly allow safe delivery of higher drug dosages. AIM To assess the efficacy and safety of two locally administered routes of propranolol (topical and IL), in comparison with its systemic oral use in the treatment of IHs. PATIENTS AND METHODS 45 patients with IHs were randomly divided into 3 groups, A, B and C (n = 15 in each), receiving oral propranolol, 2 mg/kg/day, topical propranolol 1% ointment twice daily, IL propranolol, 1 mg of propranolol hydrochloride in 1 ml of injection once weekly, respectively. Follow up was done for 6 months after treatment was stopped. RESULTS Excellent response was achieved in 9 patients in group A (60%), 3 in group B (20%) and 2 in group C (13.3%), (P value : 0.04). As regards safety, all 3 modalities proved safe with no major side effects apart from 1 patient in group A and 3 in group C who dropped out due to pain or inconvenience of therapy. CONCLUSIONS Further work is needed to establish clear guidelines and reach best formulations. Nevertheless, in properly selected patients with IHs, we recommend the usage of oral propranolol. Topically administered propranolol could be considered in patients at risk of potential side effects from oral administration. As IL application did not offer any more benefits, it could not be recommended.
Enhancing mobile data offloading with mobility prediction and prefetching

We present procedures that exploit mobility prediction and prefetching to enhance offoading of trafic from mobile networks to WiFi hotspots, for both delay tolerant and delay sensitive trafic. We evaluate the procedures in terms of the percentage of offoaded trafic, the data transfer delay, and the cache size used for prefetching. The evaluation considers empirical measurements and shows how various parameters infuence the performance of the procedures, and their robustness to time and throughput estimation errors.
NK Cells during Dengue Disease and Their Recognition of Dengue Virus-Infected cells

The innate immune response, in addition to the B- and T-cell response, plays a role in protection against dengue virus (DENV) infection and the degree of disease severity. Early activation of natural killer (NK) cells and type-I interferon-dependent immunity may be important in limiting viral replication during the early stages of DENV infection and thus reducing subsequent pathogenesis. NK cells may also produce cytokines that reduce inflammation and tissue injury. On the other hand, NK cells are also capable of inducing liver injury at early-time points of DENV infection. In vitro, NK cells can kill antibody-coated DENV-infected cells through antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. In addition, NK cells may directly recognize DENV-infected cells through their activating receptors, although the increase in HLA class I expression may allow infected cells to escape the NK response. Recently, genome-wide association studies have shown an association between MICB and MICA, which encode ligands of the activating NK receptor NKG2D, and dengue disease outcome. This review focuses on recognition of DENV-infected cells by NK cells and on the regulation of expression of NK cell ligands by DENV.
Waf-1 (p21) and p53 polymorphisms in breast cancer.

p53 is a transcription factor for Waf-1/p21, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor. Certain polymorphic variants of Waf-1 and p53 have been evaluated for their association with cancer risk. Previous studies indicated that certain p53 polymorphisms confer an increased risk of breast cancer [odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) = 2.9, 1.4-6.3 Carcinogenesis (Lond.), 17: 1313, 1996; 2.5, 1.3-4.8 Cancer Epidemiol. Biomark. Prev. , 6: 105, 1997; and 1.5, 1.1-2.0, Anticancer Res., 18: 2095, 1998). The primary objectives of this study were to test the hypotheses that the serine variant (codon 31 polymorphism) of Waf-1 is also involved in this process and that there is an interaction between Waf-1 and p53 polymorphisms. To do this, Waf-1 and p53 genotypes were determined for women enrolled in a breast cancer case-control study (Caucasians, African-Americans and Latinas; 487 Waf-1 and 504 p53 genotypes were obtained). Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate possible associations between Waf-1 and p53 polymorphisms, race, and menopause. The primary aim was to determine whether an interaction between Waf-1 and p53(1-2-1) existed. Whereas multivariate analysis suggested associations between breast cancer and inheritance of Waf-1(ser31) in African-Americans (OR, 2.32; 95% CI = 0.66-5.60; n = 37 cases and 65 controls) and Latinas (OR, 2.22; 95% CI = 0.71-6.89; n = 30 cases and 75 controls), and inheritance of p53(1-2-1) in Caucasians (OR, 3.15; 95% CI = 1.14-8.89; n = 93 cases and 187 controls), we did not see an interaction between Waf-1(ser31) and p53(1-2-1). Consistent with the finding that p53(1-2-1) is a risk factor for Caucasian women was the observation of a strong interaction between race and p53 (P < 0.01).
Emotional stimuli exert parallel effects on attention and memory

Because emotional and neutral stimuli typically differ on non-emotional dimensions, it has been difficult to determine conclusively which factors underlie the ability of emotional stimuli to enhance immediate long-term memory. Here we induced arousal by varying participants' goals, a method that removes many potential confounds between emotional and non-emotional items. Hungry and sated participants encoded food and clothing images under divided attention conditions. Sated participants attended to and recalled food and clothing images equivalently. Hungry participants performed worse on the concurrent tone-discrimination task when they viewed food relative to clothing images, suggesting enhanced attention to food images, and they recalled more food than clothing images. A follow-up regression analysis of the factors predicting memory for individual pictures revealed that food images had parallel effects on attention and memory in hungry participants, so that enhanced attention to food images did not predict their enhanced memory. We suggest that immediate long-term memory for food is enhanced in the hungry state because hunger leads to more distinctive processing of food images rendering them more accessible during retrieval.
Studies on bacteriophage distribution: virulent and temperate bacteriophage content of mammalian feces

Freshly voided samples of the feces of cows, pigs, and humans were analyzed for the enumeration of cell-free plaque-forming units (PFU) of coliphages and Salmonella phages. Coliphage PFU counts per gram (wet weight) of feces were found to range from less than 10(1) to greater than 10(7). Salmonella phages were found in three out of five porcine samples, but none were found in the four bovine samples analyzed. Virulent coliphages related to the phiX174/S13 serological group showed some "habitat preference" in that the S13 type of phages was found only in pig feces, whereas the phiX174 type of phages was found only in cow dung. Temperate coliphages were detectable in a majority of samples of both human and porcine origin but were infrequently found in bovine samples. About 80% of the temperate coliphages of fecal origin have been found to be serologically related to phage HK022 (Dhillon and Dhillon, 1973), and all are efficiently inducible by ultraviolet light irradiation. However, considerable diversity with the group was found when the prophage immunity pattern of 10 randomly selected isolates was examined.
A simple method for estimating the odds ratio in matched case‐control studies with incomplete paired data

Paired data from matched case‐control studies are commonly used to estimate the association between the exposure to a risk factor and the occurrence of a disease. The odds ratio is typically used to quantify this association. Difficulties in estimating the true odds ratio with matched pairs arise, however, when the exposure status is unknown for one of the individuals in one or more pairs. In this article, we propose a simple method for estimating the odds ratio when the sample consists of a combination of complete and incomplete matched pairs; that is, some of the pairs have exposure data for both the case and the control, some of the pairs have exposure data just for the case, and the remaining pairs have exposure data just for the control. This method uses a weighted average of the odds ratio estimator that is most commonly used when the sample consists entirely of complete paired observations and the odds ratio estimator that is most commonly used when the sample consists entirely of unpaired observations. The proposed estimator has simple closed‐form expressions for the estimate of the odds ratio and its approximate variance. We compare our method to existing methods via simulation and show that our method is comparable to or better than the other methods in terms of bias, mean squared error, and confidence interval coverage probability and width. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Orbital modulation and longer term variability in the radio emission from Cygnus X-1

20 months of observations of the radio emission at 15 GHz from Cygnus X-l, starting in 1996 October, show variations at the binary period of 5.6 d, but with a phase offset from those at Xray wavelengths. There are also longer term variations on a time-scale of 150 d, which are only loosely related to the soft X-ray flux. The source was in the hard/low X-ray state throughout this period. The mean 15-GHz flux density is 13 mJy, the radio spectrum is flat and the semiamplitude of the orbital modulation is about 2 mJy. We discuss the possible origins of the modulation and the relationship to the soft X-ray emission.
Surface Reconstruction in almost Linear Time under Locally Uniform Sampling

We describe a new implementation of the C O ONE algorithm for smooth surface reconstruction by Amenta et al. (2000). This implementation runs in O(n logn) time if the sample is “locally uniform” in addition to being good in the sense required for the C OCONE algorithm. If the local uniformity condition does not hold, the algorithm still produces a correct result and its worst case running time is O(n2 logn). In contrast, the original algorithm requires (n2) time in the worst case, even if the sample is locally uniform.
Implications of Bycatch, Discards, and Size Limits on Reference Points in the Pacific Halibut Fishery

The current harvest policy for the Pacific halibut fishery uses a 32-inch minimum size limit in the directed commercial fishery, and total annual catches in each of the eight regulatory areas are based on area-specific exploitation rate targets. In nondirected fisheries retention of halibut is prohibited. Post-release survival rates are gear dependent and partially based on observer accounts of halibut release condition. The current assumption is that 84% of the sub-legal halibut discarded from the directed halibut fishery survive each year and this rate is the same for all sizes of fish. This paper examines how sensitive estimates of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and spawning biomass per recruit– based reference points are to the assumptions of post-release survival and the cumulative effects of size-selective fishing. A joint probability model for surviving the capture process is developed for modeling the instantaneous rates of retention and discarding in directed fisheries, as well as the cumulative effects of size-selective mortality from all sources. Evaluation of the current minimum size limit and discard mortality rates, and alternatives, for MSY-based reference points is based on assumptions about an underlying stock-recruitment relationship. The trade-offs between discard mortality, size limits, bycatch, and fish ing intensity are examined from a long-term equilibrium perspective using isopleths that describe per recruit changes in spawning biomass,
Patient preference disability questionnaire in systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE To assess patient priorities concerning disability in systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS A total of 150 SSc patients (22 men) fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology and/or LeRoy and Medsger criteria for SSc were evaluated by the McMaster Toronto Arthritis Patient Preference Disability Questionnaire (MACTAR), Karnofsky performance status (KPS), Cochin Hand Function Scale, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Mouth Handicap in SSc (MHISS) scale, and global perception regarding their health status. Correlations between scores were analyzed using Spearman's coefficient. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with patients' global perception of their health. RESULTS Of the patients investigated, 81 (54%) had limited cutaneous SSc, 65 (43.3%) diffuse SSc, and 4 (2.7%) limited SSc. The 3 disability domains most often cited were walking (82 patients [54.6%]), housekeeping (67 patients [44.6%]), and sport activities (59 patients [39.3%]). The MACTAR score correlated moderately with KPS (r = 0.58) but only weakly with the HAQ score (r = 0.38). In multivariate analysis, 2 factors were associated with patients' negative global perception of their health status: KPS (odds ratio [OR] 1.07, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.00-1.15) and MHISS score (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.88-0.99). CONCLUSION For assessing SSc patient priorities concerning disability, the MACTAR has acceptable construct validity. Its weak correlation with the HAQ suggests that it adds useful information on disability.
Dual mode microwave tool for dielectric analysis and thermal ablation treatment of organic tissue

A dual mode tool design to analyze organic tissue and locally perform thermal ablation treatment is presented. The tool is made of an array of split-ring resonators. It can operate on a sensing mode to track the relative dielectric changes from the organic tissue and on a treatment mode to perform thermal ablation at different input powers. The measurements were done with phantoms of human tissue. The tool is able to focus a hot spot of approximately 0.2mm with a temperature of 109 °C at an input power of 10W.
Soft Drink Consumption and Risk of Developing Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and the Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-Aged Adults in the Community

Background— Consumption of soft drinks has been linked to obesity in children and adolescents, but it is unclear whether it increases metabolic risk in middle-aged individuals. Methods and Results— We related the incidence of metabolic syndrome and its components to soft drink consumption in participants in the Framingham Heart Study (6039 person-observations, 3470 in women; mean age 52.9 years) who were free of baseline metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of ≥3 of the following: waist circumference ≥35 inches (women) or ≥40 inches (men); fasting blood glucose ≥100 mg/dL; serum triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL; blood pressure ≥135/85 mm Hg; and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol <40 mg/dL (men) or <50 mg/dL (women). Multivariable models included adjustments for age, sex, physical activity, smoking, dietary intake of saturated fat, trans fat, fiber, magnesium, total calories, and glycemic index. Cross-sectionally, individuals consuming ≥1 soft drink per day had a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (odds ratio [OR], 1.48; 95% CI, 1.30 to 1.69) than those consuming <1 drink per day. On follow-up (mean of 4 years), new-onset metabolic syndrome developed in 765 (18.7%) of 4095 participants consuming <1 drink per day and in 474 (22.6%) of 2059 persons consuming ≥1 soft drink per day. Consumption of ≥1 soft drink per day was associated with increased odds of developing metabolic syndrome (OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.20 to 1.74), obesity (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.68), increased waist circumference (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.56), impaired fasting glucose (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.48), higher blood pressure (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.96 to 1.44), hypertriglyceridemia (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.51), and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR, 1.32; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.64). Conclusions— In middle-aged adults, soft drink consumption is associated with a higher prevalence and incidence of multiple metabolic risk factors.
Structural and tribometric characterization of biomimetically inspired synthetic "insect adhesives"

Background: Based on previous chemical analyses of insect tarsal adhesives, we prepared 12 heterogeneous synthetic emulsions mimicking the polar/non-polar principle, analysed their microscopical structure and tested their adhesive, frictional, and rheological properties. Results: The prepared emulsions varied in their consistency from solid rubber-like, over soft elastic, to fluid (watery or oily). With droplet sizes >100 nm, all the emulsions belonged to the common type of macroemulsions. The emulsions of the first generation generally showed broader droplet-size ranges compared with the second generation, especially when less defined components such as petrolatum or waxes were present in the lipophilic fraction of the first generation of emulsions. Some of the prepared emulsions showed a yield point and were Bingham fluids. Tribometric adhesion was tested via probe tack tests. Compared with the "second generation" (containing less viscous components), the "first generation" emulsions were much more adhesive (31–93 mN), a finding attributable to their highly viscous components, i.e., wax, petrolatum, gelatin and poly(vinyl alcohol). In the second generation emulsions, we attained much lower adhesivenesses, ranging between 1–18 mN. The adhesive performance was drastically reduced in the emulsions that contained albumin as the protein component or that lacked protein. Tribometric shear tests were performed at moderate normal loads. Our measured friction forces (4–93 mN in the first and 0.1–5.8 mN in the second generation emulsions) were comparatively low. Differences in shear performance were related to the chemical composition and emulsion structure. Conclusion: By varying their chemical composition, synthetic heterogeneous adhesive emulsions can be adjusted to have diverse consistencies and are able to mimic certain rheological and tribological properties of natural tarsal insect adhesives.
Medium- and Large-Scale Characterization of UMTS-Allocated Frequency Division Duplex Channels

A dual-band sounder is used in both trolley and van measurements in the dense urban environment of Manchester city center to characterize the uplink (1920-1980 MHz) and downlink (2110-2170 MHz) frequency-division duplex (FDD) channels allocated to third-generation (3G) mobile radio systems. The data are analyzed with 60- and 5-MHz resolutions, as used for 3G wideband code-division multiple-access systems. Root-mean-square (rms) delay spread and 15-dB widths of mainly temporally averaged delay profile are presented either as cumulative distribution functions (cdfs) for each individual frequency band or as histograms of the difference between uplink and downlink on a local area basis. It was found that the histograms show larger differences between the two bands than the individual cdf and that the differences between the FDD channels are more pronounced on circumferential routes and shadowed locations. Correlations of rms delay spread with excess path loss and distance are on the order of 0.5 and 0.4, respectively.