Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Community-based physical activity interventions among women: a systematic review

Objective Review and assess the effectiveness of community-based physical activity interventions among women aged 18–65 years. Design Systematic review Methods To find relevant articles, the researcher selected reports published in English between 1 January 2000 and 31 March 2013. Systematic search was to find controlled-trial studies that were conducted to uncover the effect of community-based interventions to promote physical activity among women 18–65 years of age, in which physical activity was reported as one of the measured outcomes. The methodological quality assessment was performed using a critical appraisal sheet. Also, the levels of evidence were assessed for the types of interventions. Results The literature search identified nine articles. Four of the studies were randomised and the others studies had high methodological quality. There was no evidence, on the basis of effectiveness, for social cognitive theory-based interventions and inconclusive evidence of effectiveness for the rest of interventions. Conclusions There is insufficient evidence to assess the effectiveness of community-based interventions for enhancing physical activity among women. There is a need for high-quality randomised clinical trials with adequate statistical power to determine whether multicomponent and community-based intervention programmes increase physical activity among women, as well as to determine what type of interventions have a more effective and sustainable impact on women's physical activity.
Comparison of Dimethyl Sulfoxide and Water as Solvents for Echinocandin Susceptibility Testing by the EUCAST Methodology

ABSTRACT Ninety-six strains of Candida, including 29 resistant and 67 susceptible isolates with mutations in the FKS1 and FKS2 genes were tested by the European Committee on Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing EDef 7.1 and 7.2 methodologies to determine the impact on the MIC when water was replaced with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the solvent for caspofungin and micafungin. The MICs were significantly lower and the MIC ranges were narrower when DMSO was used as the solvent. The use of DMSO may help to better discriminate between susceptible and resistant populations.
The relationship between masticatory stress and prognathism : a finite element and morphometric study

iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xxi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6 2.1 Bone 6 2.1. 1 Wolff’s Law and Bone Remodelling 9 2.2 Craniofacial Development and Prognathism 10 2.3 Mastication 14 2.3.1 Muscles of Mastication 15 2.3.2 Teeth 18 2.4 Evolution of Craniofacial Morphology for Mastication 20 2.5 Finite Element Analysis 23 2.5.1 What is Finite Element Analysis? 23 2.5.2 Stress Definitions 24 2.5. 3 Stress Analysis and Von Mises 25 2.5. 4 Previous FEA Work in Biological Anthropology 26 2.6 Model Creation 28 2.6.1 Thresholding 29 2.6.2 Meshing the Model 29 2.6.3 Material Properties 30 © University of Pretoria vi 2.6.4 Boundary Conditions 32 2.7 Testing of the Hypothesis 33 CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS AND METHODS 45 3.1 Materials 45 3.2 Anthropometric Analysis: Measurements and Indices 47 3.2.1 Standard Measurements 47 3.2.2 New Measurements 51 3.2.3 Dental Measurements 52 3.2.4 Indices/Area 53 3.3 Morphological Assessment 54 3.4 Repeatability of Measurements 55 3.5 Statistical Analysis 56 3.6 Finite Element Analysis 58 3.6.1 Materials 59 3.6.2 Methods 59 3.6.2.1 Thresholding 59 3.6.2.2 Material Properties 60 3.6.2.3 Boundary Conditions 62 3.6.2.4 Force Vectors Magnitude and Orientation 62 3.6.2.5 Balancing and Working Sides of the Muscles 64 3.6.2.6 Reaction Forces at Articular Eminence 64 3.6.2.7 Scaling 65 3.7 Analysis 66 © University of Pretoria vii CHAPTER 4: RESULTS OF METRIC ANALYSIS 83 4.1 Descriptive Statistics 83 4.2 One-way ANOVA Statistics 84 4.3 Linear Regression Statistics 86 4.4 Inter/Intra Class Correlation Statistics 92 CHAPTER 5: RESULTS OF MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS 112 5.1 Frequency Distribution and Pearson Chi Analysis 112 5.1. 1 Browridge Expression 112 5.1. 2 Glabellar Size 113 5.1. 3 Mastoid Process Expression 113 5.1. 4 Dental Arcade Shape 114 5.2 Inter/Intra Class Correlation Statistics 115 CHAPTER 6: RESULTS OF FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS 121 6.1 Displacement 122 6.1. 2 Displacement: Molar Bite 122 6.1. 3 Displacement: Incisor Bite 123 6.2 Pressure Analysis 125 6.2.1 Molar Bite 125 6.2.2 Incisor Bite 126 6.3 Von Mises 128 6.3.1 Von Mises Full Analysis: Molar Bite 129 6.3.2 Von Mises Full Analysi:s Incisor Bite 131 6.4 Molar vs. Incisor 132 6.4.1 Prognathic 133 © University of Pretoria viii 6.4.2 Orthognathic 134 6.5 Individual Muscle Contribution of Stress for a Molar Bite 135 6.5.1 Deep Head Masseter 135 6.5.2 Superficial Head Masseter 137 6.5. 3 Temporalis Muscle 138 6.5. 4 Medial Pterygoid Muscle 140 6.6 Individual Muscle Contribution of Stress for To An Incisor Bite 141 6.6.1 Deep Head Masseter 141 6.6.2 Superficial Head Masseter 142 6.6.3 Temporalis Muscle 143 6.6.4 Medial Pterygoid Muscle 144 CHAPTER 7: DISCUSSION 198 7.
Introduction of iodized salt to severely iodine-deficient children does not provoke thyroid autoimmunity: a one-year prospective trial in northern Morocco.

To determine if introduction of iodized salt induces thyroid autoimmunity in goitrous children, we conducted a prospective trial in iodine-deficient Moroccan schoolchildren (n = 323). Local salt was iodized at 25 microg iodine per gram of salt and distributed to households. Before introduction of iodized salt and at 10, 20, 40, and 52 weeks, we measured antithyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab), antithyroglobulin antibodies (Tg-Ab), urinary iodine (UI), and thyroid hormones, and examined the thyroid using ultrasound. At baseline, median UI was 17 microg/L and the prevalence of goiter and hypothyroidism was 72% and 18%, respectively. Provision of iodized salt maintained median UI at 150-200 microg/L for the year (p < 0.0001). There was a significant increase in mean total thyroxine (T(4)) and a significant reduction in the prevalence of hypothyroidism (p < 0.001). There was a transient increase in the prevalence of detectable antibodies after introduction of iodized salt (p < 0.0001) with levels returning to baseline at 1 year. Only congruent with 1% of children had elevated TPO-Ab and none had elevated Tg-Ab over the course of the study, and no child with elevated TPO-Ab had abnormal thyrotropin (TSH) or T(4) concentrations. None developed clinical or ultrasonographic evidence of thyroid autoimmune disease and/or iodine-induced hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Rapid introduction of iodized salt does not provoke significant thyroid autoimmunity in severely iodine-deficient children followed for 1 year.
Promoting Positive Youth Development by Examining the Career and Educational Aspirations of African American Males: Implications for Designing Educational Programs

African American males experience poor academic performance, high absenteeism at school, and are at increased risk of being involved in violence than other racial groups. Given that the educational outlook for African American males appears bleak, it is important to assess the aspirations of these adolescent males in order to find the gap between aspirations and educational attainment. In order to promote positive development within this population, it is essential that factors that affect African American males be identified. A survey was administered to male students attending elementary, middle, and high schools in a local school district. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the career and educational aspirations of African American males. A total of 473 males were surveyed: 45% African American, 22% Caucasian, 13% biracial, and 19% Other (including Asian American, Hispanic, Native American). The results revealed that African American males aspired to attend college at the same rate as other ethnic groups. Also, African American males were more likely to aspire to be professional athletes than males from other ethnic groups. Important factors to consider when designing a program are discussed as well as future research and limitations.
Modulation of myocilin/TIGR expression in human trabecular meshwork.

PURPOSE To study factors that modulate myocilin/trabecular meshwork inducible glucocorticoid response protein (TIGR) mRNA expression in human trabecular meshwork (TM). METHODS mRNA from fresh TM of four human donors, from perfused anterior segment organ cultured TM of three donors, and from four primary TM cell lines of different donors was isolated. The full length cDNA of myocilin/TIGR was cloned from TM mRNA using a polymerase chain reaction approach and used as probe for northern blot analysis hybridization. Trabecular meshwork cell cultures were treated with transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 (1 ng/ml), dexamethasone (10(-7) M), and mechanical stretch (10%). RESULTS mRNA for myocilin/TIGR could be readily detected by northern blot analysis hybridization in 2 to 3 microg of total RNA from all fresh and all organ-cultured TM samples. In contrast, no mRNA for myocilin/TIGR could be detected in 20 microg of total RNA isolated from three different primary TM cell lines. Only one TM cell line had a baseline expression of myocilin/TIGR, which was 35- to 55-fold lower than that of fresh or organ-cultured TM samples. Treatment of TM cell cultures with dexamethasone for 1 day markedly increased expression of myocilin/TIGR mRNA, an effect that was even more pronounced after 3 days of treatment. Treatment with TGF-beta1 for 24 hours had no effect; however, after 3 and 12 days of treatment a 3.8- and 4-fold increase in myocilin/TIGR mRNA expression was observed. Expression of myocilin/TIGR mRNA was also increased after 10% mechanical stretch; however, in contrast to the effects of TGF-beta-1, this effect was observed much earlier (8-24 hours) after treatment. CONCLUSIONS Dynamic mechanical stimuli maintain myocilin/TIGR expression in TM in situ and lack of these stimuli in monolayer cell cultures might be involved in downregulation of myocilin/TIGR expression.
Description and Consequences of Prescribing Off-Label Antiretrovirals in the Madrid Cohort of HIV-Infected Children over a Quarter of a Century (1988–2012)

Background Licensing data for paediatric dosing is often sparse and subsequent studies may result in changes to recommended doses. We measured the extent and consequences of off-label antiretroviral (ARV) use in an HIV-infected paediatric cohort. Methods In this multicentre cohort study involving 318 HIV-infected children and adolescents from the Madrid Cohort, all off-label prescriptions from March 1988 to March 2012 were recorded from the clinical records. The reasons for prescribing ARV off-label, the side effects and the consequences of incorrect dosing of ARVs are discussed. Results Among the 318 patients of the cohort, 221 (69%) received off-label ARVs according to EMA licensing at the time of prescription, representing 23% (540) of the 2,353 prescribed ARVs. The main reason for starting an off-label drug was treatment failure. Adverse events led to treatment discontinuation in 12% of the prescriptions. Problems taking the drug led to withdrawal in 5%, more likely when formulation was not suitable for age (P<0.05). Up to 10% were overdosed and 10% underdosed, defined as 25% above or below the current recommended dose, respectively. Treatment failure occurred significantly more frequently among underdosed compared to overdosed patients (50% versus 26%; P<0.05). Conclusions Off-label use of ARVs was common in our HIV-1 paediatric patients. Adverse events were common but rarely led to withdrawal. Suitable formulation is important in younger children. Pharmacokinetic studies are needed as frequent incorrect dosing may occur when prescribing off-label and underdosing may lead to treatment failure.
Socialization of prosocial behavior: How parents encourage their children's helping

We investigated the techniques parents use to socialize prosocial behavior in young children, ages 18 and 24 months. Dyads participated in an everyday household-helping task in which parents encouraged their children to help clip cloths to a clothesline. Parental strategies for getting children to help were categorized into substantive categories (instrumental and empathic/emotional) and regulatory categories, including reinforcement. Children’s compliant engagement in the task was also coded. Results indicated that parents used a variety of strategies to socialize helping. While they were equally active in encouraging helping at both ages, they used different strategies depending on children’s age. At both ages parents emphasized instrumental, task-specific aspects of helping more than the emotional aspects, but used more instrumental requests and regulatory strategies with younger children. They used empathic/emotional encouragements equally often with younger and older children. They used a greater variety of techniques with younger children, particularly regulatory strategies, including gestures paired with verbalizations and attention getting strategies. Younger children were less compliantly engaged in the task than older children. When analyses were conducted controlling for compliant engagement, some results differed. Parents of older children used fewer encouragements than parents of younger children, but they used instrumental and empathic/emotional strategies equally often. Parents of younger children continued to use significantly more instrumental techniques than parents of older children, whereas parents of older children used more empathic/emotional techniques. Parents of 24 month olds used more reinforcement than did parents of 18 month olds and no longer differed in their use of attention getting techniques. Results indicate that parents actively socialize prosocial behavior and are sensitive to age and developmental differences, changing their strategies to differentially support their older and younger children.
Increasing Systemic Exposure of Methotrexate by Active Efflux Mediated by Multidrug Resistance-Associated Protein 3 (Mrp3/Abcc3)

The aim of this study was to investigate the functional importance of multidrug resistance-associated protein (Mrp)3/Abcc3 and Mrp4/Abcc4 in the pharmacokinetics of methotrexate. Compared with the corresponding wild-type mice, the plasma concentrations of methotrexate given orally were similar in Abcc4-/- mice and were significantly lower in Abcc3-/- mice. Pharmacokinetic parameters related to hepatobiliary transport were determined under steady-state conditions in wild-type and Abcc3-/- mice that were given a constant intravenous infusion of methotrexate. The biliary clearance, based on the plasma concentration, was 1.6-fold greater in Abcc3-/- mice than in wild-type mice (23 and 15 ml/min/kg, respectively, P < 0.05). Because the basolateral uptake and canalicular efflux clearances of methotrexate were similar in wild-type and Abcc3-/- mice, this result suggests that the basolateral efflux clearance of methotrexate is decreased in the liver of Abcc3-/- mice. Furthermore, a lower fraction of absorption of methotrexate (Fa Fg) was suggested in Abcc3-/- mice (0.49 and 0.29 in wild-type and Abcc3-/- mice, respectively). The mucosal-to-serosal transport rate of methotrexate, determined in vitro using everted sacs, was highest in the duodenum and was significantly decreased in Abcc3-/- mice compared with wild-type mice. This is ascribed to the reduced intrinsic efflux clearance of methotrexate across the serosal membrane (22 and 5.3 μl/min/sac in wild-type and Abcc3-/- mice, respectively, P < 0.05). These results suggest that Mrp3 mediates basolateral efflux of methotrexate in the liver and duodenum, thereby serving to increase systemic exposure, whereas Mrp4 is likely to play only a limited role in the systemic methotrexate exposure.
Ocular Rigidity and Outflow Facility in Nonproliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose. To compare ocular rigidity (OR) and outflow facility (C) in patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and control subjects. Methods. Twenty-four patients with NPDR (NPDR group) and 24 controls (control group) undergoing cataract surgery were enrolled. NPDR group was further divided into patients with mild NPDR (NPDR1-group) and patients with moderate and/or severe NPDR (NPDR2-group). After cannulation of the anterior chamber, a computer-controlled device was used to infuse saline and increase the intraocular pressure (IOP) in a stepping procedure from 15 to 40 mmHg. Ocular rigidity and outflow facility coefficients were estimated from IOP and volume recordings. Results. Ocular rigidity was 0.0205 μL−1 in NPDR group and 0.0202 μL−1 in control group (P = 0.942). In NPDR1-group, OR was 0.017 μL−1 and in NPDR2-group it was 0.025 μL−1 (P = 0.192). Outflow facility was 0.120 μL/min/mmHg in NPDR-group compared to 0.153 μL/min/mmHg in the control group at an IOP of 35 mmHg (P = 0.151). There was no difference in C between NPDR1-group and NPDR2-group (P = 0.709). Conclusions. No statistically significant differences in ocular rigidity and outflow facility could be documented between diabetic patients and controls. No difference in OR and C was detected between mild NPDR and severe NPDR.
Using group delay functions from all-pole models for speaker recognition

Popular features for speech processing, such as mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs), are derived from the short-term magnitude spectrum, whereas the phase spectrum remains unused. While the common argument to use only the magnitude spectrum is that the human ear is phase-deaf, phase-based features have remained less explored due to additional signal processing difficulties they introduce. A useful representation of the phase is the group delay function, but its robust computation remains difficult. This paper advocates the use of group delay functions derived from parametric all-pole models instead of their direct computation from the discrete Fourier transform. Using a subset of the vocal effort data in the NIST 2010 speaker recognition evaluation (SRE) corpus, we show that group delay features derived via parametric all-pole models improve recognition accuracy, especially under high vocal effort. Additionally, the group delay features provide comparable or improved accuracy over conventional magnitude-based MFCC features. Thus, the use of group delay functions derived from all-pole models provide an effective way to utilize information from the phase spectrum of speech signals. Index Terms: speaker verification, group delay functions, high vocal effort
Automatic Evasion Seen from the Opposing Traffic -- An Investigation with the Vehicle in the Loop

In the field of active safety driver assistance systems, emergency steering interventions are subject to current research initiatives like UR:BAN. On the one hand, such systems can potentially prohibit accidents even if it is too late to brake to a standstill. On the other hand, such interventions with a lateral component introduce new challenges to controllability assessment. Countermeasures to avoid accidents in critical situations can not only be performed by the driver with the system on board, but also by other road users. Hence, a possible approach is the investigation of controllability aspects of emergency steering systems from the perspective of opposing traffic participants. To work out clear limitations for the functional design of these systems due to the accident avoiding capabilities of opposing drivers, relevant functional parameters and driving situations were identified and investigated with 48 naïve participants using the Vehicle in the Loop (VIL). The results show that the driving situation has an influence on the drivers' judgment and behavior. Drivers were able to avoid accidents with oncoming evading vehicles by steering and/or braking, if the time gap between the peak of the evasion trajectory and the drivers' vehicle was at least two seconds.
Nitric oxide regulates matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity by guanylyl-cyclase-dependent and -independent pathways

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are of central importance in the proteolytic remodeling of matrix and the generation of biologically active molecules. MMPs are distinguished by a conserved catalytic domain containing a zinc ion, as well as a prodomain that regulates enzyme activation by modulation of a cysteine residue within that domain. Because nitric oxide (NO) and derived reactive nitrogen species target zinc ions and cysteine thiols, we assessed the ability of NO to regulate MMPs. A dose-dependent, biphasic regulatory effect of NO on the activity of MMPs (MMP-9, -1, and -13) secreted from murine macrophages was observed. Low exogenous NO perturbed MMP/tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 levels by enhancing MMP activity and suppressing the endogenous inhibitor TIMP-1. This was cGMP-dependent, as confirmed by the cGMP analog 8-bromo-cGMP, as well as by the NO–soluble guanylyl cyclase–cGMP signaling inhibitor thrombospondin-1. Exposure of purified latent MMP-9 to exogenous NO demonstrated a concentration-dependent activation and inactivation of the enzyme, which occurred at higher NO flux. These chemical reactions occurred at concentrations similar to that of activated macrophages. Importantly, these results suggest that NO regulation of MMP-9 secreted from macrophages may occur chemically by reactive nitrogen species-mediated protein modification, biologically through soluble guanylyl-cyclase-dependent modulation of the MMP-9/TIMP-1 balance, or proteolytically through regulation of MMP-1 and -13, which can cleave the prodomain of MMP-9. Furthermore, when applied in a wound model, conditioned media exhibiting peak MMP activity increased vascular cell migration that was MMP-9-dependent, suggesting that MMP-9 is a key physiologic mediator of the effects of NO in this model.
Melatonin inhibits cell proliferation and induces caspase activation and apoptosis in human malignant lymphoid cell lines

Abstract: Melatonin exerts strong anti‐tumour activity via several mechanisms, including anti‐proliferative and pro‐apoptotic effects in addition to its potent antioxidant activity. Several studies have investigated the effects of melatonin on haematological malignancies. However, the previous studies investigating lymphoid malignancies have been largely restricted to a single type of malignancy, Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL). Thus, we examined the actions of melatonin on the growth and apoptosis in a small panel of cell lines representing different human lymphoid malignancies including Ramos (Epstein–Barr virus–negative BL), SU‐DHL‐4 (diffuse large B cell lymphoma), DoHH2 (follicular B non‐Hodgkin lymphoma) and JURKAT (acute T cell leukaemia). We showed that melatonin promotes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in all these cells, although there was marked variations in responses among different cell lines (sensitivity; Ramos/DoHH2 > SU‐DHL‐4 > JURKAT). Melatonin‐induced apoptosis was relatively rapid, with increased caspase 3 and PARP cleavage detected within 0.5–1 h following melatonin addition. Moreover, there was evidence for rapid processing of both caspase 9, as well as a breakdown of the mitochondrial inner transmembrane potential. On the contrary, caspase activation was detected only in SU‐DHL‐4 and Ramos cells following melatonin treatment suggesting that the extrinsic pathway does not make a consistent contribution to melatonin‐induced apoptosis in malignant lymphocytes. Although all cell lines expressed the high‐affinity melatonin receptors, MT1 and MT2, melatonin‐induced caspase activation appeared to be independent these receptors. Our findings confirm that melatonin could be a potential chemotherapeutic/preventive agent for malignant lymphocytes. However, it is necessary to take into account that different lymphoid malignancies may differ in their response to melatonin.