Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of toddler, child and adolescent overweight and obesity derived from primary care electronic medical records: an observational study.

BACKGROUND Population monitoring and surveillance of objectively measured child weight data in Canada is limited to national surveys with poor regional applicability, and no healthy weight data are available for children less than 2 years of age. We aimed to determine the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity using objective measures derived from primary care electronic medical records. METHODS Observational data included all height and weight records for children less than 20 years of age, between 2004 and 2013, from 3 Ontario primary care research networks. We calculated body mass index (BMI)-for-age and weight-for-length using the World Health Organization Growth Standards and Reference to assign growth status indicator categories by age group. Descriptive data and prevalence estimates were generated for 2013. We also compared weight-for-length for children less than 2 years of age with a corresponding billing code for known well-child visits. RESULTS Our study included 8261 children with a corresponding growth status indicator, a sample close to 4 times larger than the national survey sample. In 2013, 28.4% of children aged 5-19 years, and 6% of children aged 0-5 years, were categorized as overweight or obese. Between 2008 and 2013, the total number of 18-month well baby visit billing codes was 1152; 6.9% of this group were categorized as overweight or obese; 19.2% were categorized as having risk of overweight. INTERPRETATION Primary care electronic medical records show good potential for ongoing population monitoring of overweight and obesity, particularly for very young children for whom early intervention is likely to show the greatest positive health impact.
The CREST-E study of creatine for Huntington disease

Objective: To investigate whether creatine administration could slow progressive functional decline in adults with early symptoms of Huntington disease. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of up to 40 g daily of creatine monohydrate in participants with stage I and II HD treated for up to 48 months. The primary outcome measure was the rate of change in total functional capacity (TFC) between baseline and end of follow-up. Secondary outcome measures included changes in additional clinical scores, tolerability, and quality of life. Safety was assessed by adverse events and laboratory studies. Results: At 46 sites in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, 553 participants were randomized to creatine (275) or placebo (278). The trial was designed to enroll 650 patients, but was halted for futility after the first interim analysis. The estimated rates of decline in the primary outcome measure (TFC) were 0.82 points per year for participants on creatine, 0.70 points per year for participants on placebo, favoring placebo (nominal 95% confidence limits −0.11 to 0.35). Adverse events, mainly gastrointestinal, were significantly more common in participants on creatine. Serious adverse events, including deaths, were more frequent in the placebo group. Subgroup analysis suggested that men and women may respond differently to creatine treatment. Conclusions: Our data do not support the use of creatine treatment for delaying functional decline in early manifest HD. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00712426. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with early symptomatic HD, creatine monohydrate is not beneficial for slowing functional decline.
Genetic distances based on quantitative traits.

Morphological data showing continuous distributions, polygenically controlled, may be particularly useful in intergroup classification below the species level; an appropriate distance analysis based on these traits is an important tool in evolutionary biology and in plant and animal breeding. --The interpretation of morphological distances in genetic terms is not easy because simple phenotypic data may lead to biased estimates of genetic distances. Convenient estimates can be obtained whenever it is possible to breed populations according to a suitable crossing design and to derive information from genetic parameters. --A general method for determining genetic distances is proposed. The procedure of multivariate analysis of variance is extended to estimate appropriate genetic parameters (genetic effects). Not only are optimal statistical estimates of parameters obtained but also the procedure allows the measurement of genetic distances between populations as linear functions of the estimated parameters, providing an appropriate distance matrix that can be defined in terms of these parameters. The use of the T2 statistic, defined in terms of the vector of contrasts specifying the distance, permits the testing of the significance of any distance between any pair of populations that may be of interest from a genetic point of view. --A numerical example from maize diallel data is reported in order to illustrate the procedure. In particular, heterosis effects are used as the basis for estimates of genetic divergence between populations.
Evaluation of neuromuscular symptoms in UK Gulf War veterans

Objectives: To determine whether Gulf War veterans with neuromuscular symptoms that included weakness and fatigue had either 1) objective correlates for muscle weakness or fatigue; or 2) any etiologic explanation for such symptoms; and if so, 3) whether such objective measures or etiologic mechanisms were specific to Gulf War service. Methods: Forty-nine ill Gulf War veterans with more than four neuromuscular symptoms (Gulf-ill) were compared with 26 Gulf-well veterans, 13 symptomatic Bosnian veterans (Bosnia-ill), and 22 symptomatic troops who were not deployed to the Gulf (Era-ill). Quantitative myometry was used to objectively measure weakness and fatigue. Subjects had an ischemic forearm exercise test, a subanaerobic bicycle exercise test, and a muscle biopsy. Results: Quantitative strength and fatigue measures did not correlate with self-perception of weakness or fatigue for any of our groups. No specific muscle biopsy abnormalities were found. There was no defect of adenylate deaminase or glycogenolysis found. Gulf-ill subjects did find the subanaerobic bicycle exercise more effortful and generated significantly higher plasma lactate concentrations compared with Gulf-well subjects. Conclusion: Because complaints of weakness and fatigue in unwell servicemen do not correlate with actual weakness or fatigue, explanations for these symptoms must lie outside of the neuromuscular system. Increased lactate production during subanaerobic bicycle exercise reflects mitochondrial inefficiency, but it is unclear whether this reflects mitochondrial damage sustained during Gulf War service or inactivity secondary to ill health.
Two-dimensional analysis of gait asymmetry in spastic hemiplegia.

OBJECTIVE Simple measures of gait for routine clinical use could be useful when the complex gait analysis systems are not available. The aim of this study was to quantify asymmetry in children with spastic hemiplegia using a two-dimensional gait analysis by videography and to relate the asymmetry to motor function. METHODS Twenty-four children with spastic hemiplegia (19 males, 5 females; mean age 49 months [SD 5 months], range from 39 to 60 months) were assessed with a two-dimensional gait analysis by videography and the analyzed parameters were compared with normal values and with clinical and functional data. RESULTS There were significant differences in swing time (p = 0.002), stance time (p = 0.01) and stance/swing time ratio (p < 0.001). The comparison with the normal values described by Sutherland also demonstrated gait asymmetry. There was no direct relationship between the motor function and asymmetry but a score analysis for specific Gross Motor Function Measure items could quantify it in terms of age of gait acquisition. Children with more adequate muscle tone presented longer stance time in the involved limb than those with more spasticity (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the best performance is associated with the smallest asymmetry in this sample. Although two-dimensional gait analysis does not provide as much data as three dimensional gait analyses, we believe it can contribute significantly to the gait assessment of children with cerebral palsy.
The Borel Complexity of Isomorphism for Theories with Many Types

During the Notre Dame workshop on Vaught’s Conjecture, Hjorth and Kechris asked which Borel equivalence relations can arise as the isomorphism relation for models of a first order theory. In particular, they asked if the isomorphism relation can be essentially countable but not tame. We show this is not possible if the theory has uncountably many types. I am grateful to the logic group at Notre Dame for organizing this stimulating workhop.
Secretion of locally synthesized neurohormone from neurites of peptidergic neurons

Local protein synthesis in neuronal processes is a common phenomenon and may play an important role in synaptic plasticity and hormonal regulation. We have used neuroendocrine bag cells of Aplysia californica as a model system to study local protein synthesis. In our previous work we found that bag cell neurites are capable of synthesizing and processing the prohormone of egg‐laying hormone (pro‐ELH). In the present study, we found that bag cell neurites are also capable of releasing locally synthesized pro‐ELH and ELH‐related products via both constitutive and regulated pathways. However, an electrical afterdischarge did not enhance local pro‐ELH synthesis, as it does in the bag cell soma. This is the first evidence that isolated neurites are capable of secreting locally synthesized proteins.
Damping Characteristics of Epoxy-Reinforced Composite with Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes

In the current work, the damping characteristics of epoxy-reinforced composite with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) have been investigated. The effect of reinforcement weight percentage and the influence of carbon nanotube (CNT) sizes on the damping are examined. The frequency dependent damping behavior of nanocomposites has been evaluated. A nearly 85% increase in loss modulus is observed for nanocomposites reinforced with CNTs of high specific surface area (SSA) against 53% with CNTs of lower aspect ratio and SSA at 0.75% filler percentage. Hence, it is evident that CNTs with a high aspect ratio and SSA are very effective in improving the damping behavior of polymer composites. An increase in storage modulus of about 10% is noticed at 0.5% CNT filler percentage followed by a marginal reduction at 0.75%, which clearly indicates that the percentage of reinforcement plays a major role in enhancing the stiffness properties. Interestingly, the CNT nanocomposites have been found to exhibit better damping characteristics at higher frequencies. An interfacial stick-slip mechanism between an epoxy matrix and CNTs is accounted for enhancement of damping in nanocomposites.
Long-term calcium supplementation may have adverse effects on serum cholesterol and carotid intima-media thickness in postmenopausal women: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Several studies have focused on the effects of calcium intake on serum lipid concentrations in postmenopausal women. However, many premenopausal women are taking calcium supplements in China. To our knowledge, no studies have assessed whether the effects of calcium supplementation on blood lipids are similar between premenopausal and postmenopausal women. OBJECTIVE We assessed the effects of calcium supplementation on blood lipid concentrations in premenopausal and postmenopausal women with dyslipidemia. DESIGN A total of 190 premenopausal women (30-40 y old) and 182 postmenopausal women (50-60 y old) with dyslipidemia were given 800 mg Ca/d or a placebo for 2 y in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Blood pressure, fasting glucose and serum lipid concentrations, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), dietary nutrient intakes, and physical activity levels were determined at baseline and after 2 y. RESULTS There was a significant interaction between calcium supplementation and menopausal status on serum cholesterol concentrations (P < 0.001) and CIMT (P = 0.017). Serum cholesterol concentrations and CIMT were significantly increased in postmenopausal women (P < 0.01) after 2 y. Serum triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentrations were not affected after 2 y. CONCLUSIONS Calcium supplementation in postmenopausal women with dyslipidemia increases serum total cholesterol concentrations and CIMT. In postmenopausal women with dyslipidemia, calcium supplements should be prescribed with caution. This trial was registered at http://www.chictr. org/cn/ as ChiCTR-TRC-12002806.
A Comparison of Frequent Pattern Techniques and a Deep Learning Method for Session-Based Recommendation

Making session-based recommendations, i.e., recommending items solely based on the users’ last interactions without having access to their long-term preference proles, is a challenging problem in various application elds of recommender systems. Using a coarse classication scheme, the proposed algorithmic approaches to this problem in the research literature can be categorized into frequent paern mining algorithms and approaches that are based on sequence modeling. In the context of methods of the laer class, recent works suggest the application of recurrent neural networks (RNN) for the problem. However, the lack of established algorithmic baselines for session-based recommendation problems makes the assessment of such novel approaches dicult. In this work, we therefore compare a state-of-the-art RNN-based approach with a number of (heuristics-based) frequent paern mining methods both with respect to the accuracy of their recommendations and with respect to their computational complexity. e results obtained for a variety of dierent datasets show that in every single case a comparably simple frequent paern method can be found that outperforms the recent RNN-based method. At the same time, the proposed much more simple methods are also computationally less expensive and can be applied within the narrow time constraints of online recommendation.
CTNNB1 Signaling in Sertoli Cells Downregulates Spermatogonial Stem Cell Activity via WNT4

Constitutive activation of the WNT signaling effector CTNNB1 (β-catenin) in the Sertoli cells of the Ctnnb1 tm1Mmt/+;Amhr2 tm3(cre)Bhr/+ mouse model results in progressive germ cell loss and sterility. In this study, we sought to determine if this phenotype could be due to a loss of spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) activity. Reciprocal SSC transplants between Ctnnb1 tm1Mmt/+;Amhr2 tm3(cre)Bhr/+ and wild-type mice showed that SSC activity is lost in Ctnnb1 tm1Mmt/+;Amhr2 tm3(cre)Bhr/+ testes over time, whereas the mutant testes could not support colonization by wild-type SSCs. Microarray analyses performed on cultured Sertoli cells showed that CTNNB1 induces the expression of genes associated with the female sex determination pathway, which was also found to occur in Ctnnb1 tm1Mmt/+;Amhr2 tm3(cre)Bhr/+ testes. One CTNNB1 target gene encoded the secreted signaling molecule WNT4. We therefore tested the effects of WNT4 on SSC-enriched germ cell cultures, and found that WNT4 induced cell death and reduced SSC activity without affecting cell cycle. Conversely, conditional inactivation of Wnt4 in the Ctnnb1 tm1Mmt/+;Amhr2 tm3(cre)Bhr/+ model rescued spermatogenesis and male fertility, indicating that WNT4 is the major effector downstream of CTNNB1 responsible for germ cell loss. Furthermore, WNT4 was found to signal via the CTNNB1 pathway in Sertoli cells, suggesting a self-reinforcing positive feedback loop. Collectively, these data indicate for the first time that ectopic activation of a signaling cascade in the stem cell niche depletes SSC activity through a paracrine factor. These findings may provide insight into the pathogenesis of male infertility, as well as embryonic gonadal development.
Comparison on the Properties of Nickel-Coated Graphite (NCG) and Graphite Particles as Conductive Fillers in Polypropylene (PP) Composites

The present study was carried out to evaluate the performance of nickel-coated graphite (NCG) in comparison with graphite as conductive fillers in polypropylene (PP) matrix. Graphite exhibits smaller particle size and higher aspect ratio (length/thickness) than NCG particles. The results showed that the additions of graphite filler in PP exhibits higher tensile properties and electrical conductivity compared to NCG filled PP composites. The electrical results showed that the percolation threshold of graphite and NCG filled PP composites occurred in the range of 10 to 20 vol.% and 15 to 25 vol.%, respectively.
Reality compared with its alternatives: age differences in judgments of regret and relief.

Three experiments examined developmental change in children's understanding of regret and relief, two second-order emotions whose quality depends on a comparison between reality and "what might have been. " In Experiment 1, participants 7 years of age and older, but not 5-year-olds, made regret-related emotion-response judgments that took into account a comparison of reality with its alternatives. In Experiment 2, 5-year-olds judged that an individual would feel better, rather than worse, when a counterfactual outcome was better than what actually occurred (the opposite of the pattern found with older children and adults). Experiment 3 focused on the understanding of relief. In contrast to the findings from Experiment I, the 7-year-olds in Experiment 3 made their judgments solely on the basis of what actually occurred.
Identification of an Internal Ribosome Entry Segment in the 5′ Region of the Mouse VL30 Retrotransposon and Its Use in the Development of Retroviral Vectors

ABSTRACT Mouse virus-like 30S RNAs (VL30m) constitute a family of retrotransposons, present at 100 to 200 copies, dispersed in the mouse genome. They display little sequence homology to Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV), do not encode virus-like proteins, and have not been implicated in retroviral carcinogenesis. However, VL30 RNAs are efficiently packaged into MLV particles that are propagated in cell culture. In this study, we addressed whether the 5′ region of VL30m could replace the 5′ leader of MoMLV functionally in a recombinant vector construct. Our data confirm that the putative packaging sequence of VL30 is located within the 5′ region (nucleotides 362 to 1149 with respect to the cap structure) and that it can replace the packaging sequence of MoMLV. We also show that VL30m contains an internal ribosome entry segment (IRES) in the 5′ region, as do MoMLV, Friend murine leukemia virus, Harvey murine sarcoma virus, and avian reticuloendotheliosis virus type A. Our data show that both the packaging and IRES functions of the 5′ region of VL30m RNA can be efficiently used to develop retrotransposon-based vectors.
External evaluation measures for subspace clustering

Knowledge discovery in databases requires not only development of novel mining techniques but also fair and comparable quality assessment based on objective evaluation measures. Especially in young research areas where no common measures are available, researchers are unable to provide a fair evaluation. Typically, publications glorify the high quality of one approach only justified by an arbitrary evaluation measure. However, such conclusions can only be drawn if the evaluation measures themselves are fully understood. In this paper, we provide the basis for systematic evaluation in the emerging research area of subspace clustering. We formalize general quality criteria for subspace clustering measures not yet addressed in the literature. We compare the existing external evaluation methods based on these criteria and pinpoint limitations. We propose a novel external evaluation measure which meets the requirements in form of quality properties. In thorough experiments we empirically show characteristic properties of evaluation measures. Overall, we provide a set of evaluation measures that fulfill the general quality criteria as recommendation for future evaluations. All measures and datasets are provided on our website and are integrated in our evaluation framework.
Change of HER‐2/neu status in a subset of distant metastases from breast carcinomas

It is assumed that HER‐2/neu status remains consistent in breast carcinoma during metastatic spread, but in most previous studies primary tumours were compared with concurrent regional lymph node metastases. The present study investigated 31 breast carcinomas and their corresponding lymph node and distant metastases for HER‐2/neu status by immunohistochemistry (HercepTest™) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) (PathVysion™). In 14 cases, serum HER‐2/neu (SHER‐2) was measured sequentially using the Bayer Immuno 1™ HER‐2/neu assay. Comparing HER‐2/neu immunohistochemistry of primary tumours and distant metastases case by case, increased HER‐2/neu expression was found in the distant metastases in 15 cases (48.4%), three (9.7%) of which showed an increase from score 0 to score 3+. In contrast, lymph node metastases showed the same HER‐2/neu expression as the primary tumours, confirmed by FISH. Two cases, which showed HER‐2/neu score 3+ and HER‐2/neu amplification in the primary tumours, revealed increased SHER‐2 levels above 50 ng/ml at the first measurement. Five of the 14 cases (36%) showed an increase of SHER‐2 above 50 ng/ml towards the end of the patients' life. On the basis of these results, there is evidence that in a subset of breast carcinomas, HER‐2/neu amplification and overexpression occur de novo in distant metastases at a late disease stage. Copyright © 2004 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Population Structure of a Hybrid Clonal Group of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, ST239-MRSA-III

The methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal group known as ST239-MRSA-III is notable for its hybrid origin and for causing sustained hospital epidemics worldwide since the late 1970s. We studied the population structure of this MRSA clonal group using a sample of 111 isolates that were collected over 34 years from 29 countries. Genetic variation was assessed using typing methods and novel ascertainment methods, resulting in approximately 15 kb of sequence from 32 loci for all isolates. A single most parsimonious tree, free of homoplasy, partitioned 28 haplotypes into geographically-associated clades, including prominent European, Asian, and South American clades. The rate of evolution was estimated to be approximately 100× faster than standard estimates for bacteria, and dated the most recent common ancestor of these isolates to the mid-20th century. Associations were discovered between the ST239 phylogeny and the ccrB and dru loci of the methicillin resistance genetic element, SCCmec type III, but not with the accessory components of the element that are targeted by multiplex PCR subtyping tools. In summary, the evolutionary history of ST239 can be characterized by rapid clonal diversification that has left strong evidence of geographic and temporal population structure. SCCmec type III has remained linked to the ST239 chromosome during clonal diversification, but it has undergone homoplasious losses of accessory components. These results provide a population genetics framework for the precise identification of emerging ST239 variants, and invite a re-evaluation of the markers used for subtyping SCCmec.