Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pregnancy outcomes following gabapentin use

Objectives: Our objectives were to 1) determine whether first-trimester use of gabapentin is associated with an increased risk for major malformations; 2) examine rates of spontaneous abortions, therapeutic abortions, stillbirths, mean birth weight and gestational age at delivery; and 3) examine rates of poor neonatal adaptation syndrome following late pregnancy exposure. Methods: The study design was prospective. Women were included who initially contacted the services between 5 and 8 weeks with a comparison group of women exposed to nonteratogens, collected in a similar manner. Results: We have data on 223 pregnancy outcomes exposed to gabapentin and 223 unexposed pregnancies. The rates of major malformations were similar in both groups (p = 0.845). There was a higher rate of preterm births (p = 0.019) and low birth weight <2,500 g (p = 0.033) in the gabapentin group. Among infants who were exposed to gabapentin up until delivery, 23 of 61 (38%) were admitted to either the neonatal intensive care unit or special care nursery for observation and/or treatment, vs 6 of 201 (2.9%) live births in the comparison group (p < 0.001). There were 2 cases of possible poor neonatal adaptation syndrome in neonates exposed to gabapentin close to delivery, compared with none in the comparison group, although it must be noted that these infants were concomitantly exposed to other psychotropic drugs. Among the women who took gabapentin, the major indications were pain (n = 90; 43%) and epilepsy (n = 71; 34%); the remainder were for other indications, mostly psychiatric. Conclusion: Our results suggest that although this sample size is not large enough to make any definitive conclusions, and there was no comparator group treated with other antiepileptic drugs, gabapentin use in pregnancy does not appear to increase the risk for major malformations. This finding and the increased risk for low birth weight and preterm birth require further investigation.
Calibration of Dual-Ended Readout of Axially Oriented 100-mm-Long LYSO Crystals for Use in a Compact PET System

We are investigating the use of 100-mm-long axially oriented scintillator crystals read out at either end by position-sensitive photomultiplier tubes (PSPMTs) for application to a small-animal positron emission tomography (PET) system. A system design of this type requires a robust and efficient calibration of the detector response in the light-sharing direction in order to accurately decode the location of photon interaction. In this paper, we evaluate methods for determining the axial positioning calibration of dual-ended readout of lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystals wrapped in either Teflon or 3M Enhanced Specular Reflector (ESR). We compare a collimated irradiation method to a uniform irradiation method recently proposed by Shao. In the collimated irradiation method, an electronically collimated beam of 511-keV photons aimed perpendicular to the long axis of the crystal is used to irradiate the crystal at nine locations in steps of 1 cm. The ratio of the two PMT signals at each irradiation position is used to give the axial-positioning calibration relating ratio signal to position. In the method by Shao, the crystal was irradiated using either a uniform Ge line source, a Na point source, or the intrinsic background activity in the LYSO. To check the validity of both calibration methods for unbalanced detectors, three voltage variations ranging from 750-800 V were used for the two PMTs. For cases with balanced detector gains, the calibration curves obtained using uniform irradiation and Shao's method agreed very well with the reference curve obtained from the collimated irradiation measurements. For the case with detectors that had unbalanced gain, agreement between uniform irradiation and collimated irradiation methods was only achieved if the trigger threshold energies of the two PMTs were adjusted to give similar single-event rates in both PMTs. These findings suggest that Shao's calibration method using uniform irradiation will provide a simple, accurate, and rapid method for calibration of 100-mm-long dual-ended readout detectors.
A Smooth Blood Pressure Control is obtained over 24 h by Delapril in Mild to Moderate Essential Hypertensives

Objective: To assess the homogeneity of the antihypertensive effect of delapril over 24 h. Design and methods: After 2 weeks of placebo 50 mild to moderate essential hypertensives (age 54 - 5 years) were subjected to 8 weeks of treatment with delapril 30 mg once daily. At the end of each period, blood pressure (BP) was assessed by conventional sphygmomanometry (clinic or CBP) and ambulatory (A) BP monitoring. Twenty-four-hour means, trough-to-peak ratio (T/P) and smoothness index (SI, the ratio between the average of the 24-h BP changes after T and its standard deviation) were calculated for systolic (S) and diastolic (D) BP. Results: CBP and ABP were significantly reduced by treatment. Pulse pressure (PP, the SBP-DBP difference) was also significantly ( p < 0.01) reduced by delapril (5.7 - 6.2 and 3.3 - 3.8 mmHg, CPP and APP). The median T/P was higher (0.51 and 0.62, SBP and DBP) in the 43 responders at trough than in the whole group (0.44 and 0.51). The SI was similarly high in the whole group (1.3 - 0.6 and 1.4 - 0.6, SBP and DBP) and in the responders (1.4 - 0.5 and 1.5 - 0.6). Conclusions: Delapril effectively and smoothly reduces BP over 24 h, this effect being evident also on PP, a parameter with a relevant prognostic value.
Internal levator advancement by Müller's muscle-conjunctival resection: technique and review.

BACKGROUND Müller's muscle-conjunctival resection surgery presumably works by advancing the levator aponeurosis of the upper eyelid. The amount of blepharoptosis and the lid's response to the instillation of phenylephrine hydrochloride onto the superior ocular fornix are used to determine the extent of surgery needed. OBJECTIVES To demonstrate the procedure developed and popularized by Allen M. Putterman, MD, performed by Michael Mercandetti, MD, MBA, and to describe the relationship between the amount of Müller's muscle-conjunctival resection performed and the amount of elevation achieved. METHODS Data were retrospectively analyzed based on surgical cases done over a 5-year period by one surgeon (A.M.P.). RESULTS A linear regression model was developed. From this regression a simple table correlating the amount of resection with the amount of elevation desired was derived. CONCLUSION The surgeon will need to modify the table based on his or her clinical experience and postoperative results.
Simulating specular reflections for point cloud geometrical database of the environment

Laser scanning of physical environments allows us to construct their accurate structural database. This database is called a point cloud. Radio channel prediction employing the point cloud is a promising new method for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies. Reported works that predict the radio channel based on the point cloud utilizes a diffuse scattering model with reasonable accuracy if the environment under consideration is small and diffuse dominant. Specular reflections are also crucial propagation phenomena at mm-wave frequencies. However, a mathematical formulation to predict specular reflections is still lacking. This paper presents the formulation for simulating specular reflections based on a point cloud geometrical description of an environment. It evaluates the total specular reflected field as a coherent sum of the individual field contributions originating from the elementary surfaces over an area approximately equal to the first Fresnel reflection zone. The numerical and experimental results demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed formulation.
Racial Framing and Public Support for Ex-Felon Disenfranchisement

It is well documented that framing certain race-neutral policies, such as the death penalty, voter ID laws, and three-strikes laws, in terms of race can increase whites' support for those laws. This study utilized a survey-based experiment to explore the impact of racial framing on voters' support for repealing ex-felon disenfranchisement statutes. White respondents who were told that felon disenfranchisement disproportionately affects blacks were less supportive of restoring felons' voting rights than were those given no racial frame. This impact was concentrated among white Republicans, and the racial frame had a minimal impact on white Democrats' responses to the question. The survey also asked respondents for their opinions about restoring both felons' voting rights and firearm rights. The difference between the control and experimental groups' responses to this question was greater than the difference between the two groups' responses to the question about voting rights alone. Republicans and Democrats responded similarly, with both expressing lesser support for restoring felons' voting and gun rights when the issue was racially framed. Racial threat theory and negative attitudes about blacks help explain why whites became less supportive of ex-felon rights restoration when told that the issue disproportionately affects blacks. The survey also polled blacks, but the frame had a minimal impact on their opinions.
Decomposing the Relationship Between Anxiety Sensitivity and Alcohol Use.

OBJECTIVE The misuse of alcohol is related to numerous detrimental health effects. Research has determined anxiety sensitivity (AS) to be a risk factor for problematic alcohol use. To date, no studies have investigated this relationship using a bifactor model of AS. This study used a bifactor model to determine the effects of the general AS factor and the cognitive, physical, and social concerns subfactors on alcohol-related outcomes. METHOD The sample consisted of 329 participants selected from a larger sample of individuals in a brief smoking-cessation intervention. Latent factor models were used to determine the effects of the bifactor model of AS on alcohol use behavior. RESULTS The general AS factor was significantly associated with alcohol use problems but not alcohol consumption. The AS subfactors of cognitive, physical, and social concerns were not significantly related to either alcohol variable. CONCLUSIONS The findings are inconsistent with previous research that has found associations between the AS subfactors and alcohol-related outcomes. The use of a bifactor model of AS allowed the variance associated with AS to be parceled out of the subfactors, indicating that general AS accounts for the relationship between AS and alcohol misuse.
Structure of optimal control in the model of propagation of two malicious softwares

The security risks incurred by the spread of malware in computer and wireless networks can be reduced by the immunization of nodes, using security and antivirus patches. Malware, which captures personal and corporate confidential data, induces different damages, including costs generated by the necessity to compensate disclosure of private information, loss of money and social damage caused by loss of reputation. The distribution of security and antivirus patches in a network enables the control of the proliferation of malicious software and decreases possible losses. We formulate an optimal control problem for the case whether two different types of malware can circulate at the same time in a computer network and present an optimal strategy of resistance to malvares.
Defining Optimal Triage Strategies for hrHPV Screen–Positive Women—An Evaluation of HPV 16/18 Genotyping, Cytology, and p16/Ki-67 Cytoimmunochemistry

Background: Several options for the triage of high-risk HPV screen–positive (hrHPV+) women were assessed. Methods: This study incorporated CIN2+ cases and controls, all of whom tested hrHPV+ and whose results of liquid-based cytology (LBC), HPV16/18 genotyping, and p16/Ki67 cytoimmunochemistry were available. Sensitivity and specificity for the CIN2+ of these triage tests were evaluated. Results: Absolute sensitivities of HPV 16/18 typing, LBC, and p16/Ki-67 cytoimmunochemistry for CIN2+ detection were 61.7%, 68.3%, and 85.0% for women with hrHPV+ clinician-taken samples. Respective specificities were 70.5%, 89.1%, and 76.7%. The absolute accuracy of the triage tests was similar for women with a hrHPV+ self-sample. P16/Ki-67 cyto-immunochemistry was significantly more sensitive than LBC although significantly less specific. Conclusions: All three single-test triage options, if positive, exceed the threshold of 20% risk at which colposcopy would be indicated. However, none of them conferred a post-test probability of CIN2+ <2%; which would permit routine recall. P16/Ki-67 cytoimmunochemistry on HPV16/18 negative women had a post-test probability of CIN2+ of 1.7% and 0.6% if also LBC negative. Impact: This is one of the few studies to directly compare the performance of triage strategies of hrHPV+ women, in isolation and combinations. It is the only study assessing triage strategies in women who test hrHPV+ in self-taken vaginal samples. A combined triage option that incorporated HPV 16/18 typing prior to p16/ki-67 cytoimmunochemistry in HPV 16/18–negative women yielded a post-test probability of CIN2+ of >20%, whereas women who tested negative had a probability of CIN2+ of <2%. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(11); 1629–35. ©2017 AACR.
An Exploratory Study of Performance Regression Introducing Code Changes

Performance is an important aspect of software quality. In fact, large software systems failures are often due to performance issues rather than functional bugs. One of the most important performance issues is performance regression. Examples of performance regressions are response time degradation and increased resource utilization. Although performance regressions are not all bugs, they often have a direct impact on users' experience of the system. Due to the possible large impact of performance regressions, prior research proposes various automated approaches that detect performance regressions. However, the detection of performance regressions is conducted after the fact, i.e., after the system is built and deployed in the field or dedicated performance testing environments. On the other hand, there exists rich software quality research that examines the impact of code changes on software quality; while a majority of prior findings do not use performance regression as a sign of software quality degradation. In this paper, we perform an exploratory study on the source code changes that introduce performance regressions. We conduct a statistically rigorous performance evaluation on 1,126 commits from ten releases of Hadoop and 135 commits from five releases of RxJava. In particular, we repetitively run tests and performance micro-benchmarks for each commit while measuring response time, CPU usage, Memory usage and I/O traffic. We identify performance regressions in each test or performance micro-benchmark if there exists statistically significant degradation with medium or large effect sizes, in any performance metric. We find that performance regressions widely exist during the development of both subject systems. By manually examining the issue reports that are associated with the identified performance regression introducing commits, we find that the majority of the performance regressions are introduced while fixing other bugs. In addition, we identify six root-causes of performance regressions. 12.5% of the examined performance regressions can be avoided or their impact may be reduced during development. Our findings highlight the need for performance assurance activities during development. Developers should address avoidable performance regressions and be aware of the impact of unavoidable performance regressions.
Influence of Peers and Friends on Overweight/Obese Youths’ Physical Activity

This review offers a theoretical framework to account for the effects of peers on youths’ physical activity. Our research indicates the following: 1) that the youth are more physically active in the presence of friends and peers than in the presence of family members or when alone, 2) peers and friends increase overweight/obese youths’ motivation to be physically active, 3) peers’ weight status does not moderate the effect of peers on youths’ physical activity, and 4) experiencing negative peer interaction, such as ostracism, decreases physical activity in youth. We propose that the consideration of the peer social context as a contributor to physical (in)activity and maintenance of overweight status may further our understanding of physical and behavioral health trajectories and improve prevention and intervention efforts.
Organochlorine contaminants in sea turtles: Correlations between whole blood and fat

Monitoring toxic organochlorine(OC)compounds is an important aspect in wildlife studies, especially in protected species such as sea turtles. The goal of this study was to determine whether blood OC concentrations can predict those in adipose tissue of sea turtles. Blood offers many benefits for monitoring OCs. It can be collected nondestructively from live turtles and can be sampled repeatedly for continuous monitoring. Organochlorine concentrations in blood may better represent the exposure levels of target tissues, but blood concentrations may fluctuate more than those in fatty tissues following recent dietary exposure or lipid mobilization. Paired fat and blood samples were collected from 44 live, juvenile loggerhead sea turtles and 10 juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtle carcasses. Organochlorines were analyzed using gas chromatography with electron capture detection and mass spectrometry. Lipid‐normalized OC concentrations measured in the blood significantly correlated to levels found in the fat samples of both species. This result suggests that sea turtle blood is a suitable alternative to fatty tissues for measuring OCs because blood concentrations reasonably represent those observed in the paired fat samples. However, blood OC concentrations calculated on a wet‐mass basis were significantly and inversely correlated to lipid content in the fat samples. Therefore, caution should be used when monitoring spatial or temporal trends, as OC levels may increase in the blood following mobilization of fat stores, such as during long migrations, breeding, or disease events.
'We don't have recipes; we just have loads of ingredients': explanations of evidence and clinical decision making by speech and language therapists.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Research findings consistently suggest that speech and language therapists (SLTs) are failing to draw effectively on research-based evidence to guide clinical practice. This study aimed to examine what constitutes the reasoning provided by SLTs for treatment choices and whether science plays a part in those decisions. METHOD This study, based in Ireland, reports on the qualitative phase of a mixed-methods study, which examined attitudes underpinning treatment choices and the therapy process. SLTs were recruited from community, hospital and disability work settings via SLT managers who acted as gatekeepers. A total of three focus groups were run. Data were transcribed, anonymized and analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS In total, 48 participants took part in the focus groups. The majority of participants were female, represented senior grades and had basic professional qualifications. Three key themes were identified: practice imperfect; practice as grounded and growing; and critical practice. Findings show that treatment decisions are scaffolded primarily on practice evidence. The uniqueness of each patient results in dynamic and pragmatic practice, constraining the application of unmodified therapies. CONCLUSION The findings emerging from the data reflect the complexities and paradoxes of clinical practice as described by SLTs. Practice is pivoted on both the patient and clinician, through their membership of groups and as individuals. Scientific thinking is a component of decision making; a tool with which to approach the various ingredients and the dynamic nature of clinical practice. However, these scientific elements do not necessarily reflect evidence-based practice as typically constructed.
Caenorhabditis elegans CES-1 Snail Represses pig-1 MELK Expression To Control Asymmetric Cell Division

Snail-like transcription factors affect stem cell function through mechanisms that are incompletely understood. In the Caenorhabditis elegans neurosecretory motor neuron (NSM) neuroblast lineage, CES-1 Snail coordinates cell cycle progression and cell polarity to ensure the asymmetric division of the NSM neuroblast and the generation of two daughter cells of different sizes and fates. We have previously shown that CES-1 Snail controls cell cycle progression by repressing the expression of cdc-25.2 CDC25. However, the mechanism through which CES-1 Snail affects cell polarity has been elusive. Here, we systematically searched for direct targets of CES-1 Snail by genome-wide profiling of CES-1 Snail binding sites and identified >3000 potential CES-1 Snail target genes, including pig-1, the ortholog of the oncogene maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK). Furthermore, we show that CES-1 Snail represses pig-1 MELK transcription in the NSM neuroblast lineage and that pig-1 MELK acts downstream of ces-1 Snail to cause the NSM neuroblast to divide asymmetrically by size and along the correct cell division axis. Based on our results we propose that by regulating the expression of the MELK gene, Snail-like transcription factors affect the ability of stem cells to divide asymmetrically and, hence, to self-renew. Furthermore, we speculate that the deregulation of MELK contributes to tumorigenesis by causing cells that normally divide asymmetrically to divide symmetrically instead.
In vitro quality assessment of tannin-containing tropical shrub legumes : protein and fibre digestion

In vitro techniques were evaluated to determine the nutritive value of a selection of tanniniferous tree and shrub legumes (Calliandra calothyrsus, Leucaena leucocephala L. diversifolia and L. pallida) compared with lucerne (Medicago sativa). Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was also added to some in vitro fermentations (10 mg PEG/50 mg plant substrate) to assess the effects of tannins on digestion of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and nitrogen (N). Total tannin content was poorly correlated with digestibility of dry matter and nitrogen. Apparent digestibility of dry matter and N were significantly different between plants and ranked in the following order; lucerne > L. leucocephala > L. diversifolia > L. pallida > C. calothyrsus. Ammonia was not produced (net accumulation) during 72 h fermentation of C. calothyrsus, L. diversifolia and L. pallida although apparent nitrogen digestion in these plants ranged from 36.9 to 44.3%. Acid-pepsin digestion resulted in a further 17±22% of dry matter digestion in the shrub legumes compared with 8% in lucerne following 72 h fermentation. The amount of acid-pepsin digestible N available was lowest for lucerne (8.4%) and highest for L. pallida (38.9%) with the other legumes ranging from 26.5 to 36.8%. The PEG addition caused a significant increase in rate and extent of DM and NDF digestibility and ammonia production for all the tannin containing shrub legumes but not for lucerne. However, DM loss and fermentability of these plants appeared to be poorly correlated because PEG addition resulted in an increase in volatile fatty acid production ranging from 3.7 to 202% compared with an increase in apparent DM digestibility of 9.1±30%. It is concluded that in vitro evaluation of apparent DM and N digestibility of tannin containing plants provides a poor indication of true digestion (fermentability) and thus measurements of Animal Feed Science and Technology