Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Meta-analyses of the Association of Sleep Apnea with Insulin Resistance, and the Effects of CPAP on HOMA-IR, Adiponectin, and Visceral Adipose Fat.

OBJECTIVE We sought to conduct an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on insulin resistance, as measured by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), visceral abdominal fat (VAF), and adiponectin. Additionally, we performed a separate meta-analysis and meta-regression of studies on the association of insulin resistance and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS All included studies were searched from PubMed (from conception to March 15, 2014). Data were pooled across all included RCTs as the mean difference in HOMA-IR and VAF, and as the standardized mean difference in the case of adiponectin analysis. From the included case-control studies, data on the difference of HOMA-IR between cases and controls were pooled across all studies, as the standardized mean difference (SMD). RESULTS There was a significant difference in HOMA-IR (-0.43 [95% CIs: -0.75 to -0.11], p = 0.008) between CPAP treated and non CPAP treated participants. However, there was no significant difference in VAF or adiponectin; (-47.93 [95% CI: -112.58 to 16.72], p = 0.14) and (-0.06 [95% CI: -0.28 to 0.15], p = 0.56), respectively. Meta-analysis of 16 case-control studies showed a pooled SMD in HOMA-IR of 0.51 (95% CI: 0.28 to 0.75), p ≤ 0.001, between cases and controls. CONCLUSIONS The results of our meta-analyses show that CPAP has a favorable effect on insulin resistance. This effect is not associated with any significant changes in total adiponectin levels or amount of VAF. Our findings also confirm a significant association between OSA and insulin resistance.
Tight Glycaemic Control Model-based methods to answer critical questions about this controversial therapy

Devant un jury compose de : P.C. DAUBY, Professeur a l'Universite de Liege, President; T. DESAIVE, Chef de travaux a l'Universite de Liege, Promoteur; R. SEPULCHRE, Professeur a l'Universite de Liege, co-Promoteur; D. ERNST, Charge de cours a l'Universite de Liege; B. LAMBERMONT, Professeur de clinique au CHU de Liege; J.-C. PREISER, Chef de clinique adjoint a l'Hopital Erasme, Bruxelles; J.G. CHASE, Professeur a la Canterbury Christ Church University (Nouvelle-Zelande)
Alien species as a driver of recent extinctions

We assessed the prevalence of alien species as a driver of recent extinctions in five major taxa (plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals), using data from the IUCN Red List. Our results show that alien species are the second most common threat associated with species that have gone completely extinct from these taxa since AD 1500. Aliens are the most common threat associated with extinctions in three of the five taxa analysed, and for vertebrate extinctions overall.
THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE CLUSTER SUPERNOVA SURVEY. V. IMPROVING THE DARK-ENERGY CONSTRAINTS ABOVE z > 1 AND BUILDING AN EARLY-TYPE-HOSTED SUPERNOVA SAMPLE

We present Advanced Camera for Surveys, NICMOS, and Keck adaptive-optics-assisted photometry of 20 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cluster Supernova Survey. The SNe Ia were discovered over the redshift interval 0.623 < z < 1.415. Of these SNe Ia, 14 pass our strict selection cuts and are used in combination with the world's sample of SNe Ia to derive the best current constraints on dark energy. Of our new SNe Ia, 10 are beyond redshift z = 1, thereby nearly doubling the statistical weight of HST-discovered SNe Ia beyond this redshift. Our detailed analysis corrects for the recently identified correlation between SN Ia luminosity and host galaxy mass and corrects the NICMOS zero point at the count rates appropriate for very distant SNe Ia. Adding these SNe improves the best combined constraint on dark-energy density, ρDE(z), at redshifts 1.0 < z < 1.6 by 18% (including systematic errors). For a flat ΛCDM universe, we find ΩΛ = 0.729 ± 0.014 (68% confidence level (CL) including systematic errors). For a flat wCDM model, we measure a constant dark-energy equation-of-state parameter w = −1.013+0.068−0.073 (68% CL). Curvature is constrained to ∼0.7% in the owCDM model and to ∼2% in a model in which dark energy is allowed to vary with parameters w0 and wa. Further tightening the constraints on the time evolution of dark energy will require several improvements, including high-quality multi-passband photometry of a sample of several dozen z > 1 SNe Ia. We describe how such a sample could be efficiently obtained by targeting cluster fields with WFC3 on board HST. The updated supernova Union2.1 compilation of 580 SNe is available at http://supernova.lbl. gov/Union.
Longitudinal Analysis of the Role of Perceived Self-Efficacy for Self-Regulated Learning in Academic Continuance and Achievement.

The present study examined the developmental course of perceived efficacy for self-regulated learning and its contribution to academic achievement and likelihood of remaining in school in a sample of 412 Italian students (48% males and 52% females ranging in age from 12 to 22 years). Latent growth curve analysis revealed a progressive decline in self-regulatory efficacy from junior to senior high school, with males experiencing the greater reduction. The lower the decline in self-regulatory efficacy, the higher the high school grades and the greater the likelihood of remaining in high school controlling for socioeconomic status. Reciprocal cross-lagged models revealed that high perceived efficacy for self-regulated learning in junior high school contributed to junior high school grades and self-regulatory efficacy in high school, which partially mediated the relation of junior high grades on high school grades and the likelihood of remaining in school. Socioeconomic status contributed to high school grades only mediationally through junior high grades and to school drop out both directly and mediationally through junior high grades.
Satisfaction with primary care: the perspectives of people with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia affects up to 1% of the population in the UK. People with schizophrenia use the National Health Service frequently and over a long period of time. However, their views on satisfaction with primary care are rarely sought. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to explore the elements of satisfaction with primary care for people with schizophrenia. METHOD A primary care-based study was carried out using semi-structured interviews with 45 patients with schizophrenia receiving shared care with the Northern Birmingham Mental Health Trust between 1999 and 2000. RESULTS Five major themes that affect satisfaction emerged from the data: the exceptional potential of the consultation itself; the importance of aspects of the organization of primary care; the construction of the user in the doctor-patient relationship; the influence of stereotypes on GP behaviour; and the importance of hope for recovery. CONCLUSION Satisfaction with primary care is multiply mediated. It is also rarely expected or achieved by this group of patients. There is a significant gap between the rhetoric and the reality of user involvement in primary care consultations. Acknowledging the tensions between societal and GP views of schizophrenia as an incurable life sentence and the importance to patients of hope for recovery is likely to lead to greater satisfaction with primary health care for people with schizophrenia.
Wegener granulomatosis causing sellar mass, hydrocephalus, and global pituitary failure.

IN A SINGLE CASE we found several unusual or difficult features of Wegener granulomatosis. First, Wegener can attack the sella, causing anterior and posterior pituitary failure, hemianopsia, and hydrocephalus. Second, ventriculo-peritoneal shunting can worsen chiasmal compression due to the Wegener sellar mass. Third, extensive and severely active Wegener may be negative for antibodies to neutrophil cytoplasm. Fourth, the long-term management of Wegener, often dependent on nonspecific signals such as the sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein (CRP), is especially difficult with critical central nervous system lesions. Fifth, monthly intravenous cyclophosphamide (CTX) is not as effective as daily oral CTX in severe cases of Wegener. Sixth, dapsone and biweekly oral CTX independently may be useful in long-term management of Wegener. Finally, neurosurgical and medical therapy can bring about an enduring remission even in this severe form of Wegener.
First U.S. Record of the Hard Tick Ixodes (Pholeoixodes) gregsoni Lindquist, Wu, and Redner

Ixodes (Pholeoixodes) gregsoni Lindquist, Wu, and Redner, a species of hard tick described in 1999 in Canada, was recovered from a harvested fisher (Martes pennanti Erxleben) and a domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus Ragni and Randi) in Vermont in 2001 and from harvested mink (Mustela vison Schreber) in Maine in 2003. These samples are the first records of this species within the United States. Although knowledge of this tick's natural history and distribution are still preliminary, these records indicate a possible greater distribution for I. gregsoni than initially perceived. Although its status as a disease vector is presently unknown, natural resource professionals should be aware of the possibility of this tick's occurrence in the northeastern United States.
Health management of older persons with chronically medicated psychotic disorders: the results of a survey in France

ABSTRACT Background: The medical care of elderly patients with psychotic disorders is a matter of major concern. The aim of the study was to investigate health conditions and treatment of elderly patients with psychotic disorders in France. Methods: The SAGE (Schizophrenia AGEd) study (observational, cross-sectional) was a survey conducted among 123 physicians in France, regarding prescriptions of antipsychotic drugs in elderly patients (≥60 years) suffering from psychotic disorders. The survey was based on a questionnaire addressing the mental and somatic health management of the patients. Results: Data from 930 patients (mean age: 70.4 years) were collected. Most patients (58.5%) suffered from schizophrenia, 20.8% had delusional disorder and 20.6% hallucinatory chronic psychosis (very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis). 70.8% of them were outpatients, while 29.2% were inpatients. The severity of psychotic symptoms was assessed in 97.8% of patients, but cognitive function was only evaluated in 41.6%. Some 46.5% of patients were treated with atypical antipsychotics alone, 36.2% with classical antipsychotics alone and 17.3% received a combination of both, atypical and classical antipsychotics; 36.3% patients were given antiparkinsonian medication, of whom only 17.8% as preventive treatment; 51.1% of patients had somatic comorbidities, particularly cardiovascular disorders (34.0%). Evaluation of renal and/or liver function to adjust the dose of treatment was done in only 32.1% of patients. Over the previous 12 months, almost half of the patients had had no ECG, glycemia or creatininemia investigated and HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides were available for less than one-third of them. Conclusions: Antipsychotic and antiparkinsonian drug prescriptions in French aged psychotic patients follow only partially the clinical guidelines and recommendations of consensus conferences. Moreover, cognitive, cardiac and metabolic aspects are not fully managed as expected.
Quantitative Molecular Parameters to Identify Low-Risk and High-Risk Early CIN Lesions: Role of Markers of Proliferative Activity and Differentiation and Rb Availability

Summary:In early cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), the Ki67 stratification index 90th percentile (Si90) is a strong predictor of progression. This study was designed to further investigate the mechanisms leading to elevated Ki67 levels in lesions that progress and to try to improve the prognostic accuracy of Ki67-Si90. We studied 90 CIN lesions in which consensus existed regarding the grade between two experienced gynecologic pathologists. All CINs were p16-positive and showed Ki67 cell clusters above the lower third of the epithelium (both features diagnostic for CIN). Ki67 parameters, cell cycle regulators (Rb, p53, Cyclin A, E and D, p16, p21, p27, and telomerase), and cellular differentiation products (involucrin, CK13, CK14) were compared in the basal zone as well as the deeper and upper halves of the epithelium. Fifteen CIN cases (17%) progressed to a higher CIN grade, including 2 of 25 CIN1 (8%) and 13 of 65 CIN2 (20%) (these proportions of progressing CINs are similar to those in a large meta-analysis). Ki67 quantitation effectively predicted CIN progression as 0 of 40 “Ki67 low-risk” and 15 of 50 (30%) “Ki67 high-risk” lesions progressed. CIN progressors showed decreased Rb, CK13, CK14, and involucrin, but increased p21 and p27 expression. Ki67-Si90 and Rb in the deeper half of the epithelium (RbDeep) were the strongest multivariate independent predictors of progression. Ki67-Si90>0.57 was unfavorable, but only if it coexisted with RbDeep <45% (progression risk = 47%). All early CINs with combined Si90>0.57+RbDeep>45% or any Ki67-Si90 value below 0.57 were nonprogressors. In the high-risk progression subgroup (Ki67-Si90>0.57+RbDeep<45%), all cases with combined CK14<50% and CK13<80% (both in the basal cell layer) (4% of all lesions) progressed. We hypothesize that onco-HPV E7 expression reduces Rb, causing increased and upward proliferation (Ki67-Si90>0.57). Increased RbDeep can reduce proliferation, including its upward spread. Combined quantitation of Ki67, Rb, CK13, and CK14 gives accurate information about the progression risk of early CIN lesions.
Increasing Network Area Spectral Efficiency by combining multiple PHY techniques

Physical Layer (PHY) techniques such as Spatial Multiplexing, Eigen Beamforming, Eigen Beamnulling, Power Control, Spectrum Segmentation and Link Adaptation have been proved effective in improving the Network Area Spectral Efficiency of ad hoc networks. Several works have focused on optimizing the parameters of these PHY techniques individually to maximize different components of the Network Area Spectral Efficiency using an analytical approach. However, the impact of combining these PHY techniques has not been well studied. Moreover, it remains to be seen what kind of tradeoffs exist in a realistic scenario where the the parameters of the PHY techniques need to be selected in a distributed manner and there might not be scope for complex optimization. We use a heuristic based approach to combine these six PHY techniques in a distributed manner, and analyze the performance of the network in the presence of practical non-idealities. Simulation results indicate that the gain in network area spectral efficiency achieved by combining these PHY techniques is additive, and is atleast 3x better than any of the PHY techniques in isolation.
Thrombelastography and coagulation parameters in septic patients and their clinical significance

This study aimed to study the clinical significance of the thrombelastography (TEG) and coagulation parameters in septic patients. 92 septic patients were divided into three groups: sepsis group, sever sepsis group, and septic shock group. At the same time, they were divided into survival group and death group according to their outcomes. Results showed that the difference in days of hospitalization, hemoglobin, CRP and PCT among the three groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). The difference in PT, APTT, TT, FIB, INR and D-Dimer among the three groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05), but D-Dimer in septic shock group was higher than in the other groups. The results of TEG showed that the difference interactiontime (R), K time, α-angle, maximal amplitude (MA), platelet function, and clot index (CI) among the three groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). K, α-angle, MA, platelet function and CI in septic shock group were significantly lower than in sepsis group and sever sepsis group (P<0.05). R in sever sepsis group was significantly shorter than in the other groups. And α-angle, MA, platelet function and CI in sever sepsis group were significantly higher than in sepsis group (P<0.05). The difference in R, K, α-angle, MA, platelet function and CIof TEG between survival group and death group was statistically significant (P<0.05). Taken together, TEG contributes to the diagnosis of coagulability and prognosis in sepsis patients.
Effect of Expectation of Care on Adherence to Antihypertensive Medications Among Hypertensive Blacks: Analysis of the Counseling African Americans to Control Hypertension (CAATCH) Trial

Novel ideas are needed to increase adherence to antihypertensive medication. The current study used data from the Counseling African Americans to Control Hypertension (CAATCH) study, a sample of 442 hypertensive African Americans, to investigate the mediating effects of expectation of hypertension care, social support, hypertension knowledge, and medication adherence, adjusting for age, sex, number of medications, diabetes, education, income, employment, insurance status, and intervention. Sixty‐six percent of patients had an income of $20,000 or less and 56% had a high school education or less, with a mean age of 57 years. Greater expectation of care was associated with greater medication adherence (P=.007), and greater social support was also associated with greater medication adherence (P=.046). Analysis also showed that expectation of care mediated the relationship between hypertension knowledge and medication adherence (P<.05). Expectation of care and social support are important factors for developing interventions to increase medication adherence among blacks.
Interleukin-8 receptor deficiency confers susceptibility to acute pyelonephritis.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) provide an excellent model to identify mucosal resistance mechanisms. The urinary tract is open to microbial attack, but most individuals are resistant to UTIs, demonstrating the presence of a highly efficient host defense along the mucosa. The clustering of infections in certain individuals indicates, on the other hand, that specific defense defects render certain individuals susceptible to infection. The mechanisms of this susceptibility to infection can be studied in the murine UTI model, in which injected human disease isolates first establish in the lower urinary tract and then ascend into the renal pelvis. Mice resistant to injected isolates eliminate 108 cfu/mL within a few days. The largest reduction in bacterial numbers occurs during the first 24 h, suggesting that critical defense mechanisms are activated within this short time frame.
Detection and Recording of Partial Discharges Below the So-called Inception Voltage with Point-Plane Electrode Arrangements in Air

The problem of insulation damage from partial discharges below the so-called inception voltage has not yet attracted much attention. Indications of possible damage exist from previous research. In this paper, the possibility of existence of such phenomena is investigated with small air gaps and point-plane electrode arrangements. It is shown that random discharges below inception voltage may exist. Such discharges are registered and their waveforms are discussed. Experimental evidence is offered that discharges change from the pulse-type to a pulseless-type as the air gap becomes larger. Phenomena affecting in some way the insulating systems below inception may help us to better understand the mechanism of small current flow at relatively low voltages and may contribute to a better formulation of dielectric materials.
Science Fiction and the Risks of the Anthropocene: Anticipated Transformations in Dale Pendell's The Great Bay

Covering the time span from 2021 to 16000 N.C. , Dale Pendell's speculative novel The Great Bay chronicles the profound climatic, geological and ecological transformations that California undergoes during these fourteen millennia. Human life becomes unimaginably small on such a time scale, and Pendell responds to that representational challenge by compiling a wide variety of texts that zero in on individual humans at different points in the future rather than offering a continuous story or central character. In a way, that place is taken by the geographical region that is the focus of the narrative and gives the book its title. Timothy Morton has argued that because we live in the Anthropocene we can no longer understand history as exclusively human. Pendell's "Chronicle of the Collapse" suggests that the same is true for storytelling, offering readers the story of a nonhuman protagonist that changes slowly over time. The result is a highly fragmented narrative that is interesting for what it tries to achieve but at the same time remarkably unengaging. In its distant and distanced rendering of future ecological change and human anguish, The Great Bay is a grave reminder not only of the incalculable risks of the Anthropocene, but also of the basic tenets of realist storytelling.
Comments on: Evaluating Alternative Software Production Functions

Software development projects are notorious for cost overruns and schedule delays. While dozens of software cost models have been proposed, few of them seem to have any degree of consistent accuracy. One major factor contributing to this persistent and widespread problem is an inadequate understanding of the real behavior of software development processes. We believe that software development could be studied as an economic production process and that established economic theories and methods could be used to develop and validate software production and cost models. We present the results of evaluating four alternative software production models using the P-test, a statistical procedure developed specifically for testing the truth of a hypothesis in the presence of alternatives in econometric studies. We found that the truth of the widely used Cobb-Douglas type of software production and cost models (e.g., COCOMO) cannot be maintained in the presence of quadratic or translog models. Overall, the quadratic software production function is shown to be the most plausible model for representing software production processes. Limitations of this study and future directions are also discussed.
Growth Factors, Cytokines, Cell Cycle Molecules Nell-1-Induced Bone Regeneration in Calvarial Defects

Many craniofacial birth defects contain skeletal components requiring bone grafting. We previously identified the novel secreted osteogenic molecule NELL-1, first noted to be overexpressed during premature bone formation in calvarial sutures of craniosynostosis patients. Nell-1 overexpression significantly increases differentiation and mineralization selectively in osteoblasts, while newborn Nell-1 transgenic mice significantly increase premature bone formation in calvarial sutures. In the current study, cultured calvarial explants isolated from Nell-1 transgenic newborn mice (with mild sagittal synostosis) demonstrated continuous bone growth and overlapping sagittal sutures. Further investigation into gene expression cascades revealed that fibroblast growth fac-tor-2 and transforming growth factor- (cid:1) 1 stimulated Nell-1 expression, whereas bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 had no direct effect. Additionally, Nell-1-induced osteogenesis in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts through reduction in the expression of early up-reg-ulated osteogenic regulators ( OSX and ALP ) but induction of later markers