Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EQUATOR: reporting guidelines for health research

Competing interests: We are all involved in health-care initiatives and research that should benefit from wide uptake of reporting guidelines. editors and peer reviewers, the quality of health-research reporting in journal articles is unsatisfactory. 1–6 Guidelines that specify a minimum set of items for reporting can improve the accuracy and transparency of publications, thus facilitating easier and more reliable appraisal of quality and relevance. During the past 10 years several internationally respected guidelines for the reporting of health research have been developed. 7–10 However, those guidelines are still not widely supported by medical journals 11, 12 or adhered to by researchers, and thus their potential impact is lessened. To remedy this situation the UK National Knowledge Service provided funding to start the EQUATOR project (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research). This initiative seeks to improve the reliability of medical publications by promoting transparent and accurate reporting of health research. This movement grew out of the work of CONSORT 9 and other groups. EQUATOR is an umbrella for all areas of health-research reporting. The network aims to become a global centre that provides resources and training, and which assists in the development, dissemination, and implementation of robust reporting guidelines. EQUATOR's strategic plan reflects the needs of its major stakeholders: developers of reporting guidelines, researchers, journal editors, peer-reviewers, and research funding bodies. One of the first activities was to identify existing reporting guidelines to see how they were developed. The development methods of most guidelines were broadly similar, but with wide variation in important details. Development usually took a long time and only half the groups had strategies for dissemination and implementation of their guidelines. The difficulty of securing sufficient funding to develop, assess, and disseminate guidelines was widely acknowledged as a major problem. The initial survey and discussions with the main stakeholders helped us to prioritise future activities. First, we developed an internet-based resource centre, which can be freely accessed on our website. 13 At present , it provides a collection of available reporting guidelines. In the future, the website will also host other resources for authors of research articles, editors, peer-reviewers, and developers of guidelines, including a comprehensive digital library for health-research reporting , guidance for the development of robust reporting guidelines, tools to facilitate their use, and educational materials. The availability of good reporting guidelines is not sufficient for the improvement of the quality of reporting. Our …
Trends in the incidence of non‐melanoma skin cancer in the SE Netherlands 1975–1988: a registry‐based study

Summary The trends in the incidence and the sites of primary basa cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin were examined in a defined population of 650,000 persons in the SE Netherlands during the period 1975–88. The data was obtained from the Cancer Registry in Eindhoven and was from the dermatological and surgical clinics of 12 community hospitals. The incidence rates for BCC during this period rose from 42 to 53/100,000 person years for males and 24 to 38/100,000 person years for females. The rate of incidence for SCC varried with an increase mainly among males. In about 80% of the cases BCC and SCC occurred on the head and neck. Allowing for some detection bias a rise in the true incidence of BCC and SCC was observed, with an increase in SCC only since 1982. There was a marked decline in the incidence of SCC on the lips of males. These rates and trends fit into a pattern observed in other parts of Europe.
Starburst radio galaxies: general properties, evolutionary histories and triggering

In this paper we discuss the results of a programme of spectral synthesis modelling of a sample of starburst radio galaxies in the context of scenarios for the triggering of the activity and the evolution of the host galaxies. New optical spectra are also presented for a subset of the objects discussed. The starburst radio galaxies - comprising ˜15-25 per cent of all powerful extragalactic radio sources - frequently show disturbed morphologies at optical wavelengths, and unusual radio structures, although their stellar masses are typical of radio galaxies as a class. In terms of the characteristic ages of their young stellar populations (YSPs), the objects can be divided into two groups: those with YSP ages tYSP≤ 0.1 Gyr, in which the radio source has been triggered quasi-simultaneously with the main starburst episode, and those with older YSP in which the radio source has been triggered or re-triggered a significant period after the starburst episode. Most of the former group are associated with a large mid- to far-IR (MFIR) continuum and [O III] emission-line luminosities (LIR > 1011 L⊙, ? W), while most of the latter have lower luminosities. Combining the information on the YSP with that on the optical morphologies of the host galaxies, we deduce that the majority of the starburst radio galaxies have been triggered in galaxy mergers in which at least one of the galaxies is gas rich. However, the triggering (or re-triggering) of the radio jets can occur immediately before, around or a significant period after the final coalescence of the merging nuclei, reflecting the complex gas infall histories of the merger events. Although ˜25 per cent of starburst radio galaxies are sufficiently bright at MFIR wavelengths to be classified as ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), we show that only the most massive ULIRGs are capable of evolving into radio galaxies. Finally, for a small subset of starburst radio galaxies in rich clusters of galaxies, cooling flows associated with the hot X-ray haloes offer a viable alternative to mergers as a trigger for the radio jet activity. Overall, our results provide further evidence that a powerful radio jet activity can be triggered via a variety of mechanisms, including different evolutionary stages of major galaxy mergers; clearly, radio-loud AGN activity is not solely associated with a particular stage of a unique type of gas accretion event.
Face Recognition Using Fuzzy Clustering and Kernel Least Square

Over the last fifteen years, face recognition has become a popular area of research in image analysis and one of the most successful applications of machine learning and understanding. To enhance the classification rate of the image recognition, several techniques are introduced, modified and combined. The suggested model extracts the features using Fourier-Gabor filter, selects the best features using signal to noise ratio, deletes or modifies anomalous images using fuzzy c-mean clustering, uses kernel least square and optimizes it by using wild dog pack optimization. To compare the suggested method with the previous methods, four datasets are used. The results indicate that the suggested methods without fuzzy clustering and with fuzzy clustering outperform state- of-art methods for all datasets.
Review of experimental models for inducing hepatic cirrhosis by bile duct ligation and carbon tetrachloride injection.

PURPOSE To present a review about a comparative study of bile duct ligation versus carbon tetrachloride Injection for inducing experimental liver cirrhosis. METHODS This research was made through Medline/PubMed and SciELO web sites looking for papers on the content "induction of liver cirrhosis in rats". We have found 107 articles but only 30 were selected from 2004 to 2011. RESULTS The most common methods used for inducing liver cirrhosis in the rat were administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and bile duct ligation (BDL). CCl4 has induced cirrhosis from 36 hours to 18 weeks after injection and BDL from seven days to four weeks after surgery. CONCLUSION For a safer inducing cirrhosis method BDL is better than CCl4 because of the absence of toxicity for researches and shorter time for achieving it.
Editorial: What is depression?

'Depression is a common, debilitating, and potentially lethal disorder. ' This is a standard opening to many a scientific paper on depression. And it is often followed by some very grim statistics. Over 300 million people in the world are estimated to live with depression, and the disorder is ranked by WHO as the single largest contributor to global disability. Most worryingly, adolescents with major depressive disorder are up to 30 times more likely to commit suicide. Yet, what exactly is depression? Do all 300 million depressed people in the world suffer from the same thing, with the same aetiology? Is depression one disorder that comes in different shades of severity or is it best thought of as heterogeneous mix of problems that we have given one common name to? And, more practically, should we be treating all depression in similar ways?
Physicians' Perceptions of the Impact of Medicare

Within the context of a larger study of Medicare in five Midwestern communities, this report considers data from interviews with 188 physicians regarding their attitudes toward the program and their perceptions of its impact on the doctor-patient relationship and the practice of medicine. Responses to the open-ended questions revealed that most respondents (40 per cent) felt that Medicare had had no effect at all on their relationships with their patients. About 32 per cent thought the relationship had been harmed, while almost 19 per cent thought Medicare had helped the relationship. The long-term impact of Medicare on the practice of medicine was viewed by the majority (55 per cent) to be harmful, although 22 per cent thought Medicare would be beneficial and an equal proportion thought there would be no effect. Responses to the first question were based more on personal experience with patients after Medicare had begun while the latter attitude was based more on ideological arguments related to fee-for-service medicine. Generally, internists practicing in the larger cities were more favorable toward Medicare than surgical specialists or general practitioners.
Ectromelia virus RING finger protein is localized in virus factories and is required for virus replication in macrophages

We have previously described a gene of ectromelia virus (EV) that codes for a 28-kDa RING zinc finger-containing protein (p28) that is nonessential for virus growth in cell culture but is critical for EV pathogenicity in mice (T. G. Senkevich, E. V. Koonin, and R. M. L. Buller, Virology 198:118-128; 1994). Here, we show that, unlike all tested cell cultures, the expression of p28 is required for in vitro replication of EV in murine resident peritoneal macrophages. In macrophages infected with the p28- mutant, viral DNA replication was not detected, whereas the synthesis of at least two early proteins was observed. Immunofluorescence and biochemical analyses showed that in EV-infected macrophages or BSC-1 cells, p28 is associated with virus factories. By use of a vaccinia virus expression system to examine different truncated versions of p28, it was shown that the disruption of the specific structure of the RING domain had no influence on the intracellular localization of this protein. When viral DNA replication was inhibited with cytosine arabinoside, p28 was found in distinct, focal structures that may be precursors to the factories. We hypothesize that in macrophages, which are highly specialized, nondividing cells, p28 substitutes for an unknown cellular factor(s) that may be required for viral DNA replication or a stage of virus reproduction between the expression of early genes and the onset of DNA synthesis. In the absence of p28, the attenuation of EV pathogenicity can be explained by a failure of the virus to replicate in macrophage lineage cells at all successive steps in the spread of virus from the skin to its target organ, the liver.
Electrically enhanced drug delivery for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma

Pulsed electric fields have been shown to increase the effectiveness of antineoplastic agents by temporarily increasing the permeability of cell membranes. This type of drug delivery is called electrochemotherapy, and it has been successful in the treatment of patients with cutaneous malignancies in clinical trials. This study focused on determining the applicability of electrochemotherapy to the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma, using an animal model bearing human sarcomas. The antitumor effects of single and multiple electrochemotherapy treatments were investigated using small (250 mm3) and large (4000 mm3) tumors.
Prevalence of diabetes mellitus among the adult population in rural blocks of Haryana, India: a community-based study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this was to study the prevalence of diabetes in the rural adult population of Haryana, India. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 2606 adults aged ≥ 18 years were randomly selected from two rural blocks of Haryana State. Those without diabetes were subjected to a 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test. Demographic, socioeconomic, and anthropometric details along with blood pressure and physical activity were recorded, and their association with the prevalence of diabetes was studied. RESULTS The prevalence of newly detected diabetes was 7.3%, whereas the overall prevalence of known and newly detected diabetes was 13.3%. Multiple logistic analysis showed a statistically significant association between the prevalence of diabetes and increasing age, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), positive family history of diabetes, low level of physical activity, and systolic blood pressure. No significant association was observed with education level and socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of diabetes is rising, even in the rural population of Haryana. A positive family history of diabetes, low physical activity, and high WHR are strong predictors of diabetes in tested adult rural population of Haryana.
Advertising Representations of Older People in the United Kingdom and Taiwan

Cross-cultural studies of advertising representations of older people are relatively scarce. This article aims to fill in this gap via a comparison between Taiwan and the United Kingdom, employing a combination of quantitative content analysis and the qualitative grounded theory method. The content-analysis phase reveals underrepresentation of older people in both countries’ advertising contexts, as well as representational differences between Taiwan and the United Kingdom in terms of older characters’ role salience, the products, physical settings, and social networks they are associated with. The grounded-theory phase yields nine prototypes of older people along with subcategories to conceptualize the qualities of older people as they appear in TV ads in these countries. The findings are discussed in relation to the stereotyping of older people and transformed into hypothetical statements to be modified in future research. In conclusion, the Confucian tradition of filial piety is still found to be important in explaining the observed cross-cultural differences, but the emergence of new norms about aging in Taiwanese advertising also suggests that this tradition may be in decline.
Three‐dimensional culture of mouse bone marrow cells within a porous polymer scaffold: effects of oxygen concentration and stromal layer on expansion of haematopoietic progenitor cells

To establish an ex vivo expansion method of haematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) and erythroid cells, three‐dimensional (3D) cultures of mouse bone marrow cells were performed, employing a porous polyvinyl formal (PVF) resin as a scaffold. In these cultures, the effects of oxygen concentration and co‐cultures with stromal cells on the expansion of HPCs and erythroid cells were investigated. When bone marrow cells were cultured under 3D conditions, HPCs and erythroid cells expanded without supplementation of exogenous cytokines, irrespective of the presence of stromal cells. On the contrary, slight expansion of HPCs or erythroid cells was observed in monolayer cultures as controls, indicating that the 3D cultures using the PVF scaffold were far better in expanding HPCs and erythroid cells than the monolayer cultures. Under hypoxic conditions, bone marrow stromal cells allowed for a 3D culture of erythroid cells and HPCs at higher cell densities compared to cultures without stromal cells, and the duration of the expansion of HPCs and erythroid cells after initiating the 3D co‐cultures was prolonged. The number of these cells increased throughout the culture period up to 3 weeks under hypoxic conditions, although the number decreased after 2 weeks under normoxic conditions. In conclusion, the 3D co‐culture method of haematopoietic cells with stromal cells under hypoxic conditions was confirmed to be effective in expanding HPCs and erythroid cells, and this method seemed to be useful for developing an ex vivo expansion method for haematopoietic cells. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Prognostic significance of allelic imbalance at the c-kit gene locus and c-kit overexpression by immunohistochemistry in pediatric osteosarcomas.

PURPOSE Since the recent development of biologic agents targeting oncogenes, increasing attention has been focused on determining the role of tyrosine kinase receptors in the pathogenesis of tumors. Our study was designed to investigate the status of region 4q12, which contains the candidate gene c-kit, and the expression of c-kit by immunohistochemistry (IHC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Paired blood and biopsy specimens of 68 children treated for high-grade primary osteosarcomas were collected. Microsatellite analysis at two genomic sites containing c-kit gene was performed on paired DNA using a sensible fluorescent polymerase chain reaction technology. To confirm the DNA data, we studied c-kit protein expression by IHC in 56 available paraffin-embedded tumor tissues. RESULTS The frequency of allelic imbalance (AI) at locus 4q12 was 39% in the overall population. In agreement with previous studies, we did not detect microsatellite instability, allowing us to hypothesize that this pathway is not implicated. Furthermore, the normal status at locus 4q12 was associated with a significantly better survival in the whole osteosarcoma population (P = .05). IHC overexpression of c-kit was concordant in all cases presenting an AI. However, normal status at locus 4q12 was correlated to an absence of c-kit protein expression in 19 (65.5%) of 29 informative cases. CONCLUSION Allelotyping of locus 4q12, which contains the c-kit gene, could help pediatric osteosarcoma prognostic screening and showed a strong correlation with overexpression of c-kit protein. These results allowed us to hypothesize that, in some cases, a mutation of c-kit gene could lead to a protein overexpression.
Local macrophage and myofibroblast proliferation in progressive renal injury in the rat remnant kidney.

BACKGROUND We have recently shown that blockade of angiotensin II activity inhibits local macrophage and myofibroblast proliferation in progressive non-immune renal injury in the rat remnant kidney. However, it is not known whether this local proliferation contributes to macrophage and myofibroblast accumulation and the development of renal injury. Therefore, we examined this issue in a detailed time-course study of the rat remnant kidney. METHODS Groups of five rats were killed 4, 8,12 or 16 weeks after 5/6 subtotal nephrectomy (STNx) or a sham operation. Macrophage and myofibroblast proliferation was assessed by two-colour immunostaining for ED1+ macrophages or alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA)-positive myofibroblasts with the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) or bromodeoxyuridine. RESULTS All parameters of renal function and histology remained normal in the sham-operated controls, and no macrophage or myofibroblast accumulation was evident. In contrast, prominent macrophage accumulation developed in both the glomerulus and tubulointerstitium in STNx animals, peaking at week 12. Many ED1+ macrophages showed PCNA expression, accounting for 19-34% of the total macrophage population. There was a highly significant correlation between proliferating macrophages and total macrophage accumulation in the glomerulus (r = 0.82, P < 0.0001) and tubulointerstitium (r = 0.70, P < 0.001). Macrophage proliferation was largely restricted to focal areas of renal damage, such as glomerular segmental lesions and severe tubulointerstitial damage. Also, the subpopulation of proliferating macrophages gave a highly significant correlation with loss of renal function, proteinuria, and glomerular and tubulointerstitial lesions. In addition, many alpha-SMA myofibroblasts were evident within expanded mesangial areas and the tubulointerstitium following STNx. Interestingly, active lesions contained many large alpha-SMA+ cells double-stained for PCNA, accounting for 24-29% of total myofibroblasts. There was a highly significant correlation between the number of proliferating myofibroblasts and total myofibroblast accumulation during the evolution of this disease, and both populations correlated with progressive renal injury. CONCLUSIONS This study has shown that local proliferation is an important mechanism in both macrophage and myofibroblast accumulation during the development of renal injury in the rat remnant kidney. In addition, local macrophage proliferation is postulated as a mechanism for amplifying kidney damage in nonimmune renal injury.
Eco-Effective Design and Evidence-Based Design: Perceived Synergy and Conflict

Eco-effective design (EED) and evidence-based design (EBD) are two powerful trends currently shaping healthcare architecture. EED addresses whether/how the design and operation of buildings improve ecological value and enhance human health. EBD addresses whether/how the design and operation of buildings support positive health outcomes in the built environment through a growing collection of solutions informed by research and practical knowledge. The primary hypothesis of this study was that EBD and EED are compatible approaches to health facility design, especially when addressing the impact of the environment on human health. To explore this hypothesis, healthcare facility administrators were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the relationship between EED and EBD. Input from focus groups and EED and EBD experts was used to formulate the administrator questionnaire. The study concluded that the relationship between EED and EBD typically was synergistic.
EQUENCE GENERATION WITH A PHYSIOLOGICALLY PLAUSIBLE MODEL OF HANDWRITING AND R ECURRENT M IXTURE D ENSITY N ETWORKS

The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility and potential benefits of using a physiological plausible model of handwriting as a feature representation for sequence generation with recurrent mixture density networks. We build on recent results in handwriting prediction developed by Graves (2013), and we focus on generating sequences that possess the statistical and dynamic qualities of handwriting and calligraphic art forms. Rather than model raw sequence data, we first preprocess and reconstruct the input training data with a concise representation given by a motor plan (in the form of a coarse sequence of ‘ballistic’ targets) and corresponding dynamic parameters (which define the velocity and curvature of the pen-tip trajectory). This representation provides a number of advantages, such as enabling the system to learn from very few examples by introducing artificial variability in the training data, and mixing of visual and dynamic qualities learned from different datasets.