Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
REDUCED FOREARM BONE MINERAL CONTENT AND BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE OF INCREASED BONE TURNOVER IN WOMEN WITH EUTHYROID GOITRE TREATED WITH THYROID HORMONE

We used single‐photon absorptiometry to assess forearm bone mineral content (BMC/BW) (arbitrary units normalized for bone width) at a proximal site (PBMC/BW) and at a more distal site (DBMC/BW) in 60 women treated with 25–50 μg T3 or 50–100 μg T4 for euthyroid goitre, in 13 untreated goitre patients, and in 2 controls matched for age and menopausal state for each goitre patient. BMC/BW was not significantly different between untreated goitre patients and controls. In 36 premenopausal patients, treated for 5.8 |Mp 5.4 years (mean |Mp SD) a slight decrease in PBMC/BW of about 5% compared to controls was observed (PBMC/BW 1.42 |Mp 0.19 vs 1.49 |Mp 013, P< 0.05). In 24 postmenopausal patients, treated for 10.0 |Mp 5.8 year, a 20% deficit in BMC/BW compared to controls was found (DBMC/BW 0.80 |Mp 0.18 vs 1.06 |Mp 0.20, P < 0.001 and PBMC/BW 1.14 |Mp 0–20 vs 1.42 |Mp 0.19, P < 0.001). Biochemical indices of bone metabolism in 43 pre and post‐menopausal patients and 43 controls showed in the patients a higher serum alkaline phosphatase activity (AP) (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05) and serum osteocalcin (NS and P < 0.05). AP was negatively correlated with TSH levels and, in postmenopausal patients, with DBMC/BW and PBMC/BW. Our results suggest that treatment of euthyroid women with moderate doses of thyroid hormone increases bone turnover with clear adverse effects on bone mineral status in postmenopausal patients.
Temperature Trend of the Last 40 Yr in the Upper Pacific Ocean

Abstract The linear temperature trend of the last 40 yr (1955–94) in the upper Pacific Ocean above 400 m is studied using an objectively analyzed dataset and simulations of an ocean general circulation model. Both the data and simulations suggest a warming trend in the western tropical Pacific (10°S–10°N) near the surface and in the eastern tropical Pacific above 400 m but a cooling trend in the thermocline of the western tropical Pacific. In the midlatitude North Pacific (30°–50°N), the temperature trend is positive east of 150°W but negative to the west. Simulated heat budget indicates that the temperature trend in the tropical Pacific may result from oceanic advection. In the central and western Pacific, the surface warming is associated with the reduction of cold advection from the off-equatorial divergent flow and the South Equatorial Current, while the cooling in the thermocline is related to the reduction of equatorward warm advection. In the eastern Pacific, the warming is associated with the redu.
Survey of lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic in seafood purchased in Campania, Italy

Lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic were surveyed in fresh catch, farmed and frozen marine fish, cephalopods and mussels marketed in Campania (Italy), and the population's weekly intake from seafood was assessed. A total of 162 specimens of fish and cephalopods and 30 pools of mussels were analyzed. Pb levels in fresh catch species ranged between <20 and 689 ng/g; in farmed from <20 to 438 ng/g and in frozen from <20 to 541 ng/g. Cd values ranged in fresh catch seafood from <0.8 to 19.8 ng/g; in farmed from <0.8 to 42.3 ng/g; in frozen from <0.8 to 93.1. Hg levels ranged 8–339 ng/g in wild seafood; <5–226 ng/g in farmed and <5–313 ng/g in frozen. In fresh catch seafood, As values ranged <10–231 ng/g; in farmed from 12–310 ng/g and in frozen 12–272 ng/g. Cd and Hg concentrations were below the EU limits in all species; two samples of farmed European seabass and two frozen samples exceeded EU limits for Pb. The median weekly dietary intake could affect the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of Pb by 2% (range 0.5–16.5%), Cd PTWI by 0.9% (range 0.1–8.0%), Hg PTWI by 9.6% (range 0.6–41.0%) and the As PTWI by 3.6% (range 0.4–12.5%). Considering the upper values in the ranges, seafood represents a non-negligible contribution to Pb weekly intake (16.5%), but mainly to the weekly intake of Hg (41.0%) for high seafood consumers and those consuming the most contaminated species.
Detection of human herpes virus type 6 DNA in precancerous lesions of the uterine cervix

Human herpes virus type 6 (HHV‐6) DNA has been suggested to be a cofactor to human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical cancer. In a cross‐sectional study, we investigated the association between HHV‐6 DNA detected in cervical brushings and high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), while controlling for genital infection with 27 genotypes of HPV. Of the 320 women recruited from an oncologic gynecology clinic, 50 had invasive cervical cancer, 65 had HSIL, 80 had low‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), and 125 were normal. Four of the seven HHV‐6‐positive women had HSIL. HHV‐6 was associated with HSIL after adjusting for age and socioeconomic status (odds ratio [OR] of 10.9, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1–107.1). This association was no longer significant after controlling for HPV (OR = 6.4, 95% CI = 0.3–128.5). HHV‐6 was detected in cervical samples from women with precancerous and cancerous lesions of the cervix, but not significantly more frequently than in normal women. J. Med. Virol. 68:606–610, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bagged regression trees for simultaneous myoelectric force estimation

A novel application of bootstrap aggregating (bagged) regression trees is proposed for simultaneous force estimation of multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs). Ten able-bodied subjects participated and wrist flexion-extension, abduction-adduction, and pronation-supination were investigated (data from the work of Ameri et al., 2013). The estimation accuracies were compared to those of the widely used multilayer perceptron artificial neural networks (ANNs). The bagged trees outperformed the baseline ANNs, slightly but significantly, in abduction-adduction (p<;0.05), while for flexion-extension and pronation-supination DOFs, no significant difference was found (p>0.1) between the bagged tress and ANNs. The results suggest that bagged regression trees can be an alternative approach for potential use in simultaneous myoelectric control.
Indocyanine green fluorescence-navigated thoracoscopic anatomical segmentectomy.

BACKGROUND To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of thoracoscopic anatomical segmentectomy (TS-S) using three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) reconstruction and indocyanine green-fluorescence (ICGF) navigation. METHODS Twenty TS-S procedures were performed for 15 primary lung cancers and 5 metastatic lung tumors. Preoperatively we evaluated the target segmental pulmonary artery and created a virtual intersegmental plane using 3D-CT reconstruction. Intraoperatively, the target segmental artery and bronchus were divided, and after intravenous systemic injection of indocyanine green (ICG, 0.25 mg/kg), ICGF of the non-target segments (NTS) was observed using infrared thoracoscopy (KARL STORZ Endoskope Japan K.K., Tokyo, Japan). We marked the border between target and NTS with electrocautery and divided the lung parenchyma along this border using electrocautery or staples. Strength of contrast between target and NTS was quantified as contrast index (CI) and compared over time. RESULTS ICGF provided demarcation of sufficient clarity and duration to mark the lung surface in 19 patients (95%). TS-S was successfully performed in all patients. Mean operative duration was 186 min (90-310 min) and mean blood loss was 30 mL (0-107 mL). Demarcation appeared 20 s (10-100 s) after injection of ICG, and ICGF lasted 180 s (90-300 s). CI peaked 30 s after the appearance of ICGF and decreased over time. Effective contrast continued for 70 s (30-116 s), which was sufficient to mark the line of demarcation. There were no complications attributable to this method. CONCLUSIONS ICGF navigation is a safe and effective technique for TS-S.
The Socioeconomic Factors that Determine Women Utilization of Healthcare Services in Nigeria

Measures of maternal deaths are critical as they reflect a woman? s access to essential services during pregnancy, childbirth, general health, nutritional status, getting? to reproductive care services as way as family planning. The? indices such as economic status, education, birth level, and birth interval are key predictors of health services utilization. Given the inequalities in healthcare utilization in developing nations, the study looks at what determines pregnant women utilization of such services in Nigeria. Adopting Poisson Regression Model on Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data, the study observes that the wealth of pregnant women positively influences their health care utilizations while an increase in the household size has a negative effect on the capability to access health care. In line with the findings, the study suggests need for positive policies and implementation strategies that will increase the opportunity for women to have proper health education which would have an impact on utilization of antenatal visits among pregnant women in Nigeria.
Older Adults Benefit from Symmetry, but Not Semantic Availability, in Visual Working Memory

Visual working memory exhibits age effects that are amongst the largest observed in the cognitive aging literature. In this research we investigated whether or not older adults can benefit from visual symmetry and semantic availability, as young adults typically do. Visual matrix pattern tasks varied in terms of the perceptual factor of symmetry (Experiment 1), as well as the availability of visual semantics, or long-term memory (LTM; Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, within a visual memory span protocol, four matrix pattern sets were employed with discrete symmetry characteristics; random, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal symmetry. Encoding time was 3 s with a 2 s maintenance interval. The findings indicated a significant difference in span level across age groups for all of the symmetry variants. More importantly, both younger and older adults could take advantage of symmetry in the matrix array in order to significantly improve task performance. In Experiment 2, two visual matrix task sets were used, with visual arrays of either low or high semantic availability (i.e., they contained stimuli with recognizable shapes that allow for LTM support). Encoding duration was 3 s with a 1 s retention interval. Here, the older adult sample was significantly impaired in span performance with both variants of the task. However, only the younger adult participants could take advantage of visual semantics. These findings show that, in the context of overall impairment in individual task performance, older adults remain capable of employing the perceptual cue of symmetry in order to improve visual working memory task performance. However, they appear less able, within this protocol, to recruit visual semantics in order to scaffold performance.
B There is One Geometry and in Each Case There is a Different Formula ^ Students ’ Conceptions and Strategies in an Attempt of Producing a Minkowskian Metric on Space-Time

In this paper, we analyze two episodes from an inquiry-based didactical research; the complete analysis of our research data is still ongoing. By taking into consideration various developments from the history of the geometry of space-time, our general aim is to explore high school students ’ conceptions about measurement of length and time in relatively moving systems, and lead the students to reconsider these conceptions in an attempt of constructing a new metric for space-time. The episodes are extracted from long (focused) interviews with two couples of students, based on a carefully designed fictional scenario. Two main strategies have been identified and are analyzed in the paper: one of them relies on imagination and intuition; the other one makes use of preexisting school mathematical knowledge, in arriving to a simplified formula of a Minkowskian metric.
Wildlife conservation and animal welfare: two sides of the same coin?

Human activities deprive wild animals of their life requisites by destroying or impoverishing their surroundings, causing suffering of individuals. Yet, the notion that animal welfare applies to wildlife has escaped many animal welfarists and conservationists. A well-accepted and applied ethical foundation for animal conservation that considers animal welfare is lacking. We address this by examining how worldviews of conservationists and animal welfarists are related. The clear conceptual link is that individuals within anthropogenically disturbed populations often endure suffering caused by humans. Accordingly, our objectives are to provide an overview of wildlife conservation, integrate ethical aspects of wildlife conservation and animal welfare, and encourage a ‘wildlife welfare’ ethic among conservationists. We describe the relationship between contemporary socioeconomic and environmental conditions and the impoverished status of North American wildlife. We then describe the ecological plight of large mammalian carnivores in North America. Finally, as a case study, we focus on the tenuous lives of grey wolves (Canis lupus) living in the midst of human-dominated landscapes. We conclude that the suffering wildlife endures because of humans is a collective responsibility that presents a moral imperative for animal welfarists and conservationists alike. Habitat destruction and impoverishment deprives species of life requisites, causing trauma, prolonged suffering, and eventually death. We suggest that a shared doctrine of animal welfare principles is needed, such as a modified version of the internationally recognised Five Freedoms. In essence, this would be an ethical affirmation for conservationists and animal welfarists.
Mathematical models of health focusing on diabetes : delay differential equations and data mining

Mathematical models have been applied to biology and health to gain a better understanding of physiological systems and disease, as well as to improve levels of treatment and care for certain conditions. This thesis will focus on two different methodologies to investigate models of health, namely delay differential equations andBayesian based data mining. The first approach uses delay differential equations to model the glucose-insulin regulation system. Many models exist in this area, typically including four exponential functions, and take a number of different forms. The model used here is a system of two delay differential equations with two time delays. The one delay form of this model has previously been widely studied, but less is known about the two delay system from an analytical view point. This work improves upon the existing models by incorporating Hill functions instead of exponential functions. The new model presented is studied for its appropriateness and robustness to changing parameters such as glucose infusion rate and insulin degradation. A local and global stability of the two-delay system is presented both in general terms and explicitly using Lyapunov functionals and linear matrix inequalities. The second method employs data mining techniques including a robust and transparent naive Bayes classifier for classification and prediction of aspects of health. A study into prediction of post-stroke mortality is made on a data set of stroke patients. Interesting results are obtained for the classification of naturally arising mortality periods and an investigation into the role of age as a risk factor for post-stroke mortality. A wide range of risk factors are then investigated for significance which are used to build new predictive models. These two approaches have the joint aim of improving the understanding of aspects of health through mathematical modelling techniques. A new model of the glucose-insulin regulatory system is developed and for the first time an analysis of the global stability of the two-delay model by use of a Lyapunov functional is provided. The second approach sees typical and robust data mining techniques used to analyse medical data. New models for stroke mortality and prediction of diabetes and obesity are created, which review risk factors and also illustrate the benefit of data mining techniques for analysing medical data.
Publication of the Association of Management EXPLORING HOW CULTURE AND TASK NATURE AFFECT THE ADOPTION OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA WING HAN

The intent of this research is to study the interacting effect of culture and task nature on the adoption of communication media tools. The objectives are to suggest a comprehensive approach to the study of business communication media adoption with the consideration of cultural and task nature impact and to identify the best match of cultural characteristics and task nature with media choices so as to enhance business communication. Hypotheses were set up to test the interrelationships between independent variables (Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and task nature) and the dependent variables (communication media). General Linear Model (GLM) analyses were carried out to analyze the survey data. Results of the empirical study suggest that: (1) individualism and familiarity with recipients suggest face-to-face communication; (2) uncertainties avoidances, task reciprocity, and task urgency have favor on telephone and video conferencing system; (3) high femininity people prefer telephone while high masculinity prefer instant messaging; (4) power distance index, work position, and task reciprocity suggest email and face-to-face communication; (5) when working on reciprocal tasks and recipients are far away, long-term orientated people prefer email or instant messaging while short-term orientated prefer face-to-face communication. The findings of the study provide useful insights into how business communication can be carried out so as to improve communication quality and in turn enhance productivity as a whole.
Recursively enumerable generic sets

Abstract We show that one can solve Post's Problem by constructing generic sets in the usual set theoretic framework applied to tiny universes. This method leads to a new class of recursively enumerable sets: r.e. generic sets. All r.e. generic sets are low and simple and therefore of Turing degree strictly between 0 and 0′. Further they supply the first example of a class of low recursively enumerable sets which are automorphic in the lattice ℰ of recursively enumerable sets with inclusion. We introduce the notion of a promptly simple set. This describes the essential feature of r.e. generic sets with respect to automorphism constructions.
Diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided automated needle biopsy of lung nodules.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the factors influencing diagnostic accuracy in CT-guided automated needle biopsies of lung nodules. SUBJECTS AND METHODS One hundred thirty-eight consecutive CT-guided automated needle biopsy procedures were performed in 123 patients (124 pulmonary nodules). Factors for diagnostic accuracy were evaluated through analysis of the procedures, which were classified into a success group (true-positive and true-negative) and a failure group (false-positive and false-negative). RESULTS Final diagnoses were 81 malignant lesions (91 biopsies) and 43 benign lesions (47 biopsies). More than two CT-guided biopsies were performed for 13 lesions. Seventy lesions were true-positive, 44 were true-negative, three were false-positive, and 21 were false-negative. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 82.6%. The sensitivity for malignancy and specificity for benign lesions were 76.9% and 93.6%, respectively. Positive and negative predictive values were 95.9% and 67.7%, respectively. Lesion size was a significant factor contributing to diagnostic accuracy (p = 0.014). Mean diameters of lesions (+/-SD) in the success and failure groups were 24.1+/-12.4 mm and 17.6+/-7.8 mm, respectively. For lesions 6-10 mm in diameter, diagnostic accuracy was 66.7%; for lesions 11-20 mm in diameter, 78.9%; for lesions 21-30 mm in diameter, 86.7%; for lesions 31-50 mm in diameter, 93.3%; and for lesions 51-70 mm in diameter, 100%. CONCLUSION Lesion size was a determining factor in diagnostic accuracy. Diagnostic accuracy decreased in proportion to the decrease in the lesion diameter.
Open Innovation in Practice: Goal Complementarity and Closed NPD Networks to Explain Differences in Innovation Performance for SMEs in the Medical Devices Sector

Cooperation with other organizations increases the innovation performance of organization, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they encounter liabilities of “smallness” (e.g., limited financial resources, and manpower). In the medical devices sector, collaboration with external partners for NPD becomes increasingly important due to the complexity of the products and the development process. About 80% of companies in this sector are SMEs. These companies operate in a highly regulated sector, which affects the organization of the external network required for the new product development (NPD) process. SMEs are practicing extensively open innovation activities, but in practice face a number of barriers in trying to apply open innovation. This paper examines multiple network characteristics simultaneously in relation to innovation performance and thereby aligns with and builds further on configuration theory. Configuration theory posits that for each set of network characteristics, there exists an ideal set of organizational characteristics that yields superior performance. In this research, the systems approach to fit is used. Fit is high to the extent that an organization is similar to an ideal profile along multiple dimensions. This ideal profile represents the network profile that the 15% highest performing companies use. It is argued that the smaller the distance between the ideal profile and the network profile that is used, the higher the performance. The objective of this research is (1) to examine the relation between the ideal profile and innovation performance and (2) to examine which organization of the network profile is related to high innovation performance. Quantitative survey data (n = 60, response rate 61.9%) form the core of this research. The quantitative results are clarified and have been triangulated with qualitative interview data (n = 50). Our findings suggest the presence of an “ideal” NPD network profile (in terms of goal complementarity, resource complementarity, fairness trust, reliability trust, and network position strength): the more a company's NPD network profile differs from this ideal profile, the lower the innovation performance. In addition, the results of our study indicate that the NPD network profiles of successful and less successful SMEs in the medical devices sector significantly differ in terms of “goal complementarity,” while this is less the case for trust and resource complementarity labeled distinctive by previous research. Finally, results show that a relatively closed, focused, and consistent “business-like” NPD networking approach, which is characterized by result orientation and professionalism, is related to high innovation performance. It is recommended that SMEs in the medical devices sector aiming to distinguish themselves from competitors in terms of innovation performance focus on goal complementarity while adopting such a business-like attitude toward their NPD network partners