Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parents' Awareness and Perceptions of Sport Specialization and Injury Prevention Recommendations.

OBJECTIVE To conduct a survey of parents to determine their knowledge of sport volume recommendations and examine their perceptions toward sport specialization. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Youth sport athletic tournaments, competitions, and practices. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Parents (n = 1000, 614 women, age: 44.5 ± 6.7 years) of youth athletes completed the survey. Parents had to have a child between 10 and 18 years of age who participated in organized sport in the previous 12 months. INTERVENTIONS The survey was anonymous and consisted of yes/no and Likert-scale questions and consisted of background of parent and child and perceptions and knowledge of safe sport recommendations. An expert panel validated the survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Data were summarized by frequencies, proportions (%), and mean values and SDs, when appropriate. Chi-square analyses were used to determine if parent sex influenced distributions. RESULTS Over 80% of parents had no knowledge of sport volume recommendations regarding h/wk (84.5%), mo/yr (82.2%), or simultaneous participation in multiple leagues (89.9%). Twenty-four percent of parents considered it appropriate to participate in multiple leagues in the same sport, whereas 60.5% considered it appropriate to participate in multiple leagues of a different sport. Thirty-four percent of parents indicated that they were concerned about the risk of injury in youth sports. Although 55% of parents considered sport specialization a problem in youth sports, only 43.3% thought that year-round sport participation increased the chances of sustaining an overuse injury. Female parents were more likely to be concerned about injury and believe that year-round sport participation results in overuse injury compared with men. CONCLUSIONS Recommendations associated with youth sport participation are not well known. However, parents are concerned about the risk of injury and consider sport specialization a problem.
Does dirty data affect google scholar citations?

Google Scholar (GS) is a database that enables researchers to create their scholarly profiles and keeps track of, among others, their citation counts, and h‐ and i10‐index values. GS is now increasingly being used for research evaluation purposes. Although rich in bibliometric data, GS indexes some duplicate publications and citations, and therefore tends to inflate the citation counts to some extent. Based on a small sample of GS profiles of researchers, this paper aims to study the extent by which duplicates change the citation counts and metrics based thereupon. Findings show that duplicates in GS database somewhat inflates the citation metrics. The scale of the problem as well as the effect of dirty data on performance evaluations based on GS citations data need to be studied further using larger samples.
Evaluating the impact of social support services on tuberculosis treatment default in Ukraine

Ukraine is among the top 20 highest drug-resistant tuberculosis burden countries in the world. Driving the high drug-resistant tuberculosis rates is an unchecked treatment default rate. This evaluation measures the effect of social support provided to tuberculosis patients at risk of defaulting on treatment during outpatient treatment. Five tuberculosis patient cohorts, served in three oblasts from 2011 and 2012, were constructed from medical records to compare risk factors for default, receipt of social services, and treatment outcome. Regression analyses were used to identify risk factors predictive of treatment default and to estimate the impact of the social support program on treatment default, controlling for risk, disease status, and demographics. In 2012, tuberculosis patients receiving social support in Ukraine reduced their probability of defaulting on continuation treatment by 10 percentage points compared to high-risk patients who did not receive social support in 2012 or 2011. Treatment success rates for the high-risk patients receiving social support were comparable to the low-risk cohorts and significantly improved over the high-risk comparison cohorts. Further research is recommended to quantify the costs and benefits for scaling-up social support services, evaluate social support program fidelity, identify which populations respond best to select services, and what barriers might still exist to achieve better adherence. With that information, tailoring programs to most effectively reach and serve clients in a patient-centered approach may reap substantial rewards for Ukraine.
Tacrolimus Granules for Oral Suspension as Post-Transplant Immunosuppression in Routine Medical Practice in France: The OPTIMOD Study

Background Different pharmaceutical forms of oral tacrolimus allow tailored administration. The granular formulation facilitates accurate dose adjustment of tacrolimus according to patient characteristics, such as weight, or potential concomitant drug interactions. Currently, there are no data describing the use of tacrolimus granules in transplant recipients in France. Material/Methods OPTIMOD was a 6-month prospective, observational multicenter study that aimed to describe patient characteristics and conditions of use of tacrolimus granules. The 25 participating centers enrolled patients at time of tacrolimus granules initiation and were to collect patient and treatment data at initiation and after 6 months of follow-up. All analyses were descriptive. Results Of 61 patients included, 55.7% were children (mainly kidney graft recipients) and 44.3% were adults (mostly lung graft recipients). Overall, 24.6% of patients (all children) initiated tacrolimus granules immediately post-transplant; the remaining 75.4% converted to tacrolimus granules from ciclosporin or immediate-release tacrolimus hard capsules. The main reasons for initiating tacrolimus granules, irrespective of whether first- or second-line therapy, were to offset potential drug–drug interactions in adults by adjusting dose, and to adapt to the particular needs of children as patients. Most patients (78.7%) underwent ≥1 dose modification during follow-up. Eleven rejection episodes occurred during follow-up, of which none led to graft loss. The adverse-event profile of the tacrolimus granules was similar to that of other tacrolimus formulations and 7 treatment-related adverse events were recorded. Conclusions Results suggest that tacrolimus granules are well tolerated and effective in preventing transplant rejection when administered in routine practice in France.
Blackbox, Five Years On: An Evaluation of a Large-scale Programming Data Collection Project

The Blackbox project has been collecting programming activity data from users of BlueJ (a novice-targeted Java development environment) for nearly five years. The resulting dataset of more than two terabytes of data has been made available to interested researchers from the outset. In this paper, we assess the impact of the Blackbox project: we perform a mapping study to assess eighteen publications which have made use of the Blackbox data, and we report on the advantages and difficulties experienced by researchers working with this data, collected via a survey. We find that Blackbox has enabled pieces of research which otherwise would not have been possible, but there remain technical challenges in the analysis. Some of these -- but not all -- relate to the scale of the data. We provide suggestions for the future use of Blackbox, and reflections on the role of such data collection projects in programming research.
Surgeon specialty and patient outcomes in carotid endarterectomy.

OBJECTIVEThe goal of this study was to compare outcomes of carotid endarterectomy performed by neurological, general, and vascular surgeons.METHODSThe authors identified 80,475 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy between 2006 and 2015 in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, a prospectively collected, national clinical database with established reproducibility and validity. Nine hundred forty-three patients were operated on by a neurosurgeon; 75,649 by a vascular surgeon; and 3734 by a general surgeon. Preoperative and intraoperative characteristics and 30-day outcomes were stratified by the surgeon's primary specialty. Using propensity scores, comprising pre- and intraoperative characteristics as well as procedure and diagnostic codes, the authors matched 203 neurosurgery (NS) patients to 203 vascular surgery (VS) patients and 203 NS patients to 203 general surgery (GS) patients. No pre- or intraoperative factors were significantly different between specialties in the matched sample. Regular logistic regression and conditional logistic regression were used to predict postoperative complications in the full sample and in the matched sample.RESULTSIn the complete population sample, NS patients, when compared to patients of general and vascular surgeons, were less likely to be admitted from home and more likely to have carotid artery occlusion or stenosis with cerebral infarction, to be a current smoker, to have had recent chemo- or radiotherapy, to have surgery under general anesthesia, to undergo multiple procedures, and to have longer surgery times. In unadjusted analyses, NS patients were more likely to experience major complications (NS vs VS: odds ratio 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.6; NS vs GS: odds ratio 1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.7); minor complications (NS vs VS: odds ratio 2.9, 95% CI 2.0-4.1; NS vs GS: odds ratio 2.7, 95% CI 1.7-4.2); intra- or postoperative transfusions (NS vs VS: odds ratio 1.6, 95% CI 1.4-1.9; NS vs GS: odds ratio 1.9, 95% CI 1.6-2.3); prolonged hospitalization (NS vs VS: odds ratio 3.0, 95% CI 2.6-3.5; NS vs GS: odds ratio 2.6, 95% CI 2.2-3.0); and discharge to skilled care facilities (NS vs VS: odds ratio 2.8, 95% CI 2.3-3.4; NS vs GS: odds ratio 3.1, 95% CI 2.4-4.1). In adjusted, propensity-matched analyses, however, patients' outcome with carotid endarterectomy performed by NS was comparable with those completed by GS and VS.CONCLUSIONSPatients who undergo carotid endarterectomy performed by a neurosurgeon tend to have a greater preoperative disease burden than do those treated by a general or vascular surgeon, which contributes significantly to more morbid postoperative courses. In patients matched carefully on the basis of health status at the time of surgery and intraoperative variables that affect results, patients' outcomes after carotid endarterectomy do not appear to depend on the attending surgeon's primary specialty.
Multilevel analysis of personality, family, and classroom influences on emotional and behavioral problems among Chinese adolescent students

Background The classroom environment plays a potentially important role in shaping the emotions and behavior of adolescents. However, few studies have focused on this factor. The aim of this study was to explore the association between the classroom environment and emotional and behavioral problems among Chinese adolescents while also considering personality-and family-related factors. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in November and December, 2009. A set of questionnaires, including the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), the Family Environment Scale (FES), the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies- Depression Scale (CES-D), were distributed to participants. A total of 5,433 Chinese adolescent students (aged 9–18) and 244 classroom teachers in Liaoning Province were ultimately included in the study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to explore the factors associated with emotional and behavioral problems. Results Multilevel analyses revealed that adolescent emotional and behavioral problems significantly varied among classrooms. Although personality and family characteristics exerted the greatest influence on adolescents’ emotions and behavior at the individual-level, interactions between classroom teachers and students increasingly affected adolescents with respect to age at the class-level. A mild positive association was found between adolescents’ mental health problems and the mental health of teachers. Conclusion This study focused on the classroom environment in order to understand Chinese adolescent mental health problems, the findings of which highlight important implications for policymakers and educators. The results underscore the importance of establishing a comfortable classroom climate by improving teacher-student interactions and meeting specific needs at different school stages, thus promoting a climate of positive mental health among Chinese adolescents.
Bat pathogens hit the road: But which one?

Current evidence suggests that environmental changes and interactions between wildlife, livestock, and humans contribute to the spillover of infectious agents from bats to other hosts [1]. An increasing number of studies investigating the diversity and infection dynamics of bat pathogens has recently been published; however, how these infectious agents are transmitted both within bat populations and to other hosts, including humans, often remains unknown. Here, we summarize current knowledge on direct and indirect transmission routes of bat infectious agents of public health concern (Fig 1). Although bats are recognized as major reservoir hosts of emerging infectious diseases, we highlight that a significant knowledge gap on transmission mechanisms remains and needs further exploration.
Ambulatory Versus Laboratory Polysomnography in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Comparative Assessment of Quality, Clinical Efficacy, Treatment Compliance, and Quality of Life.

STUDY OBJECTIVES This study has as its primary objective to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of type II ambulatory polysomnography (Amb-PSG) versus type I attended laboratory polysomnography (Lab-PSG) in diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Its secondary objective is to evaluate the clinical efficacy, quality of life (QoL), and treatment adherence after diagnosis. METHODS An observational study of patients with OSA (n = 225) in whom diagnosis was made via Amb-PSG (n = 114) or Lab-PSG (n = 111). Patients' clinical data were retrospectively assessed (including general demographic and clinical data, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, blood pressure, indices from polysomnography, and treatment adherence. Cross-sectional assessment (patient questionnaire) was used to evaluate clinical efficacy indicators, comorbidities, current treatment, and QoL. RESULTS Polysomnography indices were comparable between Amb-PSG and Lab-PSG (apnea-hypopnea index: 38.9 ± 22.5 versus 35.8 ± 23.1 events/h; P > .05), except for an elevation of total sleep time (510 ± 54.7 versus 476.3 ± 79.4 minutes; P < .01) and loss of oximetry signal (9.8% versus 0.0%; P < .05). Based on polysomnography parameters, OSA was severe in 119 patients (52.9%), moderate in 88 (39.1%), and mild in 18 (8.0%). Diagnostic effect of Amb-PSG in clinical (body mass index, blood pressure, Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and treatment follow-up (CPAP adherence and QoL) indicators was comparable to that of Lab-PSG. CONCLUSIONS Amb-PSG showed an OSA diagnostic capacity comparable to Lab-PSG. Secondary analyses (diagnostic quality, clinical efficacy, treatment compliance, QoL) underline the value of Amb-PSG as an emerging alternative to improve accessibility to care.
User-Guided Deep Anime Line Art Colorization with Conditional Adversarial Networks

Scribble colors based line art colorization is a challenging computer vision problem since neither greyscale values nor semantic information is presented in line arts, and the lack of authentic illustration-line art training pairs also increases difficulty of model generalization. Recently, several Generative Adversarial Nets (GANs) based methods have achieved great success. They can generate colorized illustrations conditioned on given line art and color hints. However, these methods fail to capture the authentic illustration distributions and are hence perceptually unsatisfying in the sense that they often lack accurate shading. To address these challenges, we propose a novel deep conditional adversarial architecture for scribble based anime line art colorization. Specifically, we integrate the conditional framework with WGAN-GP criteria as well as the perceptual loss to enable us to robustly train a deep network that makes the synthesized images more natural and real. We also introduce a local features network that is independent of synthetic data. With GANs conditioned on features from such network, we notably increase the generalization capability over "in the wild" line arts. Furthermore, we collect two datasets that provide high-quality colorful illustrations and authentic line arts for training and benchmarking. With the proposed model trained on our illustration dataset, we demonstrate that images synthesized by the presented approach are considerably more realistic and precise than alternative approaches.
Correlation Between Postoperative Distribution of Lordosis and Reciprocal Progression of Thoracic Kyphosis and Occurrence of Proximal Junctional Kyphosis Following Surgery for Adult Spinal Deformity

Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study using consecutive patients. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of lumbar lordosis (LL) construction on postoperative reciprocal progression of thoracic kyphosis (TK) and occurrence of proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) following surgery for adult spinal deformity (ASD). Summary of Background Data: A large postoperative TK has been reported as an iatrogenic risk factor for PJK following surgery for ASD. Therefore, knowing how to anticipate and regulate postoperative reciprocal progression in TK with LL restorative surgery is important to prevent PJK. The LL proportion including distribution of the lordosis (lordosis distribution index: LDI) in the lower (L4–S1) and upper (L1–L3) arcs has been known as important because it alters the distribution of load. However, the influence of postoperative LL construction on postoperative reciprocal change in TK resulting in PJK is largely unknown. Methods: Sixty-six consecutive patients with ASD treated with LL restorative surgery with a fusion level consistently selected from T8–T10 to the pelvis and followed-up for a minimum of 1 year. Abnormal PJK was evaluated according to the Boachie-Adjei classification. Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire and Oswestry Disability Index were measured at 1 year after surgery. Results: The prevalence of PJK in the present study was 33.3%. Outcomes of patients with PJK were significantly worse than in patients without PJK, regardless of PJK grade. Postoperative reciprocal progression in TK with LL restorative surgery was found. Preoperative risk factors of PJK were older age and smaller sacral slope angle. Postoperative risk factors for PJK included increased TK and decreased LDI. We found a strong correlation between postoperative LDI and reciprocal progression of TK resulting in PJK. Conclusions: Postoperative LDI is crucial to prevent excess reciprocal progression of TK resulting in PJK.
Cognitive Therapy for Dementia Patients: A Systematic Review

Background: Cognitive therapy is a well-established intervention for treating elderly suffering from dementia. In particular, reality orientation and skills training seem to be effective interventions for reversing cognitive impairment among elderly, although findings are inconclusive. Therefore, a systematic update of the existing evidence of cognitive therapy for people suffering from dementia is needed. Aim: To review existing scientific evidence regarding the efficacy of cognitive therapies for elderly suffering from dementia. Methods: Studies were retrieved from several bibliographic databases (January 2009 to December 2017) with prespecified selection criteria, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment. Results: In total, 10 reality orientation, 25 skills training, and 12 mixed trials were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria and were systematically reviewed. Results from reality orientation trials showed minor effects for cognitive assessments, while skills training trials and mixed trials showed contradicting effects on cognition. Effects on other outcomes (e.g., daily functioning, depression, language) were limited or not found. Conclusions: Skills training trials and mixed trials seem to affect cognitive impairment in a positive way, although the results are inconclusive. Comparison between studies was difficult due to differences in form of intervention. Because findings are inconclusive, more structuralized and comparable randomized controlled trials are needed.
Unravelling the Cognition of Coding in 3-to-6-year Olds: The development of an assessment tool and the relation between coding ability and cognitive compiling of syntax in natural language

There is growing interest in teaching children computer programming ("coding") to prepare them for the demands of our increasingly digital society. However, we do not yet understand what cognitive skills children need in order to learn to code. The aim of our research program is to identify the requisite skills, with the goal of building a cognitive model of coding. The present research used a wooden robot ("Cubetto", www.primotoys.com) to investigate coding ability in young children. Exp. 1 describes the development and evaluation of the assessment instrument, which was tested with 18 3-to-5-year-old children. The instrument ("Coding Development (CODE) Test 3-6") was used in Exp. 2 to investigate the relationship between coding skill and "cognitive compiling" - the ability to formulate mental action plans in natural language. Thirty 5-to-6-year-olds participated in Exp. 2. Using Bayesian statistics, we found evidence that cognitive compiling predicts coding performance above and beyond age and nonverbal intelligence. We evaluate the outcomes and reflect on whether cognitive compiling depends solely on maturation or might be a skill that can be trained, and if so, how this could be done.
A proof of concept personalized music player for persons with alzheimer's disease

Numerous studies have shown that persons diagnosed with mild to severe Alzheimer's disease exhibit positive reactions when listening to familiar music. Results show that the disease spares musical memory in comparison to other memory parts of the brain until very late stages of Alzheimer's. This project explores the potential of a minimal user‐interface design prototype for smart devices that relies upon simple user interactions, i.e. browsing and skipping, to identify and retrieve familiar and preferred music. We report on the results of a small Wizard of Oz study that provides support for the initial design concept and input to the next round of the design cycle. Most participants were able to interact with the device and to quickly identify preferred music that provided a useful starting point for collaborative filtering‐based recommendations.
Benchmark Machine Learning Approaches with Classical Time Series Approaches on the Blood Glucose Level Prediction Challenge

There is a growing trend of applying machine learning techniques in time series prediction tasks. In the meanwhile, the classic autoregression models has been widely used in time series prediction for decades. In this paper, experiments are conducted to compare the performances of multiple popular machine learning algorithms including two major types of deep learning approaches, with the classic autoregression with exogenous inputs (ARX) model on this particular Blood Glucose Level Prediction (BGLP) Challenge. We tried two types of methods to perform multi-step prediction: recursive method and direct method. The recursive method needs future input feature information. The results show there is no signiﬁcant difference between the machine learning models and the classic ARX model. In fact, the ARX model achieved the lowest average Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) across subjects in the test data when recursive method was used for multi-step prediction.