Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring disability in early juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: evaluation of a Norwegian version of the childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE To assess the reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change of the Norwegian version of the childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) and to examine the relationship between disability, disease severity, and psychosocial factors in patients with early juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). METHODS Physical functioning was assessed by the CHAQ in 109 patients (median age 6.6 years, range 1.0-16.6) with JRA and a median of 4 months' (range 2-23) disease duration. Eighty-three patients were reassessed after a median of 6 months (range 3-21). Psychosocial functioning was assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist (n=39). RESULTS The internal consistency of the CHAQ was good (Cronbach's alpha=0.83). The test-retest and parent-patient correlations were high [intraclass correlation coefficients 0.85 (n=18) and 0.75 (n=20), respectively, p < 0.001]. The CHAQ correlated moderately with number of tender, swollen and mobility restricted joints, morning stiffness, C-reactive protein, pain, and patients' and physicians' global assessments [correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.55 to 0.30, p < 0.01], but weakly with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.17, NS). The CHAQ also correlated with low levels of social competence (r=-0.49, p < 0.05) and high levels of internalizing behavior problems in the patients (r=0.43, p < 0.01) and low education levels of the mothers (r=-0.31, p < 0.01). Pain (beta 0.45, p < 0.001), number of swollen joints (beta 0.31, p < 0.001), and internalizing behavior problems (beta 0.45, p < 0.01) were predictors of disability. The median CHAQ changed from 0.25 to 0.00 (p < 0.05) in the 41 patients who improved, from 0.31 to 0.85 (p < 0.05) in the 18 patients whose condition was worse, and from 0.50 to 0.59 (NS) in the 24 patients whose condition was unchanged after 6 months. The effect size of the change was small (0.28) in those who improved and moderate (0.54) in those who became worse. CONCLUSION The Norwegian version of the CHAQ is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring disability in children with early JRA. Pain, joint inflammation, and psychosocial factors are the most important correlates of disability and the CHAQ is sensitive to clinical change.
Combination of antihypertensive drugs from a historical perspective

Like many of our colleagues who have been actively involved in the drug treatment of hypertensive disease for several decades, we experienced the development and maturation of drug treatment over the years. There is no doubt that the older drugs, such as ganglionic blockers and post-ganglionic sympathetic neuron-blocker Rauwolfia alkaloids, were effective in lowering elevated blood pressure (BP), but their poor tolerability made them obsolete after the introduction of low-dose diuretics, betablockers, calcium antagonists, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin IIreceptor antagonists (AT1-blockers, ARBs), which are also effective but usually well tolerated. Antihypertensive drug development is a medical success story and there has been a substantial improvement in drug therapy over the years. As scientists, we are also grateful for the important scientific spin-offs offered by the various available antihypertensive drugs, which has greatly enhanced our detailed knowledge of the autonomic nervous system, the central nervous regulation of the cardiovascular system, kidney function, the renin– angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) and calcium homeostasis. We both feel that the beneficial influence of this success story of pharmacological research is not sufficiently recognized by the medical profession. Until approximately a decade ago, monotherapy with one particular drug was the gold standard of treatment. However, our own experience, and also that of many others, rather pointed towards the preferential use of two or even three drugs simultaneously in order to obtain a satisfactory control of BP in most patients. Indeed, antihypertensive drugs, which are usually applied for the remaining years of life, are now rarely administered alone and in most cases combined with other therapeutic agents. Firstly, monotherapy of hypertension is shifting more and more towards combination with two or three antihypertensive drugs. Furthermore, rising age and frequent comorbidity of hypertensives will lead to the simultaneous administration of other therapeutic agents. Consequently, ‘‘polypharmacy’’ of the average hypertensive patient is rather the rule than the exception. We have briefly discussed these two subjects by means of two newsletters published in this journal (1,2). The present survey deals with these issues in more detail, addressing in particular the combination of two or more antihypertensive drugs in the management of hypertension. Relevant interactions between antihypertensive drugs and other therapeutic agents prescribed simultaneously have been discussed in detail in one of the two aforementioned newsletters (1).
Diapause in Lucilia sericata (Mg.) Díptera.

Data collected over a period of 2 years have shown that diapause in 3rd-instar larvae of Lucilia sericata (Mg.) may be of maternal origin and that its incidence gradually increased in the latter part of the blowfly season. The age of female flies has no significant effect on the amount of diapause. The capacity to give diapausing batches was lost by the majority of flies kept under standard laboratory conditions for 10-16 days.
Rapid Isolation of Human Stem Cells (Connective Tissue Progenitor Cells) From the Proximal Humerus During Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Surgery

Background: Bone-to-tendon healing in the shoulder can be unpredictable. Biologic augmentation, through the implementation of adult mesenchymal stem cells, may improve this healing process. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to (1) arthroscopically obtain bone marrow aspirates from the proximal humerus during rotator cuff repair, (2) purify and concentrate the connective tissue progenitor cells (CTPs) in the operating room efficiently, and (3)confirm these are stem cells through their ability to differentiate into bone cells. We hypothesize that CTPs can be quickly and efficiently isolated from bone marrow during arthroscopic surgery and that these cells are capable of osteogenesis. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3; and Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Bone marrow aspirates were harvested through the anchor tunnel of the humeral head during arthroscopic rotator cuff repair in 23 patients. Twenty-three matched controls were selected from a clinical registry to evaluate for increased incidence of complication. Connective tissue progenitor cells were isolated using 2 accepted methods and compared with a novel, rapid method designed for use in the operating room. Osteogenic potential was assessed by cytochemical and molecular analysis. Results: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis and cellular staining confirmed the osteogenic potential of these CTPs. There was no statistical significant difference in the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score (aspirate, 86.3 ± 10.5; control, 83.6 ± 15.1; P = .54), range of motion measures (postoperative external rotation: aspirate, 65.0° ± 20.4°; control, 62.5° ± 17.1°; P = .67; postoperative forward elevation: aspirate, 163.0° ± 30.6°; control, 145.7° ± 41.4°; P = .12), or postoperative strength measures between groups (median, 5; range, 4-5 in the aspirate group compared with median, 5; range, 4-5 in the control group; P > .05). Conclusion: Connective tissue progenitor cells can be safely and efficiently aspirated from the proximal humerus using the anchor tunnel created during arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery. These cells may play an important role in cell-based therapies involving rotator cuff repair. Clinical Relevance: We have established a reliable, reproducible protocol for isolating CTPs in the operating room. These cells may have the potential to enhance the healing process after rotator cuff repair.
Identity Deception Detection on Social Media Platforms

The bulk of currently available research in identity deception focuses on understanding the psychological motive behind persons lying about their identity. However, apart from understanding the psychological aspects of such a mindset, it is also important to consider identity deception in the context of the technologically integrated society in which we live today. With the proliferation of social media, it has become the norm for many people to present a false identity for various purposes, whether for anonymity or for something more harmful like committing paedophilia. Social media platforms (SMPs) are known to deal with massive volumes of big data. Big data characteristics such as volume, velocity and variety make it not only easier for people to deceive others about their identity, but also harder to prevent or detect identity deception. This paper describes the challenges of identity deception detection on SMPs. It also presents attributes that can play a role in identity deception detection, as well as the results of an experiment to develop a so-called Identity Deception Indicator (IDI). It is believed that such an IDI can assist law enforcement with the early detection of potentially harmful behaviour on SMPs.
Screening for childhood mental health problems: outcomes and early identification.

BACKGROUND Many childhood psychiatric problems are transient. Consequently, screening procedures to accurately identify children with problems unlikely to remit and thus, in need of intervention, are of major public health concern. This study aimed to develop a universal school-based screening procedure based on the answers to three questions: (1) What are the broad patterns of mental health problems from kindergarten to grade 5? (2) What are the grade 5 outcomes of these patterns? (3) How early in school can children likely to develop the most impairing patterns be identified accurately? METHODS Mothers and teachers reported on a community sample (N = 328) of children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms in kindergarten and grades 1, 3, and 5. In grade 5, teachers reported on children's school-based functional impairments, physical health problems, and service use; mothers reported on children's specialty mental health care. RESULTS Four patterns distinguished children who (1) never evidenced symptoms; (2) evidenced only isolated symptoms; or evidenced recurrent symptoms, either (3) without or (4) with comorbid internalizing and externalizing. By grade 5, children with recurrent comorbid symptoms had the greatest impairments, physical health problems, and service use. These children can be identified quite accurately by grade 1. CONCLUSIONS Universal screening at school entry can effectively identify children likely to develop recurrent comorbid symptoms, and would provide a basis for developing optimal targeted intervention programs.
RESISTANCE TRAINING IMPROVES METABOLIC ECONOMY DURING FUNCTIONAL TASKS IN OLDER ADULTS

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect resistance training has on metabolic economy during typical activities of daily living in a geriatric population. Twenty-nine men and women (age: 66.7 ± 4.4 years, body mass: 72.3 ± 11.9 kg) participated in a 26-week heavy–resistance training program. Before and after training, heart rate and expiratory gases were measured for subjects performing 3 tasks that would mimic common everyday activities encountered by this population: (a) walking (WLK) at 3 miles per hour (4.8 km·h−1), (b) carrying a box (CAR) to simulate holding a bag of groceries with 1 hand (30% of maximal isometric strength) while walking at 2 miles per hour (3.2 km·h−1), and (c) climbing stairs (STR). No time by gender interaction was observed for the WLK, CAR, and STR activities; consequently, the values for men and women were pooled. Both strength and fat-free mass increased significantly (p < 0.001) after the training protocol, whereas body mass remained constant. Oxygen cost decreased significantly by 6% (p < 0.05) only for CAR, whereas the respiratory exchange ratio decreased significantly (p < 0.05) for both WLK (0.84–0.81) and STR (0.87–0.83), and heart rate decreased significantly (p < 0.05) only for CAR. After the resistance training program, subjects also reported a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in perceived exertion during performance of all functional task test conditions. These results suggest that a heavy–resistance training program might affect exercise economy during daily tasks and improve ease of physical activity, thereby providing a possible mechanism for increasing quality of life in an older and geriatric population.
The effects of fish oil, olive oil, oleic acid and linoleic acid on colorectal neoplastic processes.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Several nutrients play a significant role in colorectal cancer development, and fats could be among the most determinant. While several studies have shown that the n-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic and its main dietary source, fish oil could exert important antineoplastic effects, much less is known about the effects of olive oil and its main fatty acid, oleic acid, and linoleic acid. The aim of these studies is to assess the role of these nutrients in crucial processes involved in colorectal carcinogenesis. METHODS Caco-2 and HT-29 colorectal cancer cells were supplemented with different fats and their role in apoptosis induction, cell proliferation, and differentiation was studied. COX-2 and Bcl-2 expressions were also assessed. RESULTS Supplementation with fish oil or olive oil results in an induction of apoptosis and cell differentiation. The latest effect was also induced by oleic and linoleic acid. Fish oil diminishes significantly cell proliferation. Supplementation with fish oil and olive oil results in an early downregulation of COX-2 followed by a decrease in Bcl-2 expression. CONCLUSIONS Fish oil and olive oil are capable of influencing crucial processes responsible for colorectal cancer development. COX-2 and Bcl-2 may be important mediators of some of these effects.
Loss of thermal refugia near equatorial range limits

This study examines the importance of thermal refugia along the majority of the geographical range of a key intertidal species (Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758) on the Atlantic coast of Europe. We asked whether differences between sun‐exposed and shaded microhabitats were responsible for differences in physiological stress and ecological performance and examined the availability of refugia near equatorial range limits. Thermal differences between sun‐exposed and shaded microhabitats are consistently associated with differences in physiological performance, and the frequency of occurrence of high temperatures is most probably limiting the maximum population densities supported at any given place. Topographical complexity provides thermal refugia throughout most of the distribution range, although towards the equatorial edges the magnitude of the amelioration provided by shaded microhabitats is largely reduced. Importantly, the limiting effects of temperature, rather than being related to latitude, seem to be tightly associated with microsite variability, which therefore is likely to have profound effects on the way local populations (and consequently species) respond to climatic changes.
Coded Computation Against Straggling Decoders for Network Function Virtualization

The uplink of a cloud radio access network architecture is studied in which decoding at the cloud takes place via network function virtualization (NFV) on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers. In order to mitigate the impact of straggling decoders in the cloud computing platform, a novel coding strategy is proposed, whereby the cloud re-encodes the received frames via a linear code before distributing them to the decoding processors. Upper bounds on the resulting frame unavailability probability (FUP) as a function of the decoding latency are derived by assuming a binary symmetric channel for uplink communications. The bounds leverage large deviation results for correlated variables, and depend on the properties of both the uplink linear channel code adopted at the user and the NFV linear code applied at the cloud. Numerical examples demonstrate that the bounds are useful tools for code design, and that coding is instrumental in obtaining a desirable tradeoff between FUP and decoding latency.
Advance directives in Utah. Information from death certificates and informants.

BACKGROUND Advance directives have been studied in different patient populations and institutions. Most reports have shown limited use and little medically observable effect. To our knowledge, no previous study has focused on the use of advance directives by individuals who have died or how their family members perceived the documents' effect. METHODS We contacted informants listed on Utah Death Certificates from 1992 to estimate the prevalence and effect of advance directives. Eighty-two percent of 1398 informants we contacted agreed to our telephone interview. RESULTS More than 50% of decedents reportedly completed an advance directive. Individuals older than 65 years (57.3%), women (58.1%), nursing home residents (63.4%), and hospice users (75.2%) were most likely to have had advance directives. Education, religion, religiosity, and location had no effect on prevalence. Most informants stated that advance directives had no effect on the decedent's care, but a minority felt they helped to limit treatment. Do-not-resuscitate orders were written more often for patients with advance directives. Feeding tubes were removed more often from decedents with living wills than from other decedents. Mechanical ventilatory support was not less frequent in patients with advance directives. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirms others that found little evidence that advance directives affect life-sustaining treatments. In the infrequent situations when they apply, they may be more persuasive than family members in convincing physicians to limit treatment. We observed that survivors had 2 perceptions about advance directives, not emphasized in previous reports, that they seemed to limit treatment and to ease their burden of decision making.
Evaluation of the Immunomodulatory Activities of Royal Jelly Components In Vitro

In this work the effect of different components isolated from royal jelly (RJ) was studied using an in vitro rat T-cell proliferation assay. We found that lower concentrations of MEL 174 (final water extract of RJ) and MEL 147 (3-10-dihydroxydecanoic acid) stimulated T-cell proliferation, triggered by concanavalin A (Con-A) and the process was followed by an increase in the production of interleukin-2 (IL-2). Higher concentrations of MEL 174, MEL 247 (dry powder of RJ) and MEL 138 (trans-10-hydroxydec-2-enoic acid) inhibited T-cell proliferation. The inhibition of T-cell proliferation in the presence of MEL 174 was followed by a decrease in IL-2 production, which was partly abrogated by exogenous IL-2, a decrease in nitric oxide (NO) production and increased apoptosis. In conclusion, our results showed the complexity of biological activity of RJ and suggest that its water extract possesses the most potent immunomodulatory activity in vitro.
A window to beyond the orbit: the value of optical coherence tomography in non‐ocular disease

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the eye has become an essential tool for the ophthalmologist, aiding diagnosis and assisting with treatment decisions, in many ocular diseases. However, there is an evolving role for OCT in informing on non‐ocular diseases, which ophthalmologists should be aware of. The purpose of this review was to examine recent evidence for the role of ocular OCT imaging to evaluate disease beyond the orbit and to discuss possible opportunities and challenges arising from this, from the perspective of the ophthalmologist.
Ultrasound Imaging of Placenta Accreta With MR Correlation

Abstract Placenta accreta is abnormal placental adherence or invasion of the myometrium or extrauterine structures. It is increasing in incidence because of increasing number of cesarean sections and is one of the main causes of excessive postpartum hemorrhage. Recognition of this entity is crucial because improved outcomes have been shown when the antenatal diagnosis of placenta accreta is made. Ultrasound is the first-line tool; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is complementary. Ultrasound and MRI features and MRI protocols will be reviewed.
Ni-Sn solid liquid interdiffusion (SLID) bonding — Process, bond characteristics and strength

Ni-Sn joints created by solid liquid interdiffusion (SLID) bonding were investigated. Process parameters were varied between 300 °C and 360 °C with annealing times up to 20 min to study the joint development. Symmetric Ni / Ni-Sn intermetallic compound / Ni joints were fabricated. It was found that a bond profile of 5 min at 300 °C was insufficient to completely solidify the joint. 5 min at 360 °C or 20 min at 300 °C solidified the joint and initiated the homogenization stage to form a stable high temperature compatible Ni / Ni3Sn / Ni joint structure. Early development of scallop shaped structures of Ni3Sn4 between the Ni and Sn layers was observed. Coalescent scallops form solid pillars between die and substrate, which results in large irregular voids in the center of the bond line. Initial shear strength results indicate extremely strong bonds, with a joint strength of more than 200 MPa.
Sedentary time in children: influence of accelerometer processing on health relations.

PURPOSE Accelerometry is increasingly being used to assess sedentary time in epidemiological studies, yet the most appropriate means of processing these data remains uncertain. This cross-sectional study examined the influence of selected accelerometer cut points and nonwear criteria on associations of sedentary time with adiposity and clustered metabolic risk. METHODS Data were from the European Youth Heart Study, which included assessment of sedentary time by accelerometer. Sixteen sedentary time variables were constructed based on combinations of frequently used cut points (100, 500, 800, and 1100 counts per minute) and nonwear criteria (10-, 20-, 60-, and 100-min consecutive zeros). Adiposity was assessed by sum of four skinfold thickness measures. A clustered metabolic risk score was calculated as the mean of standardized metabolic syndrome components, including blood pressure, insulin resistance, and inverted fasting HDL-cholesterol. Analyses were conducted using multilevel cross-sectional time series regression, adjusted for overall physical activity (accelerometer counts per minute). Meta-analysis was used to obtain pooled estimates of the exposure-outcome association over all processing protocols; meta-regression was used to determine the influence of nonwear and cut point protocol on observed associations. RESULTS Sedentary time follows a power law with cut point (exponent = 0.27) and zero string (exponent = 0.03), and it was positively associated with clustered metabolic risk (β = 0.0051; 95% confidence interval = 0.0018-0.0085). The association was moderated by cut point, with higher cut points typically producing stronger associations. No significant association between sedentary time and adiposity was observed. CONCLUSIONS The choice of accelerometer cut point may moderate the association between sedentary time and clustered metabolic risk, suggesting that direct comparisons of associations between studies using different cut points must be made with caution.