Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A polyarticular onset predicts erosive and deforming disease in psoriatic arthritis

Objectives: To analyse the factors predicting erosive-deforming arthropathy in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods: A prospective cohort study was undertaken with 71 patients diagnosed as having PsA (44 men and 27 women, mean age 47 (SD 12) years). At the recruitment period patients had disease without evidence of radiological damage. Patients were studied and followed up according to a standard protocol from January 1991 to June 2001. Erosive and deforming disease was defined by the presence of erosions, joint space narrowing, subluxation, and/or ankylosis of peripheral joints. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate factors predicting erosive and deforming disease. Results: At the end of the study 32 of 71 (45%) patients had developed erosive and deforming disease. Among them, 18 of 32 (56%) had a polyarticular onset, two of 32 (6%) showed a distal interphalangeal joint disease onset, six of 32 (19%) presented with oligoarthritis, and six of 32 (19%) presented with axial disease as the form of disease onset (p=0.001). Mean time to detect erosions or joint space narrowing was 20 (SD 4) months. Men showed fewer erosions than women (p=0.05). Patients who carried the HLA-B27 antigen showed less erosive disease than patients who lacked it (p=0.05). Patients with erosive and deforming disease had poorer functional performance than those without it as measured with the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria (p<0.05 with both measurements). In multivariate analysis, only a polyarticular onset remained as an indicator of erosive and deforming disease (odds ratio (OR) 37, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 3.6 to 88, p=0.025). Conclusions: A polyarticular onset (five or more swollen joints) of PsA was the unique independent risk factor which predicted the appearance of erosive and deforming disease over time. These data may be useful for clinicians treating patients with PsA, as it may guide treatment towards a more aggressive and earlier intervention.
How Copyright Keeps Works Disappeared

A random sample of new books for sale on Amazon.com shows more books for sale from the 1880’s than the 1980’s. Why? This paper presents new data on how copyright stifles the reappearance of works. First, a random sample of more than 2000 new books for sale on Amazon.com is analyzed along with a random sample of almost 2000 songs available on new DVD’s. Copyright status correlates highly with absence from the Amazon shelf. Together with publishing business models, copyright law seems to deter distribution and diminish access. Further analysis of eBook markets, used books on Abebooks.com, and the Chicago Public library collection suggests that no alternative marketplace for out-of-print books has yet developed. Data from iTunes and YouTube, however, tell a different story for older hit songs. The much wider availability of old music in digital form may be explained by the differing holdings in two important cases Boosey & Hawkes v. Disney (music) and Random House v. Rosetta Stone (books).
Ischaemic preconditioning delays ischaemia induced cellular electrical uncoupling in rabbit myocardium by activation of ATP sensitive potassium channels.

OBJECTIVE The aim was to examine whether ischaemic preconditioning delays the onset of cellular electrical uncoupling during ischaemia, and whether the effect of preconditioning is mediated by the activation of ATP sensitive K+ channels (IK-ATP). METHODS Onset of uncoupling, action potential duration (APD80), and conduction velocity were measured in an isolated perfused rabbit papillary muscle. Preconditioning consisted of 10 min occlusion and 10 min reperfusion prior to 40 min sustained ischaemia. Five groups were studied: (1) control (sustained ischaemia only); (2) preconditioning; (3) preconditioning with 20 microM glibenclamide, a blocker of IK-ATP, added for 10 min during the reperfusion period; (4) sustained ischaemia after 15 min perfusion with 20 microM cromakalim (BRL 34915), an opener of IK-ATP; (5) sustained ischaemia after 10 min perfusion with 20 microM glibenclamide without preconditioning. RESULTS Uncoupling started at 15.0(SEM 0.7) min of ischaemia in the control group and at 22.8(1.5) min after preconditioning (p < 0.001 v control group). Blocking IK-ATP during the preconditioning protocol with glibenclamide abolished the delay of uncoupling: onset was at 14.7(1.2) min. Activation of IK-ATP with cromakalim resulted in uncoupling at 23.3(1.9) min (p < 0.002 v control). Glibenclamide without preconditioning had no effect on uncoupling: onset was at 15.6(1.0) min. APD80 during ischaemia was significantly shorter in the preconditioning and cromakalim groups than in the control group from 5 min of ischaemia onward. In the preconditioning+glibenclamide group and the glibenclamide group APD80 was at no point significantly different from the control group. Conduction velocity during ischaemia decreased to about 70% of baseline after 10 min and was not different between the five groups. CONCLUSIONS (1) Preconditioning delays the onset of electrical uncoupling; (2) the protective effect of preconditioning may be caused by activation of the IK-ATP channel; (3) the protective effect is associated with reduction of action potential duration, but not with changes of conduction velocity.
Intermittent Stimulation with LH-RH in Postmenopausal Hypergonadotropism

Ten postmenopausal women received 8 consecutive (1 hour interval) i.v. bolus injections of either 25 or 500 micrograms of LH-RH. Gonadotropin release was monitored before and during LH-RH stimulation. After the first LH-RH bolus a dose-dependent LH release was seen. All consecutive LH-RH boli elicited similar LH responses resulting in pulse-type LH release. Throughout the whole stimulation period the pituitary gland remained highly responsive to LH-RH, FSH release was uncharacteristic. It is concluded that during postmenopause LH-RH is hyper-secreted. Thus the pituitary gland remains responsive to repeated injections of even supraphysiological LH-RH doses.
Analysis of Endothelial Adherence of Bartonella henselae and Acinetobacter baumannii Using a Dynamic Human Ex Vivo Infection Model

ABSTRACT Bacterial adherence determines the virulence of many human-pathogenic bacteria. Experimental approaches elucidating this early infection event in greater detail have been performed using mainly methods of cellular microbiology. However, in vitro infections of cell monolayers reflect the in vivo situation only partially, and animal infection models are not available for many human-pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, ex vivo infection of human organs might represent an attractive method to overcome these limitations. We infected whole human umbilical cords ex vivo with Bartonella henselae or Acinetobacter baumannii under dynamic flow conditions mimicking the in vivo infection situation of human endothelium. For this purpose, methods for quantifying endothelium-adherent wild-type and trimeric autotransporter adhesin (TAA)-deficient bacteria were set up. Data revealed that (i) A. baumannii binds in a TAA-dependent manner to endothelial cells, (ii) this organ infection model led to highly reproducible adherence rates, and furthermore, (iii) this model allowed to dissect the biological function of TAAs in the natural course of human infections. These findings indicate that infection models using ex vivo human tissue samples (“organ microbiology”) might be a valuable tool in analyzing bacterial pathogenicity with the capacity to replace animal infection models at least partially.
Contribution of Whole Body F-18-FDG-PET and Lymphoscintigraphy to the Assessment of Regional and Distant Metastases in Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma

Summary Aim: This pilot study describes use of whole body PET (WB PET) for staging of melanoma. WB PET in conjunction with lymphoscintigraphy (LS) for evaluating status of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) in primary melanoma was investigated with comparison to histopathological results. WB PET was also used both for primary and metastatic melanoma for screening for distant metastases, restaging and follow-up. Methods: Group I: 17 patients with primary cutaneous melanoma underwent LS, WB PET and SLN dissection. WB PET findings were compared with biopsy results at the SLN site and were used for screening for distant metastases. Group II: 17 patients with a history of melanoma underwent WB PET for follow-up and/or restaging. Results were confirmed or refuted by other radiological modalities or by biopsy or clinical follow-up. Results: Group I: out of 20 SLNs identified by LS in the 17 patients, 18 were negative on WB PET and 2 were positive. 19/20 WB PET findings were confirmed either by histopathology or by clinical followup (20 mo). Accuracy was 94% for the assessment of the status of the SLN. Group II: WB PET findings altered staging and treatment in 12/17 patients and confirmed the validity of treatment in 3/17 patients. Overall, in 15/17 patients (88%), WB PET had an impact on treatment strategy. Conclusion: Further studies are required to demonstrate if WB PET can become a reliable non-invasive alternative to surgery in the characterization of the SLN. WB PET is important as a baseline in primary localized melanoma and decisively impacts patient management in metastatic melanoma.
Comparative Advantage Defying Development Strategy and Cross Country Poverty Incidence

This paper argues that poverty in a country is endogenously determined by the countryi¯s long-term economic development strategy. It empirically examines the effects of adopting a Comparative Advantage-Defying (CAD) development strategy - which attempts to encourage economic actors to deviate from the economyi¯s existing comparative advantages in their entry into an industry or choice of technology - on its level of poverty. This paper also examines how this effect of CAD differs with the level of an economyi¯s financial development, which is the most important channel for the effects of CAD on poverty to manifest themselves. Data for the period of 1963 to 1999 (cross-section average over this time period) and 1980 to 2000 (panel with 5 years interval) for 113 countries are used in the analysis. We find that the more aggressively a country adopts CAD development strategy, the higher the level of poverty incidence. But a high level of financial development reduces the poverty-increasing impact of adopting CAD. The policy recommendation by this paper is to adopt Comparative Advantage-Following (CAF) development strategy, which facilitates the actorsi¯ entry into an industry according to the economyi¯s existing comparative advantages, by all the countries in order to reduce poverty incidence.
A low cost W-band multilayer SIW filter

Using commercially available printed-circuit-board (PCB) technology, a compact W-band substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) filter is developed with multilayer topology in this letter. Full-wave simulations based on coupling matrix theory have been used to synthesize and optimize the proposed filter. A coupling aperture interface structure is developed for experiments. As demonstrations, the proposed multilayer SIW filter is fabricated on a 1.016 mm thick RO5880 substrate with a compact footprint as small as 3.7 mm by 13mm, and measured by vector network analyser (VNA). Good agreement is obtained between simulated and measured results. This work demonstrates that high performance W-band multilayer SIW filters can be massively realized by using low cost PCB process.
Cardiovascular disease in Adult Life after Childhood Cancer in Scandinavia: A population‐based cohort study of 32,308 one‐year survivors

The lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease in a large cohort of childhood cancer survivors has not been fully assessed. In a retrospective population‐based cohort study predicated on comprehensive national health registers, we identified a cohort of 32,308 one‐year survivors of cancer diagnosed before the age of 20 in the five Nordic countries between the start of cancer registration in the 1940s and 1950s to 2008; 211,489 population comparison subjects were selected from national population registers. Study subjects were linked to national hospital registers, and the observed numbers of first hospital admission for cardiovascular disease among survivors were compared with the expected numbers derived from the population comparison cohort. Cardiovascular disease was diagnosed in 2,632 childhood cancer survivors (8.1%), yielding a standardized hospitalization rate ratio (RR) of 2.1 (95% CI 2.0–2.2) and an overall absolute excess risk (AER) of 324 per 100,000 person‐years. At the end of follow‐up 12% of the survivors were ≥ 50 years of age and 4.5% ≥ 60 years of age. Risk estimates were significantly increased throughout life, with an AER of ∼500–600 per 100,000 person‐years at age ≥ 40. The highest relative risks were seen for heart failure (RR, 5.2; 95% CI 4.5–5.9), valvular dysfunction (4.6; 3.8–5.5) and cerebrovascular diseases (3.7; 3.4–4.1). Survivors of hepatic tumor, Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia had the highest overall risks for cardiovascular disease, although each main type of childhood cancer had increased risk with different risk profiles. Nordic childhood cancer survivors are at markedly increased risk for cardiovascular disorders throughout life. These findings indicate the need for preventive interventions and continuous follow‐up for this rapidly growing population.
Stability and prediction of physical activity in 5‐, 10‐, and 28‐year follow‐up studies among industrial employees

The aim of the study was to examine the stability of voluntary and household physical activity (PA) and to compare it with that of the use of the most common stimulants. The prospective cohort study comprised of follow‐ups at 5, 10, and 28 years at baseline in 1973 in four plants of an industrial corporation in Finland. A systematic, non‐proportional sample (n=902, age range 18–64 years) stratified for age, gender, and occupational status was drawn from the employees. Scores of PA were based on a questionnaire and interviews. Logistic regression models with proportional odds assumptions were counted. The 5‐year stability (Spearman's ρ) of PA time was 0.44 (PA intensity 0.44), the respective 10‐year coefficient was 0.26 (0.32), and that in the 28‐year follow‐up was 0.18 (0.20). The stability of PA decreased rapidly from 1973 to 1983 and more slowly thereafter. Changes along the follow‐up reflect a polarization of the distributions of PA within the sample. Age and an initially low level of activity were the strongest predictors of inactivity. The stability coefficient of smoking and alcohol consumption was twice as high as that of PA. Stimulant use was a greater factor in the individual's lifestyle than PA.
Safety, Liquidity, and the Natural Rate of Interest

Why are interest rates so low in the Unites States? We find that they are low primarily because the premium for safety and liquidity has increased since the late 1990s, and to a lesser extent because economic growth has slowed. We reach this conclusion using two complementary perspectives: a flexible time series model of trends in Treasury and corporate yields, inflation, and long-term survey expectations; and a medium-scale dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. We discuss the implications of this finding for the natural rate of interest.
Lack of Father Involvement in Research on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Maternal Parenting Stress and Family Functioning

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has an estimated prevalence of greater than 1% of people in the US. Caring for children with ASD is stressful and challenging for parents. The purpose of the study is to understand the ramifications of the findings of a spouse/father's lack of participation for a study focused on stress and family functioning that attempted to recruit both parents of a child with ASD. The Kruskal-Wallis test compared medians of three groups of mothers of children with ASD in order to assess differences in parenting stress and family functioning discrepancy depending on their marital status and spouse survey participation. There were differences across the groups of mothers of children with ASD for the discrepancy in expectations for help, from the participants’ spouse or relatives, with family tasks, meeting the demands of other work responsibilities, child care, challenging behaviors, and school absences. Mothers of children with ASD are at risk for isolation and stress from negotiating family functions with the fathers of the children. Health care providers can assess for stress and family functioning and may anticipate different needs based on marital status and by father's involvement in decision-making.
Methodological challenges in quality of life research among Turkish and Moroccan ethnic minority cancer patients: translation, recruitment and ethical issues

The large population of first generation Turkish and Moroccan immigrants who moved to Western Europe in the 1960s and 1970s is now reaching an age at which the incidence of chronic diseases, including cancer, rises sharply. To date, little attention has been paid to the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of these ethnic minority groups, primarily due to the paucity of well translated and validated measures, but also because of a range of methodological and logistical barriers. The primary objective of this paper is to describe the methodological challenges in conducting HRQOL research among these patient populations, based on experience gained in a project in which four widely used HRQOL questionnaires were translated into Turkish, Moroccan-Arabic and Tarifit, and administered to a sample of 90 Turkish and 79 Moroccan cancer patients in the Netherlands. Problems encountered in translating and administering the questionnaires included achieving semantic equivalence (use of loanwords), use of numerical rating scales, lengthy questions and response scales, and culturally sensitive and/or inappropriate questions. Privacy laws that prohibit hospitals from registering the ethnicity of patients hampered efficient identification of eligible patients. Recruiting patients to studies is often difficult due to low literacy levels, lack of familiarity with and distrust of research, concerns about immigration status, and inaccurate or missing contact information. This can lead to lower response rates than is the case with the population of Dutch cancer patients. Additional ethical issues that arise in such studies concern patients’ problems with communicating with their health care providers, their lack of understanding of their diagnosis, treatment and prognosis, and the potential role conflict experienced by bilingual research assistants who may wish or be asked to intervene on the patients’ behalf. Practical approaches to resolving these issues are presented.
Mild cognitive impairment as predictor for Alzheimer's disease in clinical practice: effect of age and diagnostic criteria

Background We investigated whether the predictive accuracy of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) for Alzheimer-type dementia (AD) in a clinical setting is dependent on age and the definition of MCI used. Method Non-demented subjects older than 40 (n=320) who attended a memory clinic of a university hospital were reassessed 5 years later for the presence of AD. MCI was diagnosed according to the criteria of amnestic MCI, mild functional impairment (MFI), ageing-associated cognitive decline (AACD), and age-associated memory impairment (AAMI). The main outcome measure was the area under the curve (AUC) of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Analyses were conducted on the entire sample and on subgroups of subjects aged 40–54, 55–69 and 70–85 years. Results A diagnosis of AD at follow-up was made in 58 subjects. Four of them were in the 40–54 age group, 29 in the 55–69 age group and 25 in the 70–85 age group. The diagnostic accuracy in the entire sample was low to moderately high with AUCs ranging from 0.56 (AACD) to 0.75 (amnestic MCI). A good predictive accuracy with an AUC >0.80 was only observed in subjects aged 70–85 using the criteria of amnestic MCI (AUC=0.84). Conclusions The predictive accuracy of MCI for AD is dependent on age and the definition of MCI used. The predictive accuracy is good only for amnestic MCI in subjects 70–85 years. As subjects with prodromal AD are often younger than 70, the usefulness of MCI as predictor of AD in clinical practice is limited.
A Receding Horizon Control Strategy for Autonomous Vehicles in Dynamic Environments

In this brief, a receding horizon control scheme for solving the obstacle avoidance motion planning problem of autonomous vehicles operating in uncertain dynamic environments is developed. By considering robots described by discrete-time linear time-invariant models, we propose a set-theoretic-based architecture to deal with disturbance effects, and input and state constraints. As one of its main merits, the strategy is capable of taking care of time-varying obstacle scenarios by jointly exploiting robust positively invariant region and one-step controllable set concepts. The resulting scheme guarantees uniformly ultimate boundedness and constraints fulfilment regardless of any admissible obstacle configuration.
Measurement effects of seasonal and monthly variability on pedometer-determined data.

BACKGROUND The seasonal and monthly variability of pedometer-determined physical activity and its effects on accurate measurement have not been examined. The purpose of the study was to reduce measurement error in step-count data by controlling a) the length of the measurement period and b) the season or month of the year in which sampling was conducted. METHODS Twenty-three middle-aged adults were instructed to wear a Yamax SW-200 pedometer over 365 consecutive days. The step-count measurement periods of various lengths (eg, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 days, etc.) were randomly selected 10 times for each season and month. To determine accurate estimates of yearly step-count measurement, mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and bias were calculated. The year-round average was considered as a criterion measure. A smaller MAPE and bias represent a better estimate. RESULTS Differences in MAPE and bias among seasons were trivial; however, they varied among different months. The months in which seasonal changes occur presented the highest MAPE and bias. CONCLUSIONS Targeting the data collection during certain months (eg, May) may reduce pedometer measurement error and provide more accurate estimates of year-round averages.