Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D Digital Anthropometry Using the BodySCAN

Over the last several years a number of three-dimensional (3D) anthropometric studies have been performed using fast and contact free measurements by using 3D whole-body scanners. Several 3D scanners are available on the market with a potential for anthropometry; these devices are usually developed using laser or Moiré-fringing-based technologies. In the former a laser stripe is projected onto the body surface and images acquired by several cameras: in this way 3D points representing the body shape can be recovered by triangulation. Examples of this kind are the scanners developed by Cyberware, Hamamatsu, Vitronic or Human Solutions. In this work we evaluated a new 3D whole-body scanner using structured white lightthe Breuckmann BodySCAN for performance in anthropometric measurement. Twelve young adults (6 men and 6 women; age, 22,7±2,16 yrs; height, 168,2±7,38 cm; body mass 61,5±6,16 kg) underwent both manual and 3D anthropometry (25 measurements) wearing close-fitting underwear. Duplicate manual measurements taken by one experienced anthropometrist showed correlation coefficients r ranging 0.975-0.999; their means were significantly different in four out of 25 measurements by Student’s t test. Duplicate digital measurements taken by one experienced anthropometrist and two naïve anthropometrists showed individual correlation coefficients r ranging 0.975-0.999 and means were significantly different in one out of 25 measurements. Most measurements taken by the experienced anthropometrist in the manual and digital mode showed significant correlation (intraclass correlation coefficient ranging 0.855-0.995, p<0.0001). It is concluded that the Breuckmann BodyScan is a reliable and effective tool for digital anthropometry.
Are There Age-Related Differences in Social Suggestibility to Central and Peripheral Misinformation?

Background/Study Context: Dalton and Daneman (2006, Memory, 14, 486–501) showed that young adults can be induced to accept misinformation from a co-witness, even if it contradicts central features of a previously witnessed event. This study investigated whether older adults are also susceptible to social suggestion, and if so, whether to the same or different degree as their younger counterparts. The study also investigated whether participants were more likely to succumb to suggestions delivered by a peer or an older figure. Methods: Younger and older adults viewed an action video in the presence of a younger or older confederate co-witness. During a postevent discussion, the confederate introduced misinformation about central and peripheral features of the co-witnessed event. Finally, participants responded to true-false statements about the event and rated how confident they were in their decisions. Results: Older adults were able to correctly reject false statements about an event that had been mentioned during the discussion by the confederate less often than they were able to correctly reject false statements that had not been mentioned, even if the misstatements contradicted central features of the previously witnessed event. However, older adults were no more susceptible to a co-witness's misleading suggestions than were their younger counterparts, and the age of the confederate did not influence the size of the suggestibility effect for younger or older adults. Conclusion: When baseline memory accuracy (correct rejection rates for unmentioned false information) is controlled, older adults are no more susceptible to misleading suggestions from a co-witness than are their younger counterparts. Age of the confederate did not influence the size of the suggestibility effect and thus provided no support for the predictions that participants are more likely to succumb to misleading suggestions delivered by a peer or by an older authority figure.
What Will They Think? The Relationship between Self-Presentational Concerns and Balance and Mobility Outcomes in Older Women

Background/Study Context: Indirect evidence suggests that concerns over the impressions made on others (self-presentational concerns) may be associated with balance-related outcomes in older adults, but no empirical evidence exists to support this speculation. The present study examined the relationship between self-presentational concerns (social anxiety, social physique anxiety, and self-presentational efficacy) and functional mobility, accounting for age, balance confidence, falls, and muscle strength. Methods: Healthy women (60 years or older; N = 187) completed measures of self-presentational concerns, balance confidence, and fall history, and performed the timed up and go (TUG) test and a test of leg strength. Bivariate correlations were conducted. A hierarchical regression predicted TUG duration from the three self-presentational concerns, controlling for age, balance confidence, falls, and muscle strength to examine the unique variance in TUG duration explained by self-presentational concerns. Results: Self-presentational efficacy was a significant predictor of TUG duration over and above that of age, balance confidence, falls, and muscle strength. The results also showed significant correlations between social anxiety and self-presentational efficacy and TUG duration, between all three self-presentational concerns and balance confidence, and between social physique anxiety and self-presentational efficacy and falls. Conclusions: Research is needed to examine the causal relationship between these outcomes. Investigating self-presentational concerns in older women may provide novel ways to impact balance-related outcomes in this population. Practical implications for clinicians are discussed, as the social and physical environment may influence self-presentational concerns in this population and subsequently impact assessment and treatment outcomes.
Sustained effect of macitentan, a novel oral endothelin receptor antagonist, on exercise capacity and the association of its measure with long-term outcomes in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Purpose: In SERAPHIN ([NCT00660179][1]), a Phase III trial in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), macitentan reduced the risk of morbidity and mortality (primary outcome) and risk of PAH-related death or hospitalisation (PAHDH; secondary outcome). The effect of macitentan on 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) and the association between 6MWD and PAHDH were explored. Methods: 742 PAH patients were randomised to placebo, 3 or 10mg macitentan, once daily. Treatment-by-visit interaction and placebo-corrected treatment effects were calculated using repeated measures analysis on 6MWD change from baseline at Months 3, 6, 12 in the all-randomised set. Hazard ratios were calculated to measure the association between interquartile ranges of baseline 6MWD, 6MWD changes, or values at Month 6 (± adjustment for significant covariates) and PAHDH. This was performed independently of treatment in patients with available data for 6MWD at Month 6 and from Month 6 up to end of treatment for PAHDH Results: Baseline mean±SD 6MWD for placebo (n=249), 3mg (n=248) and 10mg macitentan (n=242) was 352±111m, 364±96m and 363±93m, respectively. No significant treatment-by-visit interaction (p=0.47) suggested that beneficial effects of macitentan on 6MWD (3mg: 21.5m [10.0–33.0]; p=0.0003 and 10mg: 25.4m [13.8–37.0]; p<0.0001 vs placebo) were maintained over 12 months. There were 125 PAHDH events in 595 patients with 6MWD data available. Lower 6MWD at baseline and Month 6 were strongly associated with a risk of PAHDH (Table). Absolute 6MWD at Month 6 lost its association when adjusted for baseline 6MWD and sex. Neither adjusted nor non-adjusted changes in 6MWD from baseline to Month 6 were significantly associated with the risk of PAHDH. View this table: Table 1. Association of 6MWD with risk of PAHDH Conclusions: Macitentan provided sustained improvements in 6MWD over 12 months. No association between 6MWD changes and long-term clinical outcome was demonstrated. [1]: /lookup/external-ref? link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT00660179&atom=%2Fehj%2F34%2Fsuppl_1%2F1061.atom
Naturalistic Assessment of Everyday Memory Performance Among Older Adults

Background/Study Context: Memory performance in everyday life (EDL) and its change through aging is still unclear because laboratory results are often not transferable to real-life situations. Therefore, a naturalistic memory task was designed to investigate memory performance in older adults in a representative task design. Methods: The memory performance of 23 older (70.28 ± 4.65 years) and 20 younger adults (24.89 ± 3.16 years) was assessed by using four established tasks of short-term and working memory (Digit Simple Span, Digit Complex Span, Grid Simple Span, and Grid Complex Span) that differed in difficulty and domain (verbal vs. visual-spatial). To simulate an EDL context, a “Supermarket” was constructed within the laboratory. Results: The results showed that memory performance presents alterations in older adults. This was especially true for the “Supermarket” task, in which the younger adults showed benefits in the common environment as opposed to older adults. A factor analysis showed that the four memory laboratory tasks measured different memory processes as compared with the EDL task. Conclusion: These findings suggest that memory performance in EDL is a different construct than when it is measured in the laboratory and that memory alterations in older adults are especially pronounced in EDL tasks. Following these findings, the authors recommend an EDL approach to measure memory performance further to the well-established laboratory approaches.
The Interaction Between Memory Trace and Memory Judgment in Age-Related Decline

Background/Study Context: Associative memory deficit and executive functioning deficit are two alternative—but nonexclusive—accounts of the episodic memory deficit observed in aging. The first explain the episodic memory decline generally observed in aging by an associative memory deficit (memory decline per se), whereas the second explains it by an executive functioning deficit. This distinction could be critical in early discrimination between healthy aging and very mild Alzheimer’s-type dementia. Methods: Memory performance was measured in older adults (n = 20) and paired younger participants (n = 20), whereas the facial expression and auditory context (spoken voice) associated with the face were manipulated between study and test. Recollection and familiarity were estimated using a remember/know judgment, and source memory performance was obtained depending on the information to retrieve. Results: Although no between-group difference was observed for correctly recognized old faces, older participants made more false alarms than younger ones, thus revealing lower discriminability (d’). Facial expression change decreased recognition for all participants, whereas auditory context change decreased recognition only for younger participants. Remember/know judgments revealed age-related deficits in both recollection and familiarity, the relative decrease in familiarity reported by older adults was particularly large in the expression change conditions, and a disadvantage in source memory performance was particularly pronounced when the task was to retrieve auditory context associated with the face at study. Conclusions: The present findings show that age-related associative memory differences occur with familiarity as well as recollection and are observed in situations that do not necessarily require conscious retrieval. This age-related decline is more prominent for multimodal (face–auditory context) than for intraitem (face-expression) associations. The value of exploring both memory trace and memory judgment was discussed, and potential applications for the development of neuropsychological tools for memory assessment in aging were highlighted.
The characteristic of horses used in hippotherapy in selected horse therapy centres in Poland

The study aimed at characterisation of horses used in hippotherapy in five selected rehabilitation centres in Poland. All these centres operate under the patronage of the Polish Hippotherapeutic Association with activities conducted by qualified hippotherapy instructors. The analysis covered 34 horses in total. Sex, age, breed and basic zoometric measurements related data were collected. They were compared in tables and on diagrams, taking into account sex and breed group. It was found that only geldings and mares, respectively 71 and 29%, were used in hippotherapy in the analysed centres. The average herd age was 8.4 years, with a youngest horse of 4 years and an oldest one of 20 years. The height at the withers in these horses ranged 130 to 167 cm, while their circumference of chest 156–210 cm. No significant differences were found in the discussed parameters between gelding and mare groups, whereas numerous differences were observed between breed groups. The most numerously represented horses were the Wielkopolski one (25%) and the Hutsuls (21%); 15% of the herd constituted horses of unknown origin. The analysed horses represented the riding, general-utility and draught types. In all centres, the number of horses (minimum 3) and their diversity in respect of exterior allow for choosing a horse individually to patient’s age and disease.
The Impact of Presentation Format on Younger and Older Adults’ Self-Regulated Learning

ABSTRACT Background/Study Context: Self-regulated learning involves deciding what to study and for how long. Debate surrounds whether individuals’ selections are influenced more by item complexity, point values, or if instead people select in a left-to-right reading order, ignoring item complexity and value. The present study manipulated whether point values and presentation format favored selection of simple or complex Chinese-English pairs to assess the impact on younger and older adults’ selection behaviors. Methods: One hundred and five younger (Mage = 20.26, SD = 2.38) and 102 older adults (Mage = 70.28, SD = 6.37) participated in the experiment. Participants studied four different 3 × 3 grids (two per trial), each containing three simple, three medium, and three complex Chinese-English vocabulary pairs presented in either a simple-first or complex-first order, depending on condition. Point values were assigned in either a 2–4–8 or 8–4–2 order so that either simple or complex items were favored. Results: Points did not influence the order in which either age group selected items, whereas presentation format did. Younger and older adults selected more simple or complex items when they appeared in the first column. However, older adults selected and allocated more time to simpler items but recalled less overall than did younger adults. Memory beliefs and working memory capacity predicted study time allocation, but not item selection, behaviors. Conclusion: Presentation format must be considered when evaluating which theory of self-regulated learning best accounts for younger and older adults’ study behaviors and whether there are age-related differences in self-regulated learning. The results of the present study combine with others to support the importance of also considering the role of external factors (e.g., working memory capacity and memory beliefs) in each age group’s self-regulated learning decisions.
A One-Sided EWMA Control Chart for Monitoring Process Means

Great efforts have been devoted to two-sided exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control charts, while less attention has been paid to one-sided EWMA charts. This article proposes an improved one-sided EWMA chart (IEWMA) for rapid detection of upward or downward changes in the process mean. The basic idea is to accumulate positive (or negative) observations only and reset negative (or positive) observations to zero in the iterative computation of the EWMA estimate for the purpose of quickly catching the upward (or downward) change in the process mean. The comparison result of the IEWMA chart with other control charts favors the former.
Suppressive Antibiotic Therapy for Retained Infected Prosthetic Joints: Case Series and Review of the Literature

Abstract Prosthetic joint infections are optimally treated with a 2-stage revision. However, because of frequent comorbid illness, the prosthesis cannot always be removed. When this is the case, long-term suppressive oral antibiotics are often given to prevent breakthrough infection; however, there is minimal data on this practice. We performed a retrospective case series of patients at our own institution and reviewed published case series on the topic. A systematic review was performed on the available data. The odds ratio for successful outcome in the pooled analysis was 1.3 (95% confidence interval, 0.6-3.1) in favor of suppressive antibiotics, but this difference was not significant. We conclude that, despite the common use of suppressive antibiotic therapy for retained prosthetic joints, there is insufficient data to demonstrate whether this practice reduces failure rates.
Survival trends among patients with metastatic melanoma in the pretargeted and the post-targeted era: a US population-based study

In 2011, ipilimumab was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for metastatic melanoma. Since its approval, numerous targeted therapies have been approved by the FDA. Population-based studies assessing the survival benefit from these agents are lacking. We therefore carried out this study to compare the 1-year, 2-year, and median overall survival (OS) among metastatic melanoma patients in pretargeted and post-targeted eras. This is a retrospective study that utilized the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER-18) database, version 8.3. 4 (22 March 2017). The patient groups were defined as the pretargeted era (2004–2010) and the post-targeted era (2011–2014) as ipilimumab was approved by the FDA in 2011. The database comprised of 5471 patients (3314 in the pretargeted era and 2157 in the post-targeted era). OS in the post-targeted era was found to be significantly better compared with the pretargeted era by Kaplan–Meier curve (1-year OS: 38.9 vs. 36.8%, 2-year OS: 28.3 vs. 23.5%, and median survival: 8 vs. 7 months, P=0.001 by the log-rank test). The survival was significantly better in the post-targeted era compared with the pretargeted era on multivariate analysis using a Cox proportional hazard model after adjusting for age, sex, race, and metasectomy status (adjusted hazard ratio of 0.889, 95% CI: of 0.832–0.951, P=0.001). There is significant survival benefit in metastatic melanoma patients since the introduction of immune checkpoint-blocking agents.
The Carmaphycins: New Proteasome Inhibitors Exhibiting an α,β‐Epoxyketone Warhead from a Marine Cyanobacterium

Two new peptidic proteasome inhibitors were isolated as trace components from a Curaçao collection of the marine cyanobacterium Symploca sp. Carmaphycin A (1) and carmaphycin B (2) feature a leucine‐derived α,β‐epoxyketone warhead directly connected to either methionine sulfoxide or methionine sulfone. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive NMR and MS analyses and confirmed by total synthesis, which in turn provided more material for further biological evaluations. Pure carmaphycins A and B were found to inhibit the β5 subunit (chymotrypsin‐like activity) of the S. cerevisiae 20S proteasome in the low nanomolar range. Additionally, they exhibited strong cytotoxicity to lung and colon cancer cell lines, as well as exquisite antiproliferative effects in the NCI60 cell‐line panel. These assay results as well as initial structural biology studies suggest a distinctive binding mode for these new inhibitors.
Cancer gene therapy update

Objective. To provide an update about gene marking and gene therapy trials in cancer patients. Data Sources. A MEDLINE search using the term “gene therapy” was conducted for the period 1985 to 1998. The reference lists from retrieved articles were reviewed. Meeting abstracts from the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting (published in their proceedings) and the Annual Cancer Gene Therapy Symposium (published in Cancer Gene Therapy) that concerned gene therapy in cancer patients were also included. Data Extraction. Both authors reviewed the retrieved material and included preclinical data, case reports, and clinical trials related to gene transfer or gene therapy in cancer patients. Data Synthesis. There are several possible approaches to using gene therapy for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and for the monitoring of cancer therapy. Exogenous genes may be used to mark cells to help better understand cancer biology or may be used directly for cancer treatment. Gene-marking trials have already provided new information about cancer biology and have demonstrated that reinfused progenitor cells may be a source of relapse in patients with acute or chronic myelogenous leukemia and neuroblastoma. Approaches using gene therapy for cancer treatment include: using lymphocytes as gene carriers, using foreign genes to increase tumor immunogenicity, introducing tumor regression antigen genes into viruses, introducing “sensitivity” genes to produce new cytotoxic agent(s) within tumors, producing new protein product(s) to protect normal cells, replacing missing or mutant tumor suppressor genes, and inactivating oncogenes. Clinical trials using these strategies have demonstrated that gene transfer is feasible (albeit with low transduction efficiency) and that gene expression occurs; in addition, clinical responses have been noted.
Src activation in melanoma and Src inhibitors as therapeutic agents in melanoma

Src signaling has been implicated in several malignancies including melanoma. The prevalence of Src activation in human melanoma and the effect of the newer Src inhibitors, dasatinib, and bosutinib (SKI-606), as single agents or in combination, on melanoma cell lines is not well established. In the melanoma cell lines, A-375, SK-Mel-5, and SK-Mel-28, activity of Src inhibitors was assessed alone or in combination with standard chemotherapy agents; 50% growth inhibitory concentration was determined by MTS assay and immunoblotting was used to measure Src activation and downstream signaling. Staining for Src activation was measured by Src-phosphotyrosine 416. Immunohistochemistry was performed on primary cutaneous, mucosal, and metastatic melanoma. Src inhibitors blocked the growth of melanoma cell lines; furthermore, Src inhibitor treatment was synergized with cisplatin but not temozolomide or paclitaxel. Treatment with dasatanib increased the levels of pS473 Akt in A-375 melanoma cells but not in the other two cell lines. Forty-eight percent (17 of 35) of all melanoma stained weakly, moderately, or strongly for pY416 Src: cutaneous 61% (eight of 13), mucosal 31% (four of 13), metastatic 55% (five of nine). Most positive biopsies stained weakly and only one metastatic melanoma specimen stained strongly for Src-phosphotyrosine 416. pY416 Src is expressed in cutaneous, mucosal, and metastatic melanoma in various degrees. Src inhibitors may be a promising therapy in melanoma, either by themselves or in combination with chemotherapy (especially with platinum compounds) or inhibitors of the Akt/PI3k pathway.