Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nationwide cross-sectional study of the impact of chronic pain on an individual’s employment: relationship with the family and the social support

Objectives To determine the prevalence and the factors related to sick leave and job loss among individuals suffering from chronic pain (CP), and to analyse specifically the effect of family and social support on the individual's employment. Design Observational cross-sectional study. Setting Data were collected using structured computer-assisted telephone interviews between February and June 2011. Participants A nationwide study of 1543 Spanish adults of working age (<65), 213 of whom suffered from CP (pain suffered at least 4 or 5 days a week during the past 3 months, according to the criteria of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)). Main outcome measure Information was collected regarding the individual's sociodemographic status, pain characteristics, healthcare use and satisfaction, limitations in daily activities, mood status, perception of the impact of pain on their families, and their satisfaction with the family and social support. To identify factors associated with sick leave and job loss among those suffering CP, 2 logistic regression models were generated. Results The prevalence of sick leave due to CP in the general Spanish population was 4.21% (95% CI 3.2% to 5.2%). Sick leave were more likely for individuals who considered their family were affected by their pain (OR=2.18), needed help to dressing and grooming (OR=2.98), taking medication (OR=2.18), had a shorter pain duration (OR=0.99) and higher educational level. The prevalence of job loss due to CP was 1.8% (95% CI 1.1% to 2.5%). It was related to feelings of sadness (OR=4.25), being unsatisfied with the care provided by health professionals (OR=2.60) and consulting a doctor more often due to CP (OR=1.09). Conclusions CP is negatively associated with an individual's employment. This detrimental effect could be ameliorated if the factors related to sick leave and job loss provoked by CP are identified, especially those related to the effect of CP on the family and social environment.
Fair Resource Allocation for Data-Intensive Computing in the Cloud

To address the computing challenge of ‘big data’, a number of data-intensive computing frameworks (e.g., MapReduce, Dryad, Storm and Spark) have emerged and become popular. YARN is a de facto resource management platform that enables these frameworks running together in a shared system. However, we observe that, in cloud computing environment, the fair resource allocation policy implemented in YARN is not suitable because of its memoryless resource allocation fashion leading to violations of a number of good properties in shared computing systems. This paper attempts to address these problems for YARN. Both single-level and hierarchical resource allocations are considered. For single-level resource allocation, we propose a novel fair resource allocation mechanism called Long-Term Resource Fairness (LTRF) for such computing. For hierarchical resource allocation, we propose Hierarchical Long-Term Resource Fairness (H-LTRF) by extending LTRF. We show that both LTRF and H-LTRF can address these fairness problems of current resource allocation policy and are thus suitable for cloud computing. Finally, we have developed LTYARN by implementing LTRF and H-LTRF in YARN, and our experiments show that it leads to a better resource fairness than existing fair schedulers of YARN.
Tendon and ligament insertion. A light and electron microscopic study.

We examined insertion of patellar tendon and medial femoral collateral ligament in adult dogs by light and electron microscopy. Division of insertion sites into four zones—tendon, fibrocartilage, mineralized fibrocartilage, and bone—produces a model well suited for descriptive purposes. An almost parallel array of collagen fibrils makes this an ideal model for study of mineral collagen relationships. Preferential distribution of a 400-Angstrom dense mineral band across the C2, D, E1, E2, and A intraperiod bands corresponds well to the holes or non-bonded zones in collagen. Chondrocytes in mineralized fibrocartilage remain active despite partial enclosure by mineralized matrix. We have described anatomical features and relationships of collagen fibrils, elastic fibers, cells, ground substance, and mineral and discussed the physiologic significance of morphologic findings. We agree with Kolliker39 who, in 1853, wrote, "Close to the bones, the tendons frequently contain, throughout a certain extent, delicate, isolated cartilage cells, which are sometimes, however, contiguous and disposed in small rows. In exceptional cases, I have also seen the tendinous fibrils, at their extremities next the bone, entirely incrusted with calcarous salts, in the form of granules (ossified). "
A cox2 phylogenetic hypothesis for the downy mildews and white rusts

Mitochondrially encoded cox2 sequences were used to infer evolutionary relationships of downy mildew and white rust taxa in a data set of 36 peronosporomycete isolates. The data set of 599 aligned nucleotides was analysed using neighbor joining, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood. These phylogenetic analyses did not infer separate monophyletic orders for the Pythiales versus downy mildews (Peronosporales), but do indicate that separation of monocotyledonus and dicotyledonous-infecting downy mildews into separate subclasses is not justified. Analyses of three species of Albugo, however, infer that Peronosporales are a polyphyletic group, unless this order is expanded to include species of the Pythiales and Rhipidiales. Whereas all examined downy mildew cox2 amino acid sequences bore the signature indel LEF/Y characteristic of the subclass Peronosporomycetidae the three Albugo species did not. Instead, the LEF/Y signature indel was replaced by a highly variable indel unique to each Albugo species. Collectively, these results indicate that the white rusts are only distantly related to downy mildews and constitute a distinct order basal to other orders within the Peronosporomycetidae.
Risk Stratification and Transplant Benefit in Children Listed for Heart Transplant in the United States

Background—The sickest children among those listed for heart transplant (HT) are also at higher risk of post-transplant mortality. We hypothesized that transplant benefit, defined as percentage reduction in risk of 1-year mortality on receiving HT, increases with higher risk of wait-list mortality. Methods and Results—We analyzed all children aged <18 years listed for first HT in the United States between July 2004 and December 2010. We developed a model for 90-day wait-list mortality (or removal because of deterioration) and stratified listed children into deciles based on their risk of wait-list mortality. Listed children were followed up for 1 year to assess cumulative 1-year wait-list mortality among the 10 risk groups. We developed a model for 1-year post-transplant mortality to estimate the risk of post-transplant mortality for children in each risk group. Of 2979 listed children, 15% reached the wait-list end point within 90 days and 18% within 1 year. Of 2034 HT recipients, 6.8% died within 90 days and 10.8% within 1 year. The risk of 90-day wait-list mortality increased progressively from 2.4% to 51.6% from the first to the tenth risk decile. Transplant benefit increased progressively across the wait-list risk groups (P<0.001 for trend). However, transplant benefit for children in the top 5% of risk (7.4%) was lower than that for children in the 91st to 95th percentile of risk (10.3%). Conclusions—Sicker children on the wait-list benefit more from HT unless the post-transplant mortality is predicted to be very high. Whether consideration of transplant benefit in allocation policy can improve overall survival among listed children requires further analysis.
Activation of Microglia during Developmentally Regulated Cell Death in the Cerebral Cortex

Neuronal elimination in the developing CNS is accomplished by an orderly type of cellular suicide called programmed cell death. The principal non-neuronal cells implicated in regulating programmed cell death and subsequent phagocytosis of dying neurons are the brain’s macrophage population, the microglia. Little is known about the signaling between microglia and neurons during programmed cell death. However, macrophages in non-neural tissues express receptors for immunoglobulin (IgG) and complement, and these molecules help regulate phagocytosis of dying cells and foreign organisms. Since many of the neurons generated early in CNS development are transient cell types that are immunoreactive for IgG [Upender et al.: J Comp Neurol 1997; 384:271–282], we hypothesized that IgG might alter the phagocytic properties of microglia within the developing nervous system and potentiate engulfment of dying cells. To begin to address this hypothesis, we first asked whether cortical neurons immunoreactive for IgG or calbindin-D28k exhibit morphological evidence of programmed cell death in the cerebral cortex of neonatal rat pups. Secondly, we quantified the incidence of contacts made by microglia on IgG- vs. calbindin-immunoreactive neurons. Thirdly, perturbation experiments were performed to elevate intracortical levels of IgG and the incidence of microglia:neuron contacts were determined. We found that although the nuclei of some IgG-immunoreactive neurons exhibited condensation and fragmentation characteristic of programmed cell death, we did not observe pyknotic calbindin-immunoreactive neurons. IgG-immunoreactive neurons were also more likely to be contacted by microglia than calbindin-immunoreactive neurons. Elevating intracortical levels of IgG experimentally led to a dramatic increase in the expression of microglia complement receptors throughout the cerebral cortex. Taken together, these results suggest that IgG normally present within neuronal subsets in the developing cerebral cortex could serve to locally regulate the expression of complement receptors on microglia.
Speech motor programming in apraxia of speech

Abstract Unilateral lesions of the left hemisphere can produce a speech motor disorder termed apraxia of speech (AOS). AOS is often characterized as a disturbance of the programming of speech movements, although there is little experimental evidence for this interpretation. The mechanisms of verbal apraxia relate to the preparatory motor processes interfacing between planning and execution stages of speech motor control and are therefore considered relevant in the understanding of the normal processes of spoken language production. We used a simple reaction paradigm to investigate 20 aphasic patients with lesions of the left hemisphere. Ten of them had a concomitant apraxia of speech. Twenty normal subjects served as controls. Subjects were required to produce syllable chains of varying length and varying segmental content. Reaction times (RTs), inter-syllable intervals (ISI) and speech errors (SE) were analyzed. Normal subjects and patients without AOS showed increased RT with increasing utterance length. In contrast, patients with AOS had increased RT and increased ISI in sequences including alternating syllables. No trade-off between speed and articulatory accuracy could be observed. It is concluded that patients with AOS have a specific deficit in assembling motor plans for alternating syllable utterances.
Expression of Transforming Growth Factor-β1 and Transforming Growth Factor-β Receptors in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Dysplastic Nodules

In this study we analyzed by immunohistochemistry the expression of TGF-β1 protein and TGF-β receptors I and II in 4 low-grade dysplastic nodules, 2 high-grade dysplastic nodules, 6 early, 22 small, and 62 advanced hepatocellular carcinomas. The expression of TGF-β1 protein by hepatocytes was decreased in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma compared with small or early hepatocellular carcinoma(P < .05). Frequent and intense staining of TGF-β1 protein was noted in the sinusoidal endothelium of advanced hepatocellular carcinomas despite of its decreased staining in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Reduced expression of TGF-β receptors I and II compared with surrounding nontumorous tissue were noted from the early hepatocellular carcinoma stage suggesting that down-regulation of TGF-β receptors is correlated with progression from premalignant to malignant phenotype. Reduced expression of both TGF-β1 and TGF-β receptor II in neoplastic hepatocytes were also significantly correlated with increased tumor size and increased proliferative activity(P < .05). These findings suggest that during hepatocarcinogenesis, the inhibitory effects of TGF-β1 protein on hepatocellular carcinoma cells is outweighed by its effects on stromal elements, which, overall, contributes indirectly to a tumor growth stimulatory environment. Also, the growth-inhibitory effects of TGF-β1 may have been further negated by reduced TGF-β receptors on hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
Family and school environmental predictors of sleep bruxism in children.

AIMS To identify potential predictors of self-reported sleep bruxism (SB) within children's family and school environments. METHODS A total of 65 primary school children (55.4% males, mean age 9.3 ± 1.9 years) were administered a 10-item questionnaire investigating the prevalence of self-reported SB as well as nine family and school-related potential bruxism predictors. Regression analyses were performed to assess the correlation between the potential predictors and SB. RESULTS A positive answer to the self-reported SB item was endorsed by 18.8% of subjects, with no sex differences. Multiple variable regression analysis identified a final model showing that having divorced parents and not falling asleep easily were the only two weak predictors of self-reported SB. The percentage of explained variance for SB by the final multiple regression model was 13.3% (Nagelkerke's R² = 0.133). While having a high specificity and a good negative predictive value, the model showed unacceptable sensitivity and positive predictive values. The resulting accuracy to predict the presence of self-reported SB was 73.8%. CONCLUSION The present investigation suggested that, among family and school-related matters, having divorced parents and not falling asleep easily were two predictors, even if weak, of a child's self-report of SB.
Endogenous gastrin and cholecystokinin do not promote growth of rat liver.

BACKGROUND The purpose of the study was to evaluate the trophic effects of endogenous hypergastrinemia and hypercholecystokininemia on intact and regenerating rat liver. We also examined the effects on the liver of portacaval shunting (PCS) alone or together with hypergastrinemia or hyperCCKemia. PCS is known to enhance the trophic effects of gastrin on the so-called enterochromaffin-like cells of the stomach and of CCK on the pancreas. METHODS Hypergastrinemia was induced by treatment with omeprazole (400 mumol/kg/day) or extirpation of the acid-producing part of the stomach (fundectomy). HyperCCKemia was induced by pancreaticobiliary diversion (PBD). After 4 weeks half of the rats were killed; the rest underwent partial hepatectomy and were killed 60 h later. PCS rats were killed 4 weeks after start of omeprazole treatment or after PBD. The concentrations of circulating gastrin and CCK were measured by radioimmunoassay. The liver weight and DNA content were analyzed. RESULTS Endogenous hypergastrinemia and hyperCCKemia failed to stimulate growth of either intact or regenerating liver. There were no differences in liver weight and DNA content between rats subjected to PCS and to combinations of PCS and omeprazole treatment, on the one hand, and PCS and PBD, on the other. CONCLUSION Gastrin and CCK are unlikely to be physiologically important in the regulation of liver growth and regeneration in the rat.
Geoglifos da Amazônia ocidental: evidência de complexidade social entre povos da terra firme

Diferencas ecologicas entre os ambientes de varzea e terra firme (terra paraagricultura, acesso aos recursos ribeirinhos e navegacao) tem apoiado interpretacoes dos povos de terra firme como horticultores de coivara semi-sedentarios, que nunca desenvolveram complexas instituicoes sociais ou cultura material elaborada. Esse artigo desafia essa posicao, ao reportar a existencia de centenas de estruturas de terra perfeitamente geometricas erigidas por populacoes pre-colombianas nos solos argilosos da Amazonia ocidental, no Estado do Acre e adjacencias. Os geoglifos, como estao sendo chamados, indicam uma populacao expressiva, organizada regionalmente, vivendo por centenas de anos em um habitat que foi uma vez considerado como inadequado para sustentar complexidade social. Levantando algumas hipoteses sobre os construtores de geoglifos, os autores argumentam por uma revisao do modelo ecologico a luz das novas evidencias.
A Comparison of Two Adaptive Versions of the Immersed Boundary Method

The immersed boundary (IB) method is an approach to problems of fluid-structure interaction in which an elastic structure is immersed in a viscous incompressible fluid. In the continuous setting, the IB method couples an Eulerian description of the fluid to a Lagrangian description of the elastic structure via integral equations with Dirac delta function kernels, and in the discrete case, the delta function is approximated by a regularized version of the delta function. To improve the efficiency of the IB method, at least two different adaptive versions of the conventional IB methodology have been developed, one based on a staggered-grid discretization of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations [1, 2] and the other based on a cellcentered discretization [3, 4], but we are aware of no direct comparisons between these two adaptive numerical methods. In this work, we present numerical experiments which allow us to compare directly the performance of adaptive cell-centered and staggered-grid IB methods. Our results indicate that the staggered-grid discretization generally yields reduced grid dependence, especially when the scheme is equipped with versions of the regularized delta function which satisfy a so-called even-odd condition. In our numerical experiments, we also find that the staggeredgrid scheme is dramatically more accurate than the cell-centered discretization in terms of volume conservation.
Anabolic and androgenic activities of Bulbine natalensis stem in male Wistar rats

Aqueous extract of Bulbine natalensis Baker (Asphodelaceae) stem at 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight was investigated for anabolic and androgenic effects in male Wistar rats. Sixty male rats were grouped into four (A-D) consisting of 15 each. Group A (control) was orally treated with 0.5 mL of distilled water for 14 days while groups B, C and D were treated like the control except they received 0.5 mL containing 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg body weight of the extract respectively. All the doses of the extract increased (P <0.05) the testicular-body weight ratio as well as alkaline phosphatase activity, glycogen, sialic acid, protein, and cholesterol content of the testes except the single administration of 100 mg/kg body weight which compared well (P>0.05) with the controls for glycogen and cholesterol. The testicular and serum testosterone concentration were increased except in the 100 mg/kg body weight where the effect on the tissue and serum hormone did not manifest until after the first and seven daily doses respectively. Testicular acid phosphatase activity, serum follicle stimulating and luteinizing hormone concentrations also increased at all the doses except in the 100 mg/kg body weight where the effect on the enzyme and the hormone did not manifest until after seven days. The increases were most pronounced in the 50 mg/kg body weight extract treated animals. The results indicate anabolic and androgenic activities of Bulbine natalensis stem in male rat testes with the 50 mg/kg body weight of the extract exhibiting the highest anabolizing and androgenic acti vities. These activities further support the folkloric use of the plant most especially at 50 mg/kg body weight in the management of male sexual dysfunction in South Africa.
Prospective study of the participation patterns of Grade 6 and Year 8 students in Victoria, Australia in activities outside of school.

BACKGROUND Positive participation outcomes are deemed the ultimate goal of health care and specifically of occupational therapy. Knowledge of the typical participation patterns of children in Australia will provide essential information to support our understanding of participation and the goal of maximising children's engagement. AIMS This study investigated the participation of Grade 6 and Year 8 Victorian students in activities outside school and explored differences between genders and between students in different year levels. Secondarily, we began to establish Australian normative data on the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment and Preferences for Activities of Children. METHODS This cross sectional survey methods study recruited students from a random selection of public schools. Participation was measured using the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment and Preferences for Activities of Children questionnaires. RESULTS Participants included 84 (37 female, 47 male) students in Grade 6 (n = 43) and Year 8 (n = 41). Differences between year levels were only evident for participation in Recreational and Active Physical activities. Grade 6 students did more activities, more intensely than Year 8 students, but with no difference in enjoyment. The mean number of Recreational activities done by Grade 6 students was 8.5 (95%CI: 7.9-9.1) compared to Year 8 students 6.9 (95%CI: 6.1-7.7; P = 0.001). Gender differences were evident in the participation patterns within Social, Skill-Based and Self-Improvement activities. CONCLUSION The findings suggested that gender was a more important influence on participation patterns than a 2-year age gap, with participation patterns being relatively stable between Grade 6 and Year 8.
Inducing Multi-Target Model Trees in a Stepwise Fashion

Department of Knowledge Technologies, Joˇzef Stefan InstituteJamova 39 - Ljubljana, Slovenia 1000appice@di.uniba. it, Saso.Dzeroski@ijs.siAbstract. Model trees are tree-based models that associate leaves withmultiple linear models and are used to solve prediction problems in whichthe target variable is continuous. In this paper, we address the task ofinducing multi-target model trees, which predict the values of severaltarget variables simultaneously. Each leaf contains several linear models,each predicting the value of a diﬀerent target variable. We propose analgorithm for inducing such trees in a stepwise fashion. At each step oftree construction, we choose either to partition the current training set(split node) or to introduce a regression variable in the linear models,one for each target variable, to be associated with the leaves (regressionnode). Experiments show that multi-target model trees are much smallerthan the corresponding sets of single-target model trees, while achievingcomparable accuracies, and in addition are induced much faster.