Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of socioeconomic status on access to invasive cardiac procedures and on mortality after acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND Universal health care systems seek to ensure access to care on the basis of need rather than income and to improve the health status of all citizens. We examined the performance of the Canadian health system with respect to these goals in the province of Ontario by assessing the effects of neighborhood income on access to invasive cardiac procedures and on mortality one year after acute myocardial infarction. METHODS We linked claims for payment for physicians' services, hospital-discharge abstracts, and vital-status data for all patients with acute myocardial infarction who were admitted to hospitals in Ontario between April 1994 and March 1997. Patients' income levels were imputed from the median incomes of their residential neighborhoods as determined in Canada's 1996 census. We determined rates of use and waiting times for coronary angiography and revascularization procedures after the index admission for acute myocardial infarction and determined death rates at one year. In multivariate analyses, we controlled for the patient's age, sex, and severity of disease; the specialty of the attending physician; the volume of cases, teaching status, and on-site facilities for cardiac procedures at the admitting hospital; and the geographic proximity of the admitting hospital to tertiary care centers. RESULTS The study cohort consisted of 51,591 patients. With respect to coronary angiography, increases in neighborhood income from the lowest to the highest quintile were associated with a 23 percent increase in rates of use and a 45 percent decrease in waiting times. There was a strong inverse relation between income and mortality at one year (P<0.001). Each $10,000 increase in the neighborhood median income was associated with a 10 percent reduction in the risk of death within one year (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.90; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.86 to 0.94). CONCLUSIONS In the province of Ontario, despite Canada's universal health care system, socioeconomic status had pronounced effects on access to specialized cardiac services as well as on mortality one year after acute myocardial infarction.
Primary school teachers’ experiences of external providers in Ireland: learning lessons from physical education

There is an increasing trend towards the use of external providers in primary schools. The added value of external providers in enhancing aspects of children’s learning is supported in the physical education literature. Less is known, however, about the experiences of classroom teachers working with these external providers. To address this gap and guided by the question ‘What are primary school teachers experiences of external providers? ’ we conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with primary school classroom teachers who had used external physical education providers (n = 10). A thematic analysis of the data involved systematic coding from which themes were constructed. Findings alert to the limited partnership between classroom teachers and external providers currently. Teachers’ perceptions of external providers as having greater expertise resulted in classroom teachers engaging minimally in communicating with external providers and taking little part in lessons taught by the external provider. Overall findings indicate communication and involvement in pedagogical decision making as areas to address in reconceptualising the relationship between classroom teachers and external providers.
Objective ratings of relationship skills across multiple domains as predictors of marital satisfaction trajectories

Expanding upon social-learning and vulnerability-stress-adaptation approaches to marriage, the impact of multiple dyadic behaviors on marital satisfaction trajectories was examined in 101 couples. Semi-structured interviews were administered separately to husbands and wives at three months of marriage. Interviewers generated objective ratings for five domains: emotional closeness/intimacy, sexual intimacy/sensuality, interspousal support, decision-making/relational control, and communication/conflict management. Marital satisfaction was assessed four times over three years. Dyadic behaviors were associated with initial levels and rates of change in satisfaction, demonstrating the unique contributions of each relational skill on marital development. For husbands, sexual intimacy was the strongest predictor of change whereas for wives, communication/conflict management was the strongest predictor of change compared to other domains. Theoretical, methodological and clinical implications are discussed.
A study on the effect of UWB interference on downlink UMTS system

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) downlink system in vicinity of UWB system. The study is achieved via simulating a scenario of a building which is located within UMTS cell borders and utilizes from both UMTS and UWB appliances. The simulation results show that the UMTS system is considerably affected by the UWB interference. However, in order to battle this interference and achieve reasonable BER (Bit Error Rate) of 10−4, we found that it is very necessary to carefully raise the UMTS base station transmitted power against that of UWB interferer. So, the minimum requirements for UMTS system to overcome UWB interference are stated in this work.
Phenotypical and Genotypical Properties of an Arcanobacterium pluranimalium Strain Isolated from a Juvenile Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata)

The present study was designed to characterize phenotypically and genotypically an Arcanobacterium pluranimalium strain (A. pluranimalium 4868) following necropsy from a juvenile giraffe. The species identity could be confirmed by phenotypical investigations and by MALDI-TOF MS analysis, by sequencing the 16S rDNA, pluranimaliumlysin encoding gene pla, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase encoding gene gap with sequence similarities to A. pluranimalium reference strain DSM 13483T of 99.2%, 89.9%, and 99.1%, respectively. To our knowledge, the present study is the first phenotypic and genotypic characterization of an A. pluranimalium strain isolated from a giraffe.
High-Level Gene Cassette Transcription Prevents Integrase Expression in Class 1 Integrons

ABSTRACT Class 1 integrons are widespread genetic elements responsible for dissemination of antibiotic resistance among Gram-negative bacteria. Integrons allow bacteria to capture and express gene cassettes (GCs) via an integrase (IntI1) and a promoter (Pc) contained in the integron functional platform. GCs are transcribed from Pc, of which 13 variants of different strengths have been described, or, occasionally, from both Pc and a second promoter (P2). The intI1 promoter (PintI1) is repressed by LexA, which is the transcriptional repressor of the global regulatory SOS response network. Moreover, PintI1 lies face to face with Pc and overlaps P2, both configurations being propitious to transcriptional interference (TI). In this study, we analyzed possible transcriptional interference by quantifying transcripts produced from Pc, P2, and PintI1. We found that the Pc promoter interferes with the level of intI1 transcription but that this effect depends on the Pc variant: the strong Pc variant prevents intI1 expression, in contrast to the other variants. Although P2 formation results in LexA binding site disruption and thus prevents SOS regulation of intI1 expression, P2 does not interfere with PintI1. These findings reveal a tight relationship between GC and integrase expression.
Surgical protocols for ridge preservation after tooth extraction. A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE This systematic review aims to evaluate the scientific evidence on the efficacy in the surgical protocols designed for preserving the alveolar ridge after tooth extraction and to evaluate how these techniques affect the placement of dental implants and the final implant supported restoration. MATERIAL AND METHODS A thorough search in MEDLINE-PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of controlled trials (CENTRAL) was conducted up to February 2011. Randomized clinical trials and prospective cohort studies with a follow-up of at least 3 months reporting changes on both the hard and soft tissues (height and/or width) of the alveolar process (mm or %) after tooth extraction were considered for inclusion. RESULTS The screening of titles and abstracts resulted in 14 publications meeting the eligibility criteria. Data from nine of these 14 studies could be grouped in the meta-analyses. Results from the meta-analyses showed a statistically significant greater ridge reduction in bone height for control groups as compared to test groups (weighted mean differences, WMD = -1.47 mm; 95% CI [-1.982, -0.953]; P < 0.001; heterogeneity: I(2) = 13.1%; χ(2) P-value = 0.314) and a significant greater reduction in bone width for control groups compared to the test groups (WMD = -1.830 mm; 95% CI [-2.947, -0.732]; P = 0.001; heterogeneity: I(2) = 0%; χ(2) P-value = 0.837). Subgroup analysis was based on the surgical protocol used for the socket preservation (flapless/flapped, barrier membrane/no membrane, primary intention healing/no primary healing) and on the measurement method utilized to evaluate morphological changes. Meta-regression analyses demonstrated a statistically significant difference favoring the flapped subgroup in terms of bone width (meta-regression; slope = 2.26; 95% IC [1.01; 3.51]; P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS The potential benefit of socket preservation therapies was demonstrated resulting in significantly less vertical and horizontal contraction of the alveolar bone crest. The scientific evidence does not provide clear guidelines in regards to the type of biomaterial, or surgical procedure, although a significant positive effect of the flapped surgery was observed. There are no data available to draw conclusions on the consequences of such benefits on the long-term outcomes of implant therapy.
The impact of immediate task repetition on breakdown fluency

The focus of the present study is to explore the relationship between the task repetition including a tightly structured narrative and the breakdown fluency, i.e. number of pauses per minute, average duration of pauses, and phonation-time ratio. Thirty-three Croatian learners of English performed the narrative task twice. The temporal fluency variables were extracted by speech analysis program Praat in order to be automatically measured for evaluation (Boersma & Weenink, 2017). The results show that during the immediate, second encounter with the same task, the subjects employ significantly less pauses and their average length also decreases significantly. The significant difference is also obtained for the phonation-time ratio. The recorded progress in fluency measures can be explained by the priming effect and, consequently, the reduced cognitive load. The presented results point to the conclusion that well-known topics with a tightly structured storyline are connected with improvements in fluency, regarding breakdown fluency variables, even in the case of learners at a higher level of language proficiency. The findings of the study have implications for L2 pedagogy, highlighting the effective impact of task repetition on the development of oral fluency.
FEM and Von Mises Analysis on Prosthetic Crowns Structural Elements: Evaluation of Different Applied Materials

The aim of this paper is to underline the mechanical properties of dental single crown prosthodontics materials in order to differentiate the possibility of using each material for typical clinical condition and masticatory load. Objective of the investigation is to highlight the stress distribution over different common dental crowns by using computer-aided design software and a three-dimensional virtual model. By using engineering systems of analyses like FEM and Von Mises investigations it has been highlighted the strength over simulated lower first premolar crowns made by chrome cobalt alloy, golden alloy, dental resin, and zirconia. The prosthodontics crown models have been created and put on simulated chewing stresses. The three-dimensional models were subjected to axial and oblique forces and both guaranteed expected results over simulated masticatory cycle. Dental resin presented the low value of fracture while high values have been recorded for the metal alloy and zirconia. Clinicians should choose the better prosthetic solution for the teeth they want to restore and replace. Both prosthetic dental crowns offer long-term success if applied following the manufacture guide limitations and suggestions.
Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) in Asian and European populations

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder caused by relative or absolute insulin deficiency and characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia. It is expected that by year 2025, 80% of all type 2 diabetic patients will be living in developing or low‐ and middle‐income countries. Among Asians, there has been an overall increase in abdominal obesity; however, the risk of diabetes in these populations starts at much lower body mass index as compared to Caucasians. A significant proportion of diabetic patients with adult‐onset, initially nonrequiring insulin treatment, have diabetes‐associated autoantibodies in their sera. A new subclass of diabetes with the designation of latent autoimmune diabetes of adult‐onset (LADA) has been proposed for this category of subjects. Studies have demonstrated that patients with autoimmune diabetes, characterized by the presence of glutamic decarboxylase autoantibodies display a different clinical phenotype from classical type 2 diabetes without glutamic decarboxylase autoantibodies. This subset of phenotypic type 2 diabetes subjects with islet autoantibodies tend to have sulphonylurea failure and need insulin treatment earlier in the disease process. Diagnosing LADA at an initial stage will be important so that insulin can be initiated earlier, facilitating improved glycemic control sooner as well as the preservation of residual beta‐cell function in adult‐onset autoimmune diabetes. Because of differences in dietary habits, environmental factors, and phenotypic characteristics between European and Asian populations, there may be heterogeneity in the prevalence and other characteristics of LADA in these two populations.
ALOHA-KV: high performance read-only and write-only distributed transactions

There is a trend in recent database research to pursue coordination avoidance and weaker transaction isolation under a long-standing assumption: concurrent serializable transactions under read-write or write-write conflicts require costly synchronization, and thus may incur a steep price in terms of performance. In particular, distributed transactions, which access multiple data items atomically, are considered inherently costly. They require concurrency control for transaction isolation since both read-write and write-write conflicts are possible, and they rely on distributed commitment protocols to ensure atomicity in the presence of failures. This paper presents serializable read-only and write-only distributed transactions as a counterexample to show that concurrent transactions can be processed in parallel with low-overhead despite conflicts. Inspired by the slotted ALOHA network protocol, we propose a simpler and leaner protocol for serializable read-only write-only transactions, which uses only one round trip to commit a transaction in the absence of failures irrespective of contention. Our design is centered around an epoch-based concurrency control (ECC) mechanism that minimizes synchronization conflicts and uses a small number of additional messages whose cost is amortized across many transactions. We integrate this protocol into ALOHA-KV, a scalable distributed key-value store for read-only write-only transactions, and demonstrate that the system can process close to 15 million read/write operations per second per server when each transaction batches together thousands of such operations.
Androgenetic alopecia in the paediatric population: a retrospective review of 57 patients

Background Hair loss is an unwelcome event at any age, but it can be particularly distressing for adolescents and their families. While androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common form of hair loss in adults, little is known about its prevalence, clinical features and response to treatments in the paediatric population.
Injuries and preventive actions in elite Swedish volleyball

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of injury and the extent of preventive actions in elite Swedish volleyball players. Injuries to players in the elite male and female Swedish division, during the 2002–2003 season, were registered by using a questionnaire. Of the 158 volleyball players (70% response rate), a total of 82 players (52%) reported 121 injuries, during a total exposure time of 24 632 h, representing an overall incidence of 0.77 injuries per player. The majority of the injuries were located in the ankle (23%), followed by the knee (18%) and the back (15%). Most injuries (62%) were classified as being of minor severity. Most injuries occurred during training (47%), and 41% of the injuries had a gradual onset. Fifty‐four percent of the injuries that could be related to a specific court situation occurred during blocking, and 30% during spiking. Most players (96%) participated in injury prevention training of some kind, generally performed without supervision (58%).
Fine-tuning of root elongation by ethylene: a tool to study dynamic structure-function relationships between root architecture and nitrate absorption.

BACKGROUND Recently developed genetic and pharmacological approaches have been used to explore [Formula: see text]/ethylene signalling interactions and how the modifications in root architecture by pharmacological modulation of ethylene biosynthesis affect nitrate uptake. KEY RESULTS Structure-function studies combined with recent approaches to chemical genomics highlight the non-specificity of commonly used inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis such as AVG (l-aminoethoxyvinylglycine). Indeed, AVG inhibits aminotransferases such as ACC synthase (ACS) and tryptophan aminotransferase (TAA) involved in ethylene and auxin biosynthesis but also some aminotransferases implied in nitrogen (N) metabolism. In this framework, it can be assumed that the products of nitrate assimilation and hormones may interact through a hub in carbon (C) and N metabolism to drive the root morphogenetic programme (RMP). Although ethylene/auxin interactions play a major role in cell division and elongation in root meristems, shaping of the root system depends also on energetic considerations. Based on this finding, the analysis is extended to nutrient ion-hormone interactions assuming a fractal or constructal model for root development. CONCLUSION Therefore, the tight control of root structure-function in the RMP may explain why over-expressing nitrate transporter genes to decouple structure-function relationships and improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has been unsuccessful.
The role of magnesium sulfate in the intensive care unit

Magnesium (Mg) has been developed as a drug with various clinical uses. Mg is a key cation in physiological processes, and the homeostasis of this cation is crucial for the normal function of body organs. Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) is a mineral pharmaceutical preparation of magnesium that is used as a neuroprotective agent. One rationale for the frequent use of MgSO4 in critical care is the high incidence of hypomagnesaemia in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Correction of hypomagnesaemia along with the neuroprotective properties of MgSO4 has generated a wide application for MgSO4 in ICU.
A Review of the Student Engagement Literature

This article reviews the literature of student engagement as it is defined for K-12 and higher education settings. This article first identifies the various definitions of engagement, and then describes the reasons for growing practitioner and academic interest to increase student engagement. The article concludes with a review of some studies of student engagement, engagement practices that improve student learning, and a review of a national test used to measure engagement levels at institutions of higher education.
The American Medicine Chest Challenge: Evaluation of a Drug Take-Back and Disposal Campaign.

OBJECTIVE Prescription drug take-back programs provide a safe and convenient way to dispose of expired, unwanted, or unused medications that people store in homes, thus limiting the potential misuse of prescription drugs. This study evaluated public response to a social marketing campaign promoting a community-based drug take-back program, the American Medicine Chest Challenge. METHOD A telephone survey was conducted with a representative sample of adults in New Jersey (N = 906) 2 weeks following the conclusion of the statewide collection day event in November 2010. The survey assessed public exposure to the campaign and the extent to which it is associated with public perceptions and behaviors the campaign was designed to influence. RESULTS The campaign, which relied heavily on community channels for the dissemination of messages, was able to reach directly more than 60% of its target audience. When potential confounders were controlled for, campaign exposure was a strong predictor of a respondent having one or more conversations with others about medicine disposal (odds ratio [OR] = 2.4, 95% CI [1.5, 3.6]); actually disposing of expired, unwanted, or unused medicine in a collection site (OR = 2.14, 95% CI [1.15, 3.9]); and talking to kids about the dangers of prescription drug abuse (OR = 1.65, 95% CI [1.1, 2.45])-all of which were exclusively promoted through the campaign. CONCLUSIONS This case illustrates the potential efficacy of community-based prevention marketing efforts to stimulate community discourse regarding the dangers of prescription drug misuse and to decrease the availability of expired, unwanted, or unused medicine in the community.
Comparing machine learning to knowledge engineering for student behavior modeling: a case study in gaming the system

ABSTRACT Learning analytics research has used both knowledge engineering and machine learning methods to model student behaviors within the context of digital learning environments. In this paper, we compare these two approaches, as well as a hybrid approach combining the two types of methods. We illustrate the strengths of each approach in the context of a case study in building models able to detect when students “game the system”, a behavior in which learners abuse the environment’s support functionalities in order to succeed by guessing or copying answers. We compare the predictive performance, interpretability and generalizability of models created using each approach, doing so across multiple intelligent tutoring systems. In our case study, we show that the machine-learned model required less resources to develop, but was less interpretable and general. In contrast, the knowledge engineering approach resulted in the most interpretable and general model. Combining both approaches in a hybrid model allowed us to create a model that performed best across the three dimensions, but requiring increased resources to develop.
Thyroid-Induced Toxicity of Check-Point Inhibitors Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Different strategies have been developed over time to improve the poor survival of patients affected by advanced NonSmall Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): radiotherapy, chemotherapy and molecular targeted therapies. Recently, in view of the hypothesis that the immunosuppression could be involved in the mechanism of carcinogenesis, by allowing tumor cells to evade immune-surveillance, new immunological drugs have been synthesized [1,2]. In particular, discovery of immune checkpoints, receptors expressed on T cells that regulate immune response, Abstract