Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Testing stock market efficiency in the weak form: Evidence from the Dow Jones Islamic indices

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Anatomic Analysis of Blood Vessels in Germinal Matrix, Cerebral Cortex, and White Matter in Developing Infants

The germinal matrix (GM) located in the thick subependymal cell layer of the thalamostriate groove is a major site of cerebral hemorrhage in premature infants. Comparing the morphology of vasculature among GM, gray and white matter of the brain may help in understanding the pathogenesis of GM hemorrhage and also of periventricular leukomalacia. The objective of the present study was to determine the morphology of blood vessels in the GM, gray matter, and white matter and to examine maturational changes in the morphology of these vessels as a function of gestational age. We measured vessel density, percentage of blood vessel area, mean surface area, length, breadth, perimeter, radius, and shape of blood vessels in coronal sections of the GM, gray matter, and white matter in postmortem human brain samples for 17 fetuses and premature infants of gestational age 16–40 wk and 2 adults. We performed immunohistochemical staining using anti-laminin primary antibody, confocal microscopy to acquire images, and analysis using Metamorph version 6.1. Vessel density and the percentage of blood vessel area increased as a function of gestational age in the GM, gray matter, and white matter (p < 0.001 each). The blood vessel density and the percentage of blood vessel area were largest in the GM followed by gray matter and then white matter in all of the gestational age categories (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Increased vascularity of the GM compared with gray and white matter may play a role in GM hemorrhage, whereas a relatively low vascularity of white matter may increase the propensity for the occurrence of periventricular leukomalacia in premature infants
A prospective multicenter study of patient factors associated with hospital admission from the emergency department among children with acute asthma.

BACKGROUND Recent studies show that objective measures such as peak flow rates are strongly associated with asthma admission among adults. OBJECTIVE To identify factors associated with admission among children. METHODS We performed a prospective cohort study as part of the Multicenter Airway Research Collaboration. Patients aged 2 to 17 years who presented to the emergency department (ED) with acute asthma underwent a structured interview in the ED and another by telephone 2 weeks later. The study was performed at 44 EDs in 18 US states and 4 Canadian provinces. The decision to admit was made at the discretion of the treating physician. Univariate analysis of risk factors for admission was followed by multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS Of the 1178 eligible subjects, 275 (23%; 95% confidence interval, 21%-26%) were admitted or placed into ED observation units. A multivariate model that included 12 characteristics measured at presentation and during the ED stay was associated with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.91. Demographic factors were not independently associated with admission. Severity of symptoms (odds ratio, 1.3) and intensity of therapy both before and during ED visit correlated with the likelihood of admission. Previous admission for asthma (P =.02) and recent use of inhaled corticosteroids (P =.04) also were associated with admission. Peak flows were associated with admission but were infrequently (23% overall) measured. CONCLUSION Hospitalization for asthma exacerbation in children is primarily associated with clinical indicators in the ED and with historical factors such as previous asthma admission or intubation, recent use of corticosteroids, and comorbidity.
The Consequences of Childhood Overweight and Obesity

Researchers are only gradually becoming aware of the gravity of the risk that overweight and obesity pose for children's health. In this article Stephen Daniels documents the heavy toll that the obesity epidemic is taking on the health of the nation's children. He discusses both the immediate risks associated with childhood obesity and the longer-term risk that obese children and adolescents will become obese adults and suffer other health problems as a result. Daniels notes that many obesity-related health conditions once thought applicable only to adults are now being seen in children and with increasing frequency. Examples include high blood pressure, early symptoms of hardening of the arteries, type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovary disorder, and disordered breathing during sleep. He systematically surveys the body's systems, showing how obesity in adulthood can damage each and how childhood obesity exacerbates the damage. He explains that obesity can harm the cardiovascular system and that being overweight during childhood can accelerate the development of heart disease. The processes that lead to a heart attack or stroke start in childhood and often take decades to progress to the point of overt disease. Obesity in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood may accelerate these processes. Daniels shows how much the same generalization applies to other obesity-related disorders—metabolic, digestive, respiratory, skeletal, and psychosocial—that are appearing in children either for the first time or with greater severity or prevalence. Daniels notes that the possibility has even been raised that the increasing prevalence and severity of childhood obesity may reverse the modern era's steady increase in life expectancy, with today's youth on average living less healthy and ultimately shorter lives than their parents—the first such reversal in lifespan in modern history. Such a possibility, he concludes, makes obesity in children an issue of utmost public health concern.
Decomposing Multifractal Crossovers

Physiological processes—such as, the brain's resting-state electrical activity or hemodynamic fluctuations—exhibit scale-free temporal structuring. However, impacts common in biological systems such as, noise, multiple signal generators, or filtering by transport function, result in multimodal scaling that cannot be reliably assessed by standard analytical tools that assume unimodal scaling. Here, we present two methods to identify breakpoints or crossovers in multimodal multifractal scaling functions. These methods incorporate the robust iterative fitting approach of the focus-based multifractal formalism (FMF). The first approach (moment-wise scaling range adaptivity) allows for a breakpoint-based adaptive treatment that analyzes segregated scale-invariant ranges. The second method (scaling function decomposition method, SFD) is a crossover-based design aimed at decomposing signal constituents from multimodal scaling functions resulting from signal addition or co-sampling, such as, contamination by uncorrelated fractals. We demonstrated that these methods could handle multimodal, mono- or multifractal, and exact or empirical signals alike. Their precision was numerically characterized on ideal signals, and a robust performance was demonstrated on exemplary empirical signals capturing resting-state brain dynamics by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), electroencephalography (EEG), and blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI-BOLD). The NIRS and fMRI-BOLD low-frequency fluctuations were dominated by a multifractal component over an underlying biologically relevant random noise, thus forming a bimodal signal. The crossover between the EEG signal components was found at the boundary between the δ and θ bands, suggesting an independent generator for the multifractal δ rhythm. The robust implementation of the SFD method should be regarded as essential in the seamless processing of large volumes of bimodal fMRI-BOLD imaging data for the topology of multifractal metrics free of the masking effect of the underlying random noise.
Heroin addicts have higher discount rates for delayed rewards than non-drug-using controls.

Fifty-six heroin addicts and 60 age-matched controls were offered choices between monetary rewards ($11-$80) available immediately and larger rewards ($25-$85) available after delays ranging from 1 week to 6 months. Participants had a 1-in-6 chance of winning a reward that they chose on one randomly selected trial. Delay-discounting rates were estimated from the pattern of participants' choices. The discounting model of impulsiveness (Ainslie, 1975) implies that delay-discounting rates are positively correlated with impulsiveness. On average, heroin addicts' discount rates were twice those of controls (p = .004), and discount rates were positively correlated with impulsivity as measured by self-report questionnaires (p < .05). The results lend external validity to the delay-discounting rate as a measure of impulsiveness, a characteristic associated with substance abuse.
Satisfaction Guaranteed: When Moral Hazard Meets Moral Preferences

The fear of moral hazard—especially in the age of internet commerce—can depress or prevent profitable trades. Experiments show, however, that many people prefer honesty to deceit and would not succumb to moral hazard. This paper asks whether we can find a simple, voluntary institution that can empower moral traders, drive out amoral ones, reduce moral hazard, and restore profitable trade to markets. I find that selling goods with a “satisfaction guarantee,” accompanied by potentially minor legal or reputational enforcement, allows moral preferences to defeat moral hazard. (JEL C91, D63, D82, Z13)
Aspirin Inhibits Serine Phosphorylation of Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 in Tumor Necrosis Factor-treated Cells through Targeting Multiple Serine Kinases*

The hypoglycemic effects of high dose salicylates in the treatment of diabetes were documented before the advent of insulin. However, the molecular mechanisms by which salicylates exert these anti-diabetic effects are not well understood. In this study, we analyzed the effects of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) on serine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) in cells treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Phosphorylation of IRS-1 at Ser307, Ser267, and Ser612 was monitored by immunoblotting with phospho-specific IRS-1 antibodies. In 3T3-L1 and Hep G2 cells, phosphorylation of IRS-1 at Ser307 in response to TNF-α treatment correlated with phosphorylation of JNK, c-Jun, and degradation of IκBα. Moreover, phosphorylation of IRS-1 at Ser307 in embryo fibroblasts derived from either JNK or IKK knockout mice was reduced when compared with that in the wild-type controls. Taken together, these data suggest that serine phosphorylation of IRS-1 in response to TNF-α is mediated, in part, by JNK and IKK. Interestingly, aspirin treatment inhibited the phosphorylation of IRS-1 at Ser307 as well as the phosphorylation of JNK, c-Jun, and degradation of IκBα. Furthermore, other serine kinases including Akt, extracellular regulated kinase, mammalian target of rapamycin, and PKCζ were also activated by TNF-α (as assessed by phospho-specific antibodies). Phosphorylation of IRS-1 at Ser267 and Ser612 correlated with the activation of these kinases. Phosphorylation of Akt and the mammalian target of rapamycin (but not extracellular regulated kinase or PKCζ) in response to TNF-α was inhibited by aspirin treatment. Finally, aspirin rescued insulin-induced glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes pretreated with TNF-α. We conclude that aspirin may enhance insulin sensitivity by protecting IRS proteins from serine phosphorylation catalyzed by multiple kinases.
Schwann cell and endothelial cell damage in transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy

Objective: To examine the morphology of Schwann cells and endoneurial microvessels with electron microscopy. Methods: Sural nerve biopsy specimens from 49 patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) with transthyretin Val30Met mutation were assessed. Patients included 11 early-onset cases from endemic foci and 38 late-onset cases from nonendemic areas. Results: Loss of nerve fibers with or without neighboring amyloid deposition was a common feature. The amount of amyloid deposition was greater relative to the extent of nerve fiber loss in early-onset cases than in late-onset cases. The atrophy of Schwann cells, particularly nonmyelinating Schwann cells, that were apposed to amyloid fibrils was more conspicuous in early-onset cases than in late-onset cases. The numbers of endothelial cell nuclei, endothelial cell profiles, and occluded microvessels were significantly increased in the patients with FAP compared with 37 patients with nutritional/alcoholic neuropathies (p < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.01, respectively). Findings suggestive of the disruption of blood-nerve barriers such as the loss of tight junctions and the fenestration of endothelial cells were also found more frequently in the patients with FAP (p < 0.001), regardless of the presence or absence of amyloid deposition. Conclusions: These findings suggest that direct insult of amyloid fibrils causes Schwann cell damage, resulting in the predominant loss of small-fiber axons characteristic of early-onset cases. In addition, vasculopathy may participate in the pathogenesis of neuropathy, particularly in late-onset cases.
Survey of Sexual Violence in Juvenile Correctional Facilities, 2007-12 - Statistical Tables

I n 2012, juvenile correctional administrators reported 865 allegations of sexual victimization in state juvenile facilities. Of these, 104 were substantiated based on follow-up investigation. More than half (61%) of all allegations involved staff sexual misconduct or staff sexual harassment directed toward a juvenile or youthful offender. Administrators of state juvenile correctional facilities reported slightly more than 4,900 allegations from 2007 to 2012, including 906 allegations of nonconsensual acts, 1,235 allegations of abusive sexual contact, 2,307 allegations of staff sexual misconduct, and 474 allegations of staff sexual harassment. Data are from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) Survey of Sexual Violence (SSV), which was renamed the Survey of Sexual Victimization in 2013. Each year, the survey includes all state juvenile systems and a sample of locally and privately operated juvenile facilities. In 2008, juvenile correctional facilities in Indian country were added to the survey. (See Methodology for more information about the systems and facilities from which data were collected.) On behalf of BJS, staff of the U.S. Census Bureau mailed survey forms to correctional administrators in state juvenile systems, juvenile correctional facilities in Indian country, and a sample of locally and privately operated juvenile correctional facilities. The administrators provided summary counts of allegations and substantiated incidents for each survey year. They also completed a separate form for each substantiated incident, providing details about the victim, perpetrator, and circumstances surrounding the incident. Administrators were given the option of mailing back a completed form or completing it on the Internet. Data collection forms can be accessed on the BJS website. The SSV has annually collected official records on allegations and substantiated incidents of youth-on-youth and staff-on-youth sexual victimization since 2004. Past reports of sexual victimization in juvenile facilities include— The SSV is one of a number of BJS data collections that are conducted to meet the mandates of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-79). BJS also collects data on the incidence and prevalence of sexual victimization directly from victims through surveys of youth held in state juvenile systems and locally or privately operated facilities that hold adjudicated youth under state contract. Past reports based on victim self-reports include— Each sexual act, as defined by BJS, is classified by the perpetrators who carried it out (i.e., inmate or staff) and the type of act. Administrators provided counts for each of the four types of sexual victimization that occurred during the …
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment and the Mini-Mental State Examination as Screening Instruments for Cognitive Impairment: Item Analyses and Threshold Scores

Aims: To perform an item analysis of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) versus the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in the prediction of cognitive impairment, and to examine the characteristics of different MoCA threshold scores. Methods: 135 subjects enrolled in a longitudinal clinicopathologic study were administered the MoCA by a single physician and the MMSE by a trained research assistant. Subjects were classified as cognitively impaired or cognitively normal based on independent neuropsychological testing. Results: 89 subjects were found to be cognitively normal, and 46 cognitively impaired (20 with dementia, 26 with mild cognitive impairment). The MoCA was superior in both sensitivity and specificity to the MMSE, although not all MoCA tasks were of equal predictive value. A MoCA threshold score of 26 had a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 52% in this population. In a population with a 20% prevalence of cognitive impairment, a threshold of 24 was optimal (negative predictive value 96%, positive predictive value 47%). Conclusion: This analysis suggests the potential for creating an abbreviated MoCA. For screening in primary care, the MoCA threshold of 26 appears optimal. For testing in a memory disorders clinic, a lower threshold has better predictive value.
ACTN3 R577X polymorphism and explosive leg-muscle power in elite basketball players.

PURPOSE To determine the association of the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism with leg-muscle explosive power in Spanish (white) elite basketball players and controls. PARTICIPANTS 100 (60 men) elite basketball players (cases) and 283 nonathletic controls. METHODS The authors assessed power performance by means of the vertical-squat and countermovement-jump tests. RESULTS Genotype distributions did not differ between groups (cases: 37.0% [RR], 42.0% [RX], and 21.0% [XX]; controls: 31.8% [RR], 49.8% [RX], and 18.4% [XX]; P = .353). The authors did not observe any effect of the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism on study phenotypes in either group, including when they performed the analyses separately in men and women. They found no association between the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism and the likelihood of being an elite basketball player using the dominant or the recessive model, and the results remained unaltered when the analyses were adjusted for sex, weight, height, and age or when performed for men and women separately. CONCLUSIONS Although the ACTN3 R577X is associated with explosive muscle performance and this phenotype is important in the sport of basketball (ie, during jumps), the authors found no association with leg explosive power in elite basket players or with the status of being this type of athlete.
Face Synthesis from Visual Attributes via Sketch using Conditional VAEs and GANs

Automatic synthesis of faces from visual attributes is an important problem in computer vision and has wide applications in law enforcement and entertainment. With the advent of deep generative convolutional neural networks (CNNs), attempts have been made to synthesize face images from attributes and text descriptions. In this paper, we take a different approach, where we formulate the original problem as a stage-wise learning problem. We first synthesize the facial sketch corresponding to the visual attributes and then we reconstruct the face image based on the synthesized sketch. The proposed Attribute2Sketch2Face framework, which is based on a combination of deep Conditional Variational Autoencoder (CVAE) and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), consists of three stages: (1) Synthesis of facial sketch from attributes using a CVAE architecture, (2) Enhancement of coarse sketches to produce sharper sketches using a GAN-based framework, and (3) Synthesis of face from sketch using another GAN-based network. Extensive experiments and comparison with recent methods are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed attribute-based three stage face synthesis method.
Trigger-oriented HIV testing at Internal Medicine hospital Departments in Northern Italy: an observational study (Fo.C.S. Study)

Abstract Background: Early detection of undiagnosed HIV infected patients is of paramount importance. The attitude of Italian hospital-based Internal Medicine physicians to prescribe HIV testing following the detection of HIV-associated signs, symptoms and behaviours (triggers) has been reported to be poor. The aim of the study is to quantify the extent of the missed opportunities for early HIV diagnosis in Internal Medicine Departments (IMD). Methods: Patients admitted to IMD of a General University Hospital in Italy in March–June 2013 were interviewed using a structured questionnaire investigating the presence of triggers for HIV testing, including patient’s characteristics, symptoms and conditions associated with HIV infection. HIV tests performed during hospitalisation were recorded. Results: HIV testing was performed in 73 (6.6%) out of 1113 hospitalisations (1072 patients), providing positive results in three cases (4.1%). All of them presented ≥1 triggers. Conversely, 853 triggers were identified in 528 hospitalisations with at least one trigger (47.4%). The proportion of hospitalisations where an HIV testing was prescribed was 3.1%, 9.5% and 16.0% in the presence of zero, one-to-two or more triggers, respectively. Age <70 years, female gender, length of hospital stay, haematological disease, HBV infection, multiple sexual partners and lymphadenopathy were predictors of HIV testing by logistic regression analysis. Conclusions: Although chances of an HIV test being performed in patients hospitalised in IMD increases along with the number of triggers, the number of tests being performed in people presenting with triggers is unacceptably low and requires educational interventions in order to obtain individual and public health advantages.