Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are the urban poor vulnerable to non-communicable diseases? A survey of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in urban slums of Faridabad.

BACKGROUND Non-communicable diseases have modifiable risk factors, which are easy to measure and can help in planning effective interventions. We established a community-based sentinel surveillance to estimate the prevalence and level of common risk factors for major non-communicable diseases as part of a joint Indian Council of Medical Research/WHO initiative. METHODS This survey was done from February 2003 to June 2004 and included 1260 men and 1 304 women 15-64 years of age living in urban slum areas of Ballabgarh block, Faridabad district, Haryana. A list of all slums in Ballabgarh block was obtained from the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad. Slums were selected by stratified cluster sampling. All households in the selected slums were visited and men and women interviewed in alternate households. The study instrument was based on the STEPS approach of WHO. It included questions related to tobacco use, alcohol intake, diet, physical activity, and history of treatment for hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Height, weight, waist circumference and blood pressure were measured. To estimate prevalence at the population level, age adjustment was done using the urban Faridabad population structure from the 2001 Census of India. RESULTS The age-adjusted prevalence of smoking among men was 36.5% compared with 7% in women. Bidi was the predominant form of smoked tobacco used. The use of smokeless tobacco was reported by 10.2% of men and 2.9% of women. While 26% of men reported consuming alcohol in the past 1 year, none of the women did. The mean number of servings per day of fruits and vegetables was 2.7 for men compared with 2.2 for women. Overall, only 7.9% and 5.4% of men and women, respectively took > or = 5 servings per day of fruits and vegetables. Women were more likely to be physically inactive compared with men (14.8% v. 55%); 67% of men and 22.8% of women reported mean physical activity > 150 minutes per week. The mean body mass index (BMI) was lower in men than in women (20.9 v. 21.9 kg/m2). The prevalence of overweight (BMI > or = 25 kg/m2)) was 16% among men and 21.9% among women. The prevalence of hypertension (blood pressure > or = 1 40/> or = 90 mmHg or on an antihypertensive drug) was 17.2% in men and 15.8% in women. CONCLUSION The high prevalence of risk factors for noncommunicable diseases across all age groups in this urban slum community indicates the likelihood of a high future burden of illness. Immediate action for prevention and control is required to prevent the situation from worsening.
Introducing digital game-based learning in MOOCs: What do the learners want and need?

A wide range of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on various topics has been offered since 2008. The high expectations of this new way of teaching, however, were not entirely met until now due to different reasons. To better engage participants in MOOCs, gamification was implemented on many platforms; especially since gamification became a buzz-word in 2012. Gamification, however, did not stop people from dropping out of courses as efficiently as expected. Although completion rates are no longer assumed to be the only evidence for the users' success, different approaches to improve both the learners' experience and motivation should be evaluated to increase the advantages of MOOCs. In the scope of gamified learning, the use of Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) to offer learning in an even more playful way than with gamification is worth a closer look. In this paper, the current implementation of gamification, DGBL and their role within MOOCs will be evaluated. It is also explained why and how playing can be beneficial for learning. Possible approaches how to integrate DGBL in MOOCs as well as advantages, disadvantages, and different needs will be discussed. A survey will be presented that gives a first hint about the participants' desires and needs. In conclusion, the paper presents current as well as possible future research on how to best integrate game-based learning into MOOCs for engineering education, specifically at the openHPI platform.
Body composition of different ethnic groups in South Africa.

South Africa is in a state of nutrition transition. As with other societies this is reflected in the emergence of overfatness, sometimes in conjunction with protein malnutrition. These phenomena may be expressed differently in a multi-ethnic society like South Africa with its major ethnic groups (Blacks, Whites, Coloureds and Indians) having varied socio-economic status. National population-based studies of coronary risk factors between 1979 and 1991 have been accessed for anthropometric data as weight and height. Cut-off points for overweight have been applied, to children to age 10 as weight-for-height greater than two Z scores by NCHS reference standards, and to those older than 15 and up to 64 years of age, BMI >= 25 and < 30, and obese >= 30 kg/m2. Data have been stratified by ethnicity, age, gender and place of residence (urban or rural) Urban Black children seem already to have a problem of overweight with a prevalence of 6-18%. For men, urban Whites have the highest prevalence of both overweight (50% in the 45-54 age group) and obesity (20% in the 55-64 age group) in all age groups except the 55-64 age groups for obesity, where Blacks have the higher prevalence (about 29%). Interestingly, the prevalence of overweight in rural women overall (39-52%) exceeds that for urban women (23-31%), although this is not the case for obesity, (prevalence age 25 and beyond, rural 24-39% and urban, 25-60%) where, indeed, in the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups, the urban prevalence exceeds the rural. This raises questions about the factors which reduce or facilitate the transition from overweight to obesity. Urban Black women seem at particular risk of this overweight-to-obesity shift and are known to have a very energy-dense diet. The extent to which overfatness contributes to other coronary risk factors is worth further investigation, given this appears to be less for Blacks than other ethnic groups.
Long-Term Effects of Alemtuzumab on Regulatory and Memory T-Cell Subsets in Kidney Transplantation

Background. Induction with lymphocyte-depleting antibodies is routinely used to prevent rejection but often skews T cells toward memory. It is not fully understood which memory and regulatory T-cell subsets are most affected and how they relate to clinical outcomes. Methods. We analyzed T cells from 57 living-donor renal transplant recipients (12 reactive and 45 quiescent) 2.8±1.4 years after alemtuzumab induction. Thirty-four healthy subjects and nine patients with acute cellular rejection (ACR) were also studied. Results. We found that alemtuzumab caused protracted CD4 more than CD8 T-lymphocyte deficiency, increased proportion of CD4+ memory T cells, and decreased proportion of CD4+ regulatory T cells. Reactive patients exhibited higher proportions of CD4+ effector memory T cells (TEM) and CD8+ terminally differentiated TEM (TEMRA), with greater CD4+ TEM and CD8+ TEMRA to regulatory T cell ratios, than quiescent patients or healthy controls. Patients with ongoing ACR had profound reduction in circulating CD8+ TEMRA. Mixed lymphocyte assays showed significantly lower T-cell proliferation to donor than third-party antigens in the quiescent group, while reactive and ACR patients exhibited increased effector molecules in CD8+ T cells. Conclusions. Our findings provide evidence that T-cell skewing toward TEM may be associated with antigraft reactivity long after lymphodepletion. Further testing of TEM and TEMRA subsets as rejection predictors is warranted.
Destinations The Influence of Involvement , Familiarity , and Constraints on the Search for Information about

This study investigates the influence of familiarity, structural constraints, and level of involvement in the decision on whether to search for information and on the strength of the search effort made by individuals who decide to search. Data have been collected from 1,677 structured personal interviews undertaken in two Portuguese national parks. Results indicate that financial constraints encourage people to engage in search but time and accessibility constraints do not exert any influence on search. Evidence indicates a tentative relationship between level of involvement and search effort and suggests this relationship is strongest in the early stages of the decision process. Finally, those who are less familiar with destinations are more likely to search for information about those destinations.
Neuroprotein Dynamics in the Cerebrospinal Fluid: Intraindividual Concomitant Ventricular and Lumbar Measurements

Objective: The measurement of neuromarker/neuroproteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is gaining increased popularity. However, insufficient information is available on the rostrocaudal distribution of neuroproteins in the CSF to guarantee an appropriate interpretation of ventricular versus lumbar concentrations. Methods: In 10 patients treated with both an external ventricular and a lumbar CSF drain, we collected concomitant CSF samples. We measured CSF concentrations of the glial S100B protein, the neuron-specific enolase (Cobas e411®; Roche Diagnostics), the leptomeningeal β-trace protein (BN Pro Spec®; Dade Behring/Siemens), and the blood-derived albumin (Immage; Beckman Coulter). Statistical analysis was performed with a paired Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Results: In patients with a free CSF circulation without any recent neurosurgical procedure, S100B and neuron-specific enolase concentrations did not differ between the ventricular and lumbar CSF while β-trace and albumin levels were significantly higher in the lumbar than in the ventricular CSF (p = 0.008 and p = 0.005). Following posterior fossa tumor surgery, all proteins accumulate in the lumbar CSF. Conclusion: For brain-derived proteins, we could not confirm a rostrocaudal CSF gradient while lepto-meningeal and blood-derived proteins accumulate in the lumbar CSF. We conclude that for the interpretation of protein CSF concentrations, the source of the sample is of crucial importance.
Electrocardiographic QT Interval and Mortality: A Meta-analysis

Background: Extremely abnormal prolongation of the electrocardiographic QT interval is associated with malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. However, the implications of variations in QT-interval length within normal limits for mortality in the general population are still unclear. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis to investigate the relation of QT interval with mortality endpoints. Inverse-variance weighted random-effects models were used to summarize the relative risks across studies. Twenty-three observational studies were included. Results: The pooled relative risk estimates comparing the highest with the lowest categories of QT-interval length were 1.35 (95% confidence interval = 1.24–1.46) for total mortality, 1.51 (1.29–1.78) for cardiovascular mortality, 1.71 (1.36–2.15) for coronary heart disease mortality, and 1.44 (1.01–2.04) for sudden cardiac death. A 50 milliseconds increase in QT interval was associated with a relative risk of 1.20 (1.15–1.26) for total mortality, 1.29 (1.15–1.46) for cardiovascular mortality, 1.49 (1.25–1.76) for coronary heart disease mortality, and 1.24 (0.97–1.60) for sudden cardiac death. Conclusions: We found consistent associations between prolonged QT interval and increased risk of total, cardiovascular, coronary, and sudden cardiac death. QT-interval length is a determinant of mortality in the general population.
Multiresolution constraints for designing subdivision surfaces via local smoothing

Subdivision surfaces provide an efficient means of representing surfaces of arbitrary topological type. In recent years, multiresolution modeling with variational smoothing has played an important role in controlling such surfaces. This paper presents a new model of multiresolution constraints that can be applied to subdivision surfaces. The advantage of this model is that different geometric constraints can be imposed on the surfaces at different resolution levels. The model employs the wavelet-based framework of Lounsbery, et al. (1997), to represent the subdivision surfaces in a hierarchical fashion. In the proposed framework, local smooth filtering is used to obtain the optimal surface shape at each resolution level. Controlling the number of iterations for the local smoothing operations allows us to modify the smoothness of the subdivision surfaces even when the same set of constraints is given. Several design examples are included to demonstrate the capability of this model.
Sex, ethnicity, and slow acetylator profile are the major causes of hepatotoxicity induced by antituberculosis drugs

Treatment with antituberculosis (TB) drugs produces liver damage in a large proportion of patients. Isoniazid, an antibacterial drug, is primarily responsible for this hepatotoxicity. Several polymorphisms of the N‐acetyltransferase 2 (NAT‐2) and cytochrome P450 2E1 enzymes, which are involved in the metabolism of isoniazid, may be directly associated with the development of hepatotoxicity. This study was designed to analyze the association between the NAT‐2 and CYP2E1 polymorphisms with the development of anti‐TB drug‐induced hepatotoxicity (ATDH).
Family Secrets

Abstract A mail survey obtained a sample of 117 gay men with HIV/AIDS to examine levels of disclosure of HIV status to the family of origin and the association between disclosure and levels of support and barriers to support from the family. Among men with HIV there was a significant difference in knowledge of HIV status between family members such that mothers and siblings were more likely to be knowledgeable than fathers. For the total sample disclosure of HIV status was associated with higher levels of support from all family members and with a lower level of barrier to support from mothers and fathers. Implications for practice are discussed.
Maternal and perinatal outcomes of eclampsia in Gadarif hospital, Sudan

Summary This study aimed to investigate the incidence of eclampsia and its maternal and perinatal outcome in the Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Gadarif, Sudan from March 2007 to April 2009. There were 45 cases of eclampsia in 8,894 deliveries (5/1,000). Some 62% of first convulsions occurred antepartum, 15.5% occurred intrapartum, and the rest (11.1%) occurred postpartum. Ten patients died and there were 16 (35.5%) perinatal deaths; eight of these were stillbirths and eight were early neonatal deaths.
Contractile Proteins of Heart Muscle in Man

This report deals with the contractile proteins of human muscle in congestive failure, and with the role played by the contractile proteins and by biochemical processes in the regulation of the mechanical function of the heart. The contractility of actomyosin bands prepared from heart muscle of patients who had died in congestive failure was diminished as compared to those prepared from normal hearts. This may have been the result of defective protein synthesis. The increase in heart rate was correlated with the activity of phosphorylase a in heart muscle and with changes in carbohydrate intermediates (lactate, glucose-6-phosphate [G-6-P] and glycogen). The heart rates over 300 per minute were associated with a transient increase, followed by a decrease, in phosphorylase a activity; glycogen diminished, while lactate and G-6-P increased. The oxidation-reduction potential in heart muscle became more negative. In the absence of myocardial anoxia, the increased rate of stimulation of the heart produced no alterations in either the concentration of carbohydrate intermediates or the phosphorylase a activity. Alterations in function of the heart that come into play upon rapid changes of cardiac activity are the result of the integration of several diverse biochemical cellular reactions. The contractile proteins are but following the lead of the cellular elements concerned with the production of energy.
MR Elastography Analysis of Glioma Stiffness and IDH1-Mutation Status

Tumor stiffness properties were prospectively quantified in 18 patients with histologically proved gliomas using MR elastography. Images were acquired on a 3T MR imaging unit with a vibration frequency of 60 Hz. Tumor stiffness was compared with unaffected contralateral white matter, across tumor grade, and by IDH1-mutation status. Gliomas were softer than healthy brain parenchyma, 2.2kPa compared with 3.3kPa, with grade IV tumors softer than grade II. MR elastography demonstrated that not only were gliomas softer than normal brain but the degree of softening was directly correlated with tumor grade and IDH1-mutation status. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our aim was to noninvasively evaluate gliomas with MR elastography to characterize the relationship of tumor stiffness with tumor grade and mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) gene. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tumor stiffness properties were prospectively quantified in 18 patients (mean age, 42 years; 6 women) with histologically proved gliomas using MR elastography from 2014 to 2016. Images were acquired on a 3T MR imaging unit with a vibration frequency of 60 Hz. Tumor stiffness was compared with unaffected contralateral white matter, across tumor grade, and by IDH1-mutation status. The performance of the use of tumor stiffness to predict tumor grade and IDH1 mutation was evaluated with the Wilcoxon rank sum, 1-way ANOVA, and Tukey-Kramer tests. RESULTS: Gliomas were softer than healthy brain parenchyma, 2.2 kPa compared with 3.3 kPa (P < .001), with grade IV tumors softer than grade II. Tumors with an IDH1 mutation were significantly stiffer than those with wild type IDH1, 2.5 kPa versus 1.6 kPa, respectively (P = .007). CONCLUSIONS: MR elastography demonstrated that not only were gliomas softer than normal brain but the degree of softening was directly correlated with tumor grade and IDH1-mutation status. Noninvasive determination of tumor grade and IDH1 mutation may result in improved stratification of patients for different treatment options and the evaluation of novel therapeutics. This work reports on the emerging field of “mechanogenomics”: the identification of genetic features such as IDH1 mutation using intrinsic biomechanical information.
Alcohol- and Drug-Use Disorders in Australia: Implications of the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing

Objective: This study reports the prevalence and correlates of ICD-10 alcohol- and drug-use disorders in the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB) and discusses their implications for treatment. Method: The NSMHWB was a nationally representative household survey of 10 641 Australian adults that assessed participants for symptoms of the most prevalent ICD-10 and DSM-IV mental disorders, including alcohol- and drug-use disorders. Results: In the past 12 months 6.5%% of Australian adults met criteria for an ICD-10 alcohol-use disorder and 2.2%% had another ICD-10 drug-use disorder. Men were at higher risk than women of developing alcohol- and drug-use disorders and the prevalence of both disorders decreased with increasing age. There were high rates of comorbidity between alcohol- and other drug-use disorders and mental disorders and low rates of treatment seeking. Conclusions: Alcohol-use disorders are a major mental health and public health issue in Australia. Drug-use disorders are less common than alcohol-use disorders, but still affect a substantial minority of Australian adults. Treatment seeking among persons with alcohol- and other drug-use disorders is low. A range of public health strategies (including improved specialist treatment services) are needed to reduce the prevalence of these disorders.
Deficiency of CXCR2, but not other chemokine receptors, attenuates autoantibody-mediated arthritis in a murine model.

OBJECTIVE Chemokines coordinate leukocyte trafficking in homeostasis and during immune responses. Prior studies of their role in arthritis have used animal models with both an initial adaptive immune response and an inflammatory effector phase. We undertook analysis of chemokines and their receptors in the effector phase of arthritis using the K/BxN mouse serum-transfer model. METHODS A time-course microarray analysis of serum-transferred arthritis was performed, examining ankle tissue, synovial fluid, and peripheral blood leukocytes. Up-regulation of chemokines was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The functional relevance of chemokine induction was assessed by transferring serum into mice deficient in CCR1-7, CCR9, CXCR2, CXCR3, CXCR5, CX(3)CR1, CCL2, or CCL3. Further mechanistic analysis of CXCR2 involved treatment of arthritic mice with a CXCR2 antagonist, bone marrow (BM) cell transfers with CXCR2(+/-) and CXCR2(-/-) donors and recipients, flow cytometry of synovial cells, and competition experiments measuring enrichment of CXCR2-expressing neutrophils in arthritic joints of mice with mixed CXCR2(+/+) and CXCR2(-/-) BM cells. RESULTS Gene expression profiling revealed up-regulation of the CXCR2 ligands CXCL1, CXCL2, and CXCL5 in the joint in parallel with disease activity. CXCR2(-/-) mice had attenuated disease relative to CXCR2(+/-) littermates, as did mice receiving the CXCR2 inhibitor, while deficiency of other chemokine receptors did not affect arthritis severity. CXCR2 was required only on hematopoietic cells and was widely expressed on synovial neutrophils. CXCR2-expressing neutrophils were preferentially recruited to arthritic joints in the presence of CXCR2-deficient neutrophils. CONCLUSION CXCR2 (but not other chemokine receptors) is critical for the development of autoantibody-mediated arthritis, exhibiting a cell-autonomous role in neutrophil recruitment to inflamed joints.
The Dose Dependence of Cyclobutane Dimer Induction and Repair in UVB-irradiated Human Keratinocytes¶

Abstract UVB and UVA components of the solar spectrum or from artificial UV-sources might be important etiological factors for the induction and development of skin cancer. In particular, deficiencies in the capacity to repair UV-induced DNA-lesions have been linked to this phenomenon. However, until now only limited data are available on the biological and physical parameters governing repair capacity. We have, therefore, developed a flowcytometric assay using fluorescence-labeled monoclonal antibodies to study the dose-dependence of induction and repair of UVB-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in a spontaneously immortalized keratinocytic cell line (HaCaT). Our results show that the kinetics of recognition and incision of UVB-induced DNA lesions slows down by a factor of about 3 in a dose range of 100–800 J m−2. Furthermore, a thorough analysis of repair kinetics indicates that this reduction in repair capacity might not be dependent on saturation of enzymatic repair capacity (Michalis–Menten) but may be caused by a UV-induced impairment of enzymes involved in DNA repair. Because this effect is evident in vitro at doses comparable to the minimal erythemal dose in vivo, our results might have significant impact on risk assessment for UV-induced carcinogenesis.
Sodium intake and intraventricular hemorrhage in the preterm infant

Hypernatremia is associated with intracranial hemorrhage in term infants. The etiology of intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm infants is multifactorial. We aimed to characterize the associations between sodium intake, hypernatremia, and intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm infants.
A Generalization of the k-NN Rule

A modification of the k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) rule is presented in which classification is made not according to the ``majority vote'' but rather an integer threshold k1 (k1-NN rule). It is shown that while k-NN approximates the minimum expected error rule, k1-NN approximates the minimum expected risk rule with a threshold t. The relationship between t and values of k and k1 is derived. Several practical methods of using k1-NN for minimum expected risk classification and for classification with a reject option are described and illustrated with examples.