Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Economic value of using partially hydrolysed infant formula for risk reduction of atopic dermatitis in high-risk, not exclusively breastfed infants in Singapore.

INTRODUCTION Previous trials have demonstrated reductions in atopic dermatitis (AD) incidence when healthy, high-risk, non-exclusively breastfed infants were fed until four months of age with 100% whey-based partially hydrolysed formula (PHF-W) versus standard cow's milk formula (CMF). We assessed the cost-effectiveness of this intervention in Singapore. METHODS Modelling techniques were used to simulate, from birth to Month 30, the incidence and clinical/economic burden of AD in high-risk, non-exclusively breastfed infants fed with PHF-W or CMF for up to four months. Epidemiologic and clinical data were from a local comparative trial. Expert opinion informed AD treatment patterns and outcomes. Outcomes included reduction in AD risk, time spent with AD, days without AD flare, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and direct/indirect costs. Multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analysis was used to assess model parameter uncertainty. RESULTS Over 30 months, with the use of PHF-W instead of CMF, the proportion of children who developed AD and the time spent with AD decreased by 16.0% (28.3% vs. 44.3%) and 6.4 months, respectively, while time without AD flare and QALYs increased by 14.9 days and 0.021 QALYs per patient, respectively. Estimated AD-related discounted costs per child for PHF-W and CMF were SGD 771 and SGD 1,309, respectively (net savings: SGD 538). PHF-W was less expensive and more effective than CMF for 73%, and cost less than SGD 50,000 per QALY for 87% of all multivariate simulations. CONCLUSION Early short-term nutritional intervention with PHF-W instead of CMF may reduce AD incidence and costs for healthy, high-risk, non-exclusively breastfed infants in Singapore.
Total gadolinium tissue deposition and skin structural findings following the administration of structurally different gadolinium chelates in healthy and ovariectomized female rats.

OBJECTIVE To assess the retention of gadolinium (Gd) in skin, liver, and bone following gadodiamide or gadoteric acid administration. METHODS Gd was measured in skin, liver and femur bone in female rats 10 weeks after administration of 17.5 mmol Gd/kg over 5 days of Gd agents. Rat skin microscopy, energy filtering transmission electron microscopy and elemental analysis were performed, and repeated after receiving the same dosage of gadodiamide in rats with osteoporosis induced with bilateral ovariectomy (OVX). The OVX was performed 60 days after the last injection of gadodiamide and animals sacrificed 3 weeks later. RESULTS Gd concentration was 180-fold higher in the skin, 25-fold higher in the femur, and 30-fold higher in the liver in rats received gadodiamide than rats received gadoteric acid. The retention of Gd in the skin with gadodiamide was associated with an increase in dermal cellularity, and Gd encrustation of collagen fibers and deposition inside the fibroblasts and other cells. No differences in Gd concentration in liver, skin, and femur were observed between rats receiving gadodiamide with or without OVX. CONCLUSIONS Gd tissue retention with gadodiamide was higher than gadoteric acid. Tissues Gd deposition did not alter following gadodiamide administration to ovariectomized rats.
Diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: improved accuracy with the use of markers of collagen turnover

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HF‐PEF) can be difficult to diagnose in clinical practice. Myocardial fibrosis is a major determinant of diastolic dysfunction (DD), potentially contributing to the progression of HF‐PEF. The aim of this study was to analyse whether serological markers of collagen turnover may predict HF‐PEF and DD.
Estimation of most probable number of Salmonella in minced pork samples

The quantification of microorganisms present in food samples is an important step to assess the risk to consumers. The number of salmonellae in 20 positive samples of minced pork was determined by the Most Probable Number method. Counts ranging between <3 and 240 cfu.g -1 were found in the analyzed samples.
Cell blocks allow reliable evaluation of expression of basal (CK5/6) and luminal (CK8/18) cytokeratins and smooth muscle actin (SMA) in breast carcinoma

W. D. Delgallo, J. R. P. Rodrigues, S. P. Bueno, R. M. Viero and C. T. Soares Cell blocks allow reliable evaluation of expression of basal (CK5/6) and luminal (CK8/18) cytokeratins and smooth muscle actin (SMA) in breast carcinoma
Compulsory drug detention and injection drug use cessation and relapse in Bangkok, Thailand.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS Strategies to promote the reduction and cessation of injection drug use are central to human immunodeficiency virus prevention and treatment efforts globally. Though drug use cessation is a major focus of drug policy in Thailand, little is known about factors associated with injection cessation and relapse in this setting. DESIGN AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and October 2011 of a community-recruited sample of people who inject drugs in Bangkok, Thailand. Using multivariate logistic regression, we examined the prevalence and correlates of injection drug use cessation with subsequent relapse. RESULTS Among 422 participants, 209 (49.5%) reported a period of injection drug use cessation of at least one year. In multivariate analyses, incarceration (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 13.07), voluntary drug treatment (AOR 2.75), midazolam injection (AOR 2.48) and number of years since first injection (AOR 1.07) were positively associated with injection cessation of duration greater than a year (all P < 0.05). Exposure to compulsory drug detention was positively associated (AOR 2.61) and methadone treatment was negatively associated (AOR 0.38) with short-term cessation only. Injection drug use cessation was most often due to incarceration (74%), and relapse was associated with release from prison (66%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Half of the study participants had previously stopped injecting drugs for more than a year, and this was strongly associated with incarceration. Compulsory drug detention was associated with short-term cessation and relapse. A range of evidence-based strategies should be made available to facilitate sustained cessation of injection drug use in Thailand.
Alterations in circulating osteoimmune factors may be responsible for high bone resorption rate in HIV-infected children and adolescents

Objectives:Bone metabolism derangements have been reported in HIV-infected children and adolescents. Nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin potently stimulate and inhibit, respectively, osteoclast formation and activity. We investigated the possible role of RANKL and osteoprotegerin on bone metabolism alterations in paediatric patients. Design:A prospective controlled longitudinal study. Measurements were obtained before and 6 months after switching antiretroviral regimen. Methods:We studied 27 vertically HIV-infected children and adolescents (aged 4.9–17.3 years) on long-term HAART (70.1 ± 1.5 months). All patients received lamivudine, stavudine and one protease inhibitor (PI). During follow-up, the PI was replaced with efavirenz and stavudine with tenofovir. We also enrolled 336 healthy children, aged 4.8–17.9 years. Concentrations of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP), N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx), RANKL, and osteoprotegerin were measured at baseline and 6 months after switching. Results:BALP serum concentrations and NTx urine levels of HIV-infected patients were significantly higher than those of healthy children both at baseline and after 6 months (P < 0.001). Baseline osteoprotegerin and RANKL concentrations of HIV-infected patients were significantly higher than in healthy children (P < 0.0001). Both concentrations decreased after 6 months, and RANKL levels were no longer different to controls. At baseline the RANKL/osteoprotegerin ratio was significantly higher (P = 0.02) in HIV-infected children (0.27 ± 0.07) compared with healthy children (0.078 ± 0.01). Conclusion:A marked alteration in the RANKL/osteoprotegerin system is present in patients receiving PI-based HAART. Short-term data indicate that replacing stavudine and PI with tenofovir and efavirenz restores the RANKL/osteoprotegerin equilibrium, and may thus lead to a reduction in the bone resorption rate.
Software Preannouncements and Their Impact on Customers’ Perceptions and Vendor Reputation

Software preannouncements are often called "vaporware" (systems or features announced long before a ship date). The challenge confronting software vendors and consumers is understanding the balance between the need to inform the market and the negative consequences of unfulfilled promises. Based on signaling theory from marketing science and research, this study looks at the perceived importance of software preannouncement factors on customers, of unfulfilled promises and unreliable software on a company's reputation, and whether vendor dependence changes these perceptions. Database administrators were surveyed on the perceptions of their database software vendor. Fulfilling commitments to software functionality was more strongly correlated with vendor reputation than on-time delivery of the software. Customer dependence on the vendor was not correlated with perceptions of vendor reputation and credibility. Thus, unlike other industries, it seems that vendors can use software delivery time preannouncements for competitive purposes with minimal concern for the impact on customers, provided the software ultimately delivers the features and functionality promised and is largely free of errors.
Communicating Health at Work: Organizational Wellness Programs as Identity Bridges

ABSTRACT With the growth in workplace health promotion (WHP) initiatives, organizations are asking employees to enact their personal health identities at work. To understand this prominent yet poorly understood phenomenon, we surveyed 204 employees at a company with a WHP program and found that participation in the wellness program mediated personal health and organizational identities. Results fill a gap in communication literature by demonstrating the effect of individual identity enactment on organizational identification and contribute to recent research stressing the relationship between identity and health behaviors. In addition, findings illuminate the role of situated activity in identity negotiation, suggesting that certain activities in organizations, like wellness programs, serve as identity bridges between personal and work-related identity targets.
Dynamics of spatially extended dendrites

Dendrites are the most visually striking parts of neurons. Even so many neuron models are of point type and have no representation of space. In this thesis we will look at a range of neuronal models with the common property that we always include spatially extended dendrites. First we generalise Abbott’s “sum-over-trips” framework to include resonant currents. We also look at piece-wise linear (PWL) models and extend them to incorporate spatial structure in the form of dendrites. We look at the analytical construction of orbits for PWL models. By using both analytical and numerical Lyapunov exponent methods we explore phase space and in particular we look at mode-locked solutions. We will then construct the phase response curve (PRC) for a PWL system with compartmentally modelled dendrites. This sets us up so we can look at the effect of multiple PWL systems that are weakly coupled through gap junctions. We also attach a continuous dendrite to a PWL soma and investigate how the position of the gap junction influences network properties. After this we will present a short overview of neuronal plasticity with a special focus on the spatial effects. We also discuss attenuation of distal synaptic input and how this can be countered by dendritic democracy as this will become an integral part of our learning mechanisms. We will examine a number of different learning approaches including the tempotron and spike-time dependent plasticity. Here we will consider Poisson’s equation around a neural membrane. The membrane we focus on has Hodgkin-Huxley dynamics so we can study action potential propagation on the membrane. We present the Green’s function for the case of a one-dimensional membrane in a two-dimensional space. This will allow us to examine the action potential initiation and propagation in a multi-dimensional axon.
Protein folds from pair interactions: A blind test in fold recognition

We submitted nine predictions to CASP2 using our fold recognition program ProFIT. Two of these structures were still unsolved by the end of the experiment, six had a recognizable fold, and one fold was new. Four predictions of the six recognizable folds were correct. Two models were excellent in terms of alignment quality (T0031, T0004): in one the alignment was partially correct (T0014), and one fold was correctly identified (T0038). We discuss improvements of the program and analyze the prediction results. Proteins, Suppl. 1:129–133, 1997. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Changements socio-techniques dans les systèmes de production laitière et commercialisation du lait en zone péri-urbaine de Sikasso, Mali

La commercialisation du lait peut jouer un role central dans les changements au sein des unites de production: 1) sur les techniques de la production laitiere et 2) sur la gestion de la recette du lait. La recherche repose sur des enjeux de developpement et des enjeux scientifiques. L'objectif global de la these est d'evaluer l'impact de la commercialisation du lait sur les pratiques et les strategies des eleveurs et d'apprecier son role dans les processus de changements socio-techniques dans les systemes de production laitiere en zone peri-urbaine de Sikasso au Mali. L'objectif de recherche est de contribuer aux recherches en zootechnie-systeme sur le developpement de l'elevage en general et de l'elevage peri-urbain en particulier. Pour cela, nombre de connaissances a ete mobilise et des methodes developpees pour analyser dans le temps long les changements et evaluer dans le temps rond les performances des unites de production. Une methodologie specifique a ete elabore, elle articule trois groupes de methodes: (i) des enquetes pour un diagnostic systemique de la production laitiere, (ii) des enquetes retrospectives pour l'analyse des changements sur le temps long et incluant l'echelle territoriale, (iii) des suivis technico-economiques sur un an. Cinq strategies de production laitieres ont ete distinguees: 1) Faible prelevement de lait, 2) Interet sur le lait avec gestion du pâturage, 3) Interet sur le lait avec achat de complements, 4) Forte production de lait avec des vaches croisees et distribution de concentres et 5) Forte production laitiere avec stabulation permanente de vaches croisees. Un modele de fonctionnement technico-economique a egalement ete construit. Les eleveurs ont fait evoluer leurs pratiques et developper des strategies pour produire et commercialiser plus de lait et profiter de l'opportunite offerte par le marche de consommateurs urbains. (Resume d'auteur)
Real-Time Safety Assessment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Against Stealthy Cyber Attacks

As unmanned aircraft systems become an increasingly integral part of a wide range of applications, ensuring the security of these systems against malicious cyber attacks is a very important concern. To address this problem, this paper considers a controls domain approach extending beyond the computing resources of the unmanned aircraft system to include the underlying physical behavior of the compromised system, successfully complementing the traditional computer security architecture. Specifically, the focus is on the safety analysis of an unmanned aircraft system in the presence of stealthy cyber attacks, which can be designed intelligently to avoid detection. First, the system condition that confines the stealthy attacker’s capability is derived. Then, a real-time safety assessment algorithm is developed based on a reachability analysis. Compared to the existing research, the present algorithm analytically derives the exact reachable set, enabling more reliable and computationally efficient safety asse.
QEPAS nitric oxide sensor based on a mid-infrared fiber-coupled quantum cascade laser

We report a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic sensor (QEPAS) for nitric oxide (NO) detection using a mid-infrared fibercoupled quantum cascade laser (QCL) near 5.2 μm. The QCL radiation was coupled into an InF3 fiber (100 μm core diameter) for light delivery to the quartz tuning fork, a tiny piezoelectric element converting the acoustic wave induced mechanical vibration to the gas-absorption associated electrical signal. This mid-infrared fiber can achieve nearly single-mode light delivery for the target wavelength. The off-beam configuration was adopted for the fiber-coupled detection considering its simpler installation, optical alignment and comparative sensitivity to the traditional on-beam setup.
The Conserved Sporulation Protein YneE Inhibits DNA Replication in Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT Cells of Bacillus subtilis triggered to sporulate under conditions of rapid growth undergo a marked decrease in chromosome copy number, which was partially relieved by a mutation in the sporulation-induced gene yneE. Cells engineered to express yneE during growth were impaired in viability and produced anucleate cells. We conclude that YneE is an inhibitor of DNA replication.
Cephalometric analysis for diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea

A detailed cephalometric analysis was conducted on lateral x‐rays from 30 adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and 12 age‐ and sex‐matched controls. Statistical findings show that OSA patients are different from controls in at least five ways: 1. Their tongue and soft palate are significantly enlarged. 2. The hyoid bone is displaced inferiorly. 3. The mandible is normal in size and position (no micrognathia or malocclusion), but the face is elongated by an inferior displacement of the mandibular body. 4. The maxilla is retropositioned and the hard palate elongated. 5. The nasopharynx is normal, but the oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal airway is reduced in area by an average of 25%, a factor that could produce or enhance OSA symptoms. These data suggest that cephalometric evaluation could be useful when used with head and neck examination, polysomnographic and endoscopic studies to evaluate OSA patients, and to assist with the planning/surgical treatment for improvement of upper airway patency.
Mechanical and chemical thresholds in IV-VI chalcogenide glasses.

It has been possible to identify two critical compositions in the IV-VI chalcogenide glassy system GexSe100-x by the anomalous variations of the high-pressure electrical resistivity behavior. The first critical composition, the chemical threshold, refers to the stoichiometric composition. The second critical composition, identified recently as the mechanical percolation threshold, is connected with the structural rigidity of the material.
Determination of minimum clinically important difference in pain, disability, and quality of life after extension of fusion for adjacent-segment disease.

OBJECT Spinal surgical outcome studies rely on patient-reported outcome (PRO) measurements to assess treatment effect. A shortcoming of these questionnaires is that the extent of improvement in their numerical scores lack a direct clinical meaning. As a result, the concept of minimum clinical important difference (MCID) has been used to measure the critical threshold needed to achieve clinically relevant treatment effectiveness. As utilization of spinal fusion has increased over the past decade, so has the incidence of adjacent-segment degeneration following index lumbar fusion, which commonly requires revision laminectomy and extension of fusion. The MCID remains uninvestigated for any PROs in the setting of revision lumbar surgery for adjacent-segment disease (ASD). METHODS In 50 consecutive patients undergoing revision surgery for ASD-associated back and leg pain, PRO measures of back and leg pain on a visual analog scale (BP-VAS and LP-VAS, respectively), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), 12-Item Short Form Health Survey Physical and Mental Component Summaries (SF-12 PCS and MCS, respectively), and EuroQol-5D health survey (EQ-5D) were assessed preoperatively and 2 years postoperatively. The following 4 well-established anchor-based MCID calculation methods were used to calculate MCID: average change; minimum detectable change (MDC); change difference; and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis for the following 2 separate anchors: health transition item (HTI) of the SF-36 and satisfaction index. RESULTS All patients were available for 2-year PRO assessment. Two years after surgery, a statistically significant improvement was observed for all PROs (mean changes: BP-VAS score [4.80 ± 3.25], LP-VAS score [3.28 ± 3.25], ODI [10.24 ± 13.49], SF-12 PCS [8.69 ± 12.55] and MCS [8.49 ± 11.45] scores, and EQ-5D [0.38 ± 0.45]; all p < 0.001). The 4 MCID calculation methods generated a range of MCID values for each of the PROs (BP-VAS score, 2.3-6.5; LP-VAS score, 1.7-4.3; ODI, 6.8-16.9; SF-12 PCS, 6.1-12.6; SF-12 MCS, 2.4-10.8; and EQ-5D, 0.27-0.54). The area under the ROC curve was consistently greater for the HTI anchor than the satisfaction anchor, suggesting this as a more accurate anchor for MCID. CONCLUSIONS Adjacent-segment disease revision surgery-specific MCID is highly variable based on calculation technique. The MDC approach with HTI anchor appears to be most appropriate for calculation of MCID after revision lumbar fusion for ASD because it provided a threshold above the 95% CI of the unimproved cohort (greater than the measurement error), was closest to the mean change score reported by improved and satisfied patients, and was not significantly affected by choice of anchor. Based on this method, MCID following ASD revision lumbar surgery is 3.8 points for BP-VAS score, 2.4 points for LP-VAS score, 6.8 points for ODI, 8.8 points for SF-12 PCS, 9.3 points for SF-12 MCS, and 0.35 quality-adjusted life-years for EQ-5D.
Modulatory Effects of Breed, Feeding Status, and Diet on Adipogenic, Lipogenic, and Lipolytic Gene Expression in Growing Iberian and Duroc Pigs

Meat quality depends on tissue composition which is in turn influenced by different factors, such as diet, genotype, age, or sex. We evaluated the effects of breed, 24 h fasting, and dietary energy source (HO: oleic acid versus CH: carbohydrates) on the expression of candidate genes involved in adipogenesis, lipogenesis, and lipolysis in the adipose tissue from Iberian and Duroc growing pigs. The Iberian pigs showed greater feed intake, backfat thickness, and saturated fatty acids (SFA) content in the subcutaneous fat, whereas the Duroc pigs had greater ham weight and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content. In both breeds, the diet induced changes in the fatty acid (FA) composition of subcutaneous fat samples. The HO group had higher monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and oleic acid, and lower SFA than the CH group. Regarding gene expression, breed and feeding status (fasting versus postprandial) had significant effects on gene expression, with quantitative interactions between them, while diet showed negligible effects. In general, adipogenic and lipogenic genes were upregulated in the Iberian pigs and in postprandial samples. In contrast, the expression of lipolytic genes showed complex interaction effects. Our results agree with the phenotypic differences between the Iberian and Duroc breeds and with the inhibition of lipogenesis by fasting. Quantitative interactions between breed and feeding status effects were observed, which indicates a different response to fasting of the two breeds, with the obese Iberian breed showing a more stable expression of lipogenic genes. These results highlight the complexity of lipid metabolism regulation, especially in relation to lipolysis processes.