Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conducting systematic reviews of association (etiology): The Joanna Briggs Institute's approach

ABSTRACTThe systematic review of evidence is the research method which underpins the traditional approach to evidence-based healthcare. There is currently no uniform methodology for conducting a systematic review of association (etiology). This study outlines and describes the Joanna Briggs Institute's approach and guidance for synthesizing evidence related to association with a predominant focus on etiology and contributes to the emerging field of systematic review methodologies. It should be noted that questions of association typically address etiological or prognostic issues.The systematic review of studies to answer questions of etiology follows the same basic principles of systematic review of other types of data. An a priori protocol must inform the conduct of the systematic review, comprehensive searching must be performed and critical appraisal of retrieved studies must be carried out.The overarching objective of systematic reviews of etiology is to identify and synthesize the best available evidence on the factors of interest that are associated with a particular disease or outcome. The traditional PICO (population, interventions, comparators and outcomes) format for systematic reviews of effects does not align with questions relating to etiology. A systematic review of etiology should include the following aspects: population, exposure of interest (independent variable) and outcome (dependent variable). Studies of etiology are predominantly explanatory or predictive. The objective of reviews of explanatory or predictive studies is to contribute to, and improve our understanding of, the relationship of health-related events or outcomes by examining the association between variables. When interpreting possible associations between variables based on observational study data, caution must be exercised due to the likely presence of confounding variables or moderators that may impact on the results.As with all systematic reviews, there are various approaches to present the results, including a narrative, graphical or tabular summary, or meta-analysis. When meta-analysis is not possible, a set of alternative methods for synthesizing research is available. On the basis of the research question and objectives, narrative, tabular and/or visual approaches can be used for data synthesis. There are some special considerations when conducting meta-analysis for questions related to risk and correlation. These include, but are not limited to, causal inference.Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies related to etiology is an emerging methodology in the field of evidence synthesis. These reviews can provide useful information for healthcare professionals and policymakers on the burden of disease. The standardized Joanna Briggs Institute approach offers a rigorous and transparent method to conduct reviews of etiology.
Using lactate threshold to predict 5-km treadmill running performance in veteran athletes

Measuring lactate threshold to predict endurance performance is difficult among veteran athletes, due to age-related decreases in net lactate concentration. The objective of this study was to determine whether lactate threshold, as assessed using the maximal deviation method (Dmax), which is not dependent on net values of lactate, could be used as a more valid measure of 5-km treadmill running performance than other methods of determining lactate threshold. Veteran runners (18 male and 18 female, aged 47.3±6.7 years) performed an incremental exercise test to establish mean treadmill velocity at lactate threshold using Dmax, a log-log method, a visual method, and a 4-mmol·L-1 method, and, on a separate occasion, completed a 5-km time trial. Mean treadmill velocity at Dmax was 12.2±1.8 km·h-1, not being significantly different to mean treadmill velocity (12.1±1.8 km·h-1) attained during the 5-km time trial (p>0.05); velocities were also significantly correlated (r=0.92, p<0.001), and limits of agreement narrow (-1.61 to 1.35 km·h-1). Correlations were weaker and limits of agreement wider for the other methods of lactate threshold determination. Using a two-way, mixed-methods ANOVA, there was no significant effect of sex when using the different methods of determining Tlac (F4,136=3.70, p=0.15). Mean treadmill velocity, when using Dmax for determining lactate threshold, can be used to predict 5-km running performance among male and female veteran athletes.
Targeting protein neddylation: a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer

Introduction: The NEDD8 (neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated 8) conjugation pathway regulates the post-translational modification of oncogenic proteins. This pathway has important potential for cancer therapeutics. Several proteins vital in cancer biology are regulated by protein neddylation. These observations led to the development of a small molecule inhibitor that disrupts protein neddylation and leads to cancer cell death and important activity in early phase clinical trials. Areas covered: This review provides an extensive coverage of cellular protein homeostasis with particular emphasis on the NEDD8 conjugation pathway. Insights into a new investigational drug that specifically disrupts the NEDD8 pathway are discussed. The clinical data for this agent are also updated. Expert opinion: Neddylation controls key cellular pathways found to be dysregulated in many cancers. Protein neddylation is a relatively under-explored pathway for pharmacologic inhibition in cancer. Selective disruption of this pathway has demonstrated clinical activity in patients with myeloid neoplasms and is worth exploring further in combination with other anti-leukemia agents.
Osseointegration of commercial microstructured titanium implants incorporating magnesium: a histomorphometric study in rabbit cancellous bone.

OBJECTIVE Recent studies have suggested that magnesium (Mg) ions exert a beneficial effect on implant osseointegration. This study assessed the osseointegration of nanoporous titanium (Ti) surface incorporating the Mg produced by hydrothermal treatment in rabbit cancellous bone to determine whether this surface would further enhance bone healing of moderately rough-surfaced implants in cancellous bone, and compared the result with commercially available micro-arc oxidized Mg-incorporated implants. MATERIAL AND METHODS The Mg-incorporated Ti surfaces (RBM/Mg) were obtained by hydrothermal treatment using an alkaline Mg-containing solution on grit-blasted moderately rough (RBM) implants. Untreated RBM and recently introduced Mg-incorporated microporous Ti implants produced by micro-arc oxidation (M) were used controls in this study. The surface characteristics were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and optical profilometry. Twenty-four threaded implants with a length of 10 mm (eight RBM implants, eight RBM/Mg implants and eight M implants) were placed in the femoral condyles of 12 New Zealand White rabbits. Histomorphometric analysis was performed 4 weeks after implantation. RESULTS Hydrothermally treated and untreated grit-blasted implants displayed almost identical surface morphologies and R(a) values at the micron-scale. The RBM/Mg implants exhibited morphological differences compared with the RBM implants at the nano-scale, which displayed nanoporous surface structures. The Mg-incorporated implants (RBM/Mg and M) exhibited more continuous bone apposition and a higher degree of bone-to-implant contact (BIC) than the untreated RBM implants in rabbit cancellous bone. The RBM/Mg implants displayed significantly greater BIC% than untreated RBM implants, both in terms of the all threads region and the total lateral length of implants (P<0.05), but no statistical differences were found between the RBM/Mg and M implants except BIC% values in total lateral length. CONCLUSION These results indicate that a nanoporous Mg-incorporated surface may be effective in enhancing the osseointegration of moderately rough grit-blasted implants by increasing the degree of bone-implant contact in areas of cancellous bone.
Racial Disparities in Student Debt and the Reproduction of the Fragile Black Middle Class

A nascent literature recognizes that student loan debt is racialized and disproportionately affects youth of color, especially black youth. In this study, the authors expand on this research and ask whether black-white disparities in student debt persist, decline, or increase across the early adult life course, examine possible mechanisms for changes in racial disparities in student debt across early adulthood, and ask whether racial disparities in student debt contribute to black-white wealth inequality among a recent cohort of college-going young adults. The authors address these questions using nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, multilevel growth curve models, and linear decomposition methods. There are three findings. First, black-white disparities in debt increase across the early adult life course, and previous research underestimated racial disparities in debt. Second, growth in this racial disparity is partially explained by differences in the social background, postsecondary experiences, and disparities in attained social and economic status of black and white young adults. As a result, the authors find that, compositionally, racial inequalities in student debt account for a substantial minority of the black-white wealth gap in early adulthood and that this contribution increases across the early adult life course. The authors conclude that debt trajectories are more informative than point-in-time estimates and that student debt may be a new mechanism of wealth inequality that creates fragility in the next generation of the black middle class.
The effects of gape angle and bite point on bite force in bats

SUMMARY Models of mammalian mastication predict that bite force is affected by both the degree of mouth opening (gape angle) and the point along the tooth row at which force is transferred to a food item (bite point). Despite the widespread use of these models in comparative analyses, experimental data documenting bite force in non-human mammals are extremely limited. The goal of this study is to document variation in non-stimulated bite force associated with change in gape angle and bite point in a broad range of species. We focus on plant-visiting bats because they exhibit a relatively primitive cranial morphology and are good models for generalized mammals. Assessments of the relationship between gape angle and bite force within and among species demonstrate that bite force decreases significantly as gape angle increases. The relationship between bite force and bite point within each of seven species demonstrates that unilateral molar biting universally generates the highest forces while the unilateral canine biting produces the lowest forces. Bilateral canine biting is intermediate. Beyond these general patterns, differences among species suggest that bite force reflects variation in craniofacial architecture. Finally, these data suggest that behavioral variation in gape angle and bite point may be important variables in comparative, functional analyses of feeding.
The Reliability and Validity of Handheld Dynamometry for the Measurement of Lower-Extremity Muscle Strength in Older Adults

Arnold, CM, Warkentin, KD, Chilibeck, PD, and Magnus, CRA. The Reliability and Validity of Handheld Dynamometry for the Measurement of Lower-Extremity Muscle Strength in Older Adults. J Strength Cond Res 24(3): 815-824, 2010-Lower-extremity muscle strength is important in predicting fall risk in older adults. Handheld dynamometry (HHD) is a tool used to measure isometric muscle strength in the older adult, but few studies have evaluated the utility of HHD for muscle groups beyond knee extension. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of HHD at the hip, knee, and ankle and to compare HHD strength values to other isometric dynamometry (ID) and to balance and recovery in older adults. This was a repeated measures study design of 18 men and women, age 65 to 92 years of age, who had HHD strength testing 3 to 7 days apart by the same examiner and repeat testing on the same day using 2 independent examiners. ID strength, balance, step length, and reaction time were measured once. HHD demonstrated good intrarater and interrater reliability for isometric strength at the hip and knee but was not a reliable measure for ankle strength. The HHD was a valid measure of isometric strength at the hip and knee, demonstrating moderate to high correlation values when compared to ID strength measures (r = 0.57-0.86; p < 0.05). Hip and knee strength was positively associated to step length and reaction time but not to balance (r = 0.40-0.71; p < 0.05). In conclusion, HHD is a reliable and valid assessment tool for measuring strength at the hip and knee in older adults, and greater strength in these muscles is associated with longer step length and decreased reaction time, which are important components of balance recovery in older adults. HHD can be used as an effective strength measurement tool for the older adult population.
Discrete regulatory regions control early and late expression of D‐Pax2 during external sensory organ development

The transcription factor D‐Pax2 is required for the correct differentiation of several cell types in Drosophila sensory systems. While the regulation of its expression in the developing eye has been well studied, little is known about the mechanisms by which the dynamic pattern of D‐Pax2 expression in the external sensory organs is achieved. Here we demonstrate that early activation of D‐Pax2 in the sensory organ lineage and its maintenance in the trichogen and thecogen cells are governed by separate enhancers. Furthermore, the initial activation is controlled in part by proneural proteins whereas the later maintenance expression is regulated by a positive feedback loop. Developmental Dynamics 240:1769–1778, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Embedding session types in Haskell

We present a novel embedding of session-typed concurrency in Haskell. We extend an existing HOAS embedding of linear λ-calculus with a set of core session-typed primitives, using indexed type families to express the constraints of the session typing discipline. We give two interpretations of our embedding, one in terms of GHC’s built-in concurrency and another in terms of purely functional continuations. Our safety guarantees, including deadlock freedom, are assured statically and introduce no additional runtime overhead.
Psychometric Properties of a Chinese Version of the Colorectal Cancer Perceptions Scale in a Sample of Older Chinese People

Background: Older adults are more susceptible to colorectal cancer (CRC). Psychosocial constructs in the Health Belief Model are targets for interventional studies. No tool to measure these beliefs of older Chinese people has been validated. Objective: The present study aimed to examine the preliminary psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Colorectal Cancer Perceptions Scale (CRCPS). Methods: The CRCPS was translated to Chinese language, validated by an expert panel, and tested. Interviewer-administered surveys were carried out with a convenience sample of 219 community-dwelling Chinese adults 60 years or older and were included in the analysis. Results: Six factors were retained, with items on susceptibility and benefits remaining as designed, whereas those on severity formed 2 factors, labeled severity–fear and severity–life impact, and those on barriers again formed 2 factors, labeled psychological barriers and knowledge barriers. Cronbach’s &agr; values ranged from . 74 to . 88, and test-retest reliability correlations ranged from . 38 for psychological barriers to . 69 for knowledge barriers. Respondents who had undergone CRC screening had significantly lower mean scores on severity–fear, severity–life impact, psychological barriers, and knowledge barriers compared with those who had not. Conclusions: The results provide preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the CRCPS. Further psychometric testing is recommended. Implications for Practice: The survey provides a useful tool to assess CRC health beliefs, which interventions should address to improve screening rates among older Chinese adults.
The derivation and validation of a simple model for predicting in-hospital mortality of acutely admitted patients to internal medicine wards

Abstract Limited information is available about clinical predictors of in-hospital mortality in acute unselected medical admissions. Such information could assist medical decision-making. To develop a clinical model for predicting in-hospital mortality in unselected acute medical admissions and to test the impact of secondary conditions on hospital mortality. This is an analysis of the medical records of patients admitted to internal medicine wards at one university-affiliated hospital. Data obtained from the years 2013 to 2014 were used as a derivation dataset for creating a prediction model, while data from 2015 was used as a validation dataset to test the performance of the model. For each admission, a set of clinical and epidemiological variables was obtained. The main diagnosis at hospitalization was recorded, and all additional or secondary conditions that coexisted at hospital admission or that developed during hospital stay were considered secondary conditions. The derivation and validation datasets included 7268 and 7843 patients, respectively. The in-hospital mortality rate averaged 7.2%. The following variables entered the final model; age, body mass index, mean arterial pressure on admission, prior admission within 3 months, background morbidity of heart failure and active malignancy, and chronic use of statins and antiplatelet agents. The c-statistic (ROC-AUC) of the prediction model was 80.5% without adjustment for main or secondary conditions, 84.5%, with adjustment for the main diagnosis, and 89.5% with adjustment for the main diagnosis and secondary conditions. The accuracy of the predictive model reached 81% on the validation dataset. A prediction model based on clinical data with adjustment for secondary conditions exhibited a high degree of prediction accuracy. We provide a proof of concept that there is an added value for incorporating secondary conditions while predicting probabilities of in-hospital mortality. Further improvement of the model performance and validation in other cohorts are needed to aid hospitalists in predicting health outcomes.
Classtrophobia: the student as troll in student course evaluations [an a/r/tographical video rendering]

This a/r/tographical inquiry renders our experiences of “Student Evaluations of Course” (SEC) reports through the creation of a video art work, Classtrophobia . The work is our response to what it means to be an academic in the current neo-liberal climate of surveillance. The first section of the paper situates this inquiry within the available research literature investigating the use of SEC data to evaluate teaching quality. The second section of the paper presents two videos from the Classtrophobia body of work and examines the interplay of reflection and interpretation during the process of creation as a way to inquire into how meanings of our lived-experiences are constructed through the making process. In some sense, the creation of Classtrophobia is a cathartic exercise to help the authors manage the angst and frustrations often present in the seemingly incoherent bureaucracies of contemporary academic life.
Adaptive Robust Vibration Control of Full-Car Active Suspensions With Electrohydraulic Actuators

This paper investigates the problem of vibration suppression in vehicular active suspension systems, whose aim is to stabilize the attitude of the vehicle and improve the riding comfort. A full-car model is adopted, and electrohydraulic actuators with highly nonlinear characteristics are considered to form the basis of accurate control. In this paper, the H∞ performance is introduced to realize the disturbance suppression by selecting the actuator forces as virtual inputs, and an adaptive robust control technology is further used to design controllers which help real force inputs track virtual ones. The resulting controllers are robust against both actuator parametric uncertainties and uncertain actuator nonlinearities. The stability analysis for the closed-loop system is given within the Lyapunov framework. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control law, where different road conditions are considered in order to reveal the closed-loop system performance in detail.
Nuclear Receptor Signaling: a home for nuclear receptor and coregulator signaling research

The field of nuclear receptor and coregulator signaling has grown into one of the most active and interdisciplinary in eukaryotic biology. Papers in this field are spread widely across a vast number of journals, which complicates the task of investigators in keeping current with the literature in the field. In 2003, we launched Nuclear Receptor Signaling as an Open Access reviews, perspectives and methods journal for the nuclear receptor signaling field. Building on its success and impact on the community, we have added primary research and dataset articles to this list of article categories, and we now announce the re-launch of the journal this month. Here we will summarize the rationale that informed the creation and expansion of the journal, and discuss the possibilities for its future development.
Development of a simple and effective silver staining protocol for detection of DNA fragments

Silver staining is one of the widely used methods for DNA fragment detection in biological research. Silver staining protocols have been steadily optimized to improve detection efficiency. This research reports a continuous effort to simplify the existing silver staining protocols, lower experiment cost, and improve DNA detection sensitivity and image clarity. The new method only requires three reagents (silver nitrate, sodium hydroxide, and formaldehyde) and 6–7 min with high detection sensitivity to visualize as low as 14.6 pg (3.3 pg/mm2) of DNA in a non‐denaturing polyacrylamide gel. In comparison to previous reported protocols, the new one has the highest resolution, is the easiest to operate, takes the shortest time, and uses the fewest chemical reagents. Therefore, the new method can be used for quick generation of high quality molecular marker data in genetic analysis.