Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Craniosynostosis and nutrient intake during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE To examine the association of craniosynostosis with maternal intake of folic acid-containing supplements and dietary nutrients. METHODS The study included deliveries from 1997 to 2005 from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Nonsyndromic infants with craniosynostosis (n = 815) were compared to nonmalformed, population-based liveborn control infants (n = 6789), by estimating adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from logistic regression models that included mother's age, parity, race-ethnicity, education, body mass index, smoking, alcohol, fertility treatments, plurality, and study center. We compared quartiles of intake and specified nutrients as continuous. RESULTS Intake of folic acid-containing supplements was not associated with craniosynostosis (AORs were close to 1). Analyses of dietary nutrients were restricted to mothers who took supplements during the first trimester (i.e., most women). Based on continuous specifications of nutrients, sagittal synostosis risk was significantly lower among women with higher intake of riboflavin and vitamins B₆, E, and C; metopic synostosis risk was significantly higher among women with higher intakes of choline and vitamin B₁₂; and coronal synostosis risk was significantly lower among women with higher intake of methionine and vitamin C. As examples, AORs for sagittal synostosis among women with intakes of vitamin B₆ and riboflavin in the highest versus lowest quartiles were 0.4 (95% CI, 0.2-0.6) and 0.5 (95% CI, 0.3-0.7), respectively. CONCLUSION This analysis suggests that dietary intake of certain nutrients may be associated with craniosynostosis, and results may vary by suture type.
Stress in Parents of a Child with Hemifacial Microsomia

Objective: Examine stress levels of parents of children with hemifacial microsomia (HFM) and the relationship of parental stress to child characteristics and cognitive coping strategies. Design: Prospective cross-sectional study. Participants and Setting: Parents with a child (age 3-19 years) with HFM (N = 31) were recruited through the Department of Orthodontics and the Craniofacial Center, Sophia-Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Intervention and Outcome Measures: The adapted and shortened Dutch version of the parental stress index (NOSI-K) was used to measure parental stress, and the cognitive emotion-regulation questionnaire was used to measure cognitive coping strategies. Pearson correlations and a multiple regression analysis were performed. Results: The hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed associations between increased parental stress and learning difficulties and use of acceptance as a coping strategy. This suggests that problems other than the characteristic visual appearance of the child's face in HFM have a greater influence on parental stress. Conclusions: Learning difficulties of the child with HFM and parental acceptance affect stress in parents with a child with HFM the most and are important in the search for a targeted tailoring of intervention for parents with high levels of parental stress.
RegressionDiscontinuity andHeteroskedasticity Robust Standard Errors : Evidence froma

In regression discontinuity designs (RD), for a given bandwidth, researchers can estimate standard errors based on different variance formulas obtained under different asymptotic frameworks. In the traditional approach the bandwidth shrinks to zero as sample size increases; alternatively, the bandwidth could be treated as fixed. The main theoretical results for RD rely on the former, while most applications in the literature treat the estimates as parametric, implementing the usual heteroskedasticity-robust standard errors. This paper develops the “fixed-bandwidth” alternative asymptotic theory for RD designs, which sheds light on the connection between both approaches. I provide alternative formulas (approximations) for the bias and variance of common RD estimators, and conditions under which both approximations are equivalent. Simulations document the improvements in test coverage that fixed-bandwidth approximations achieve relative to traditional approximations, especially when there is local heteroskedasticity. Feasible estimators of fixed-bandwidth standard errors are easy to implement and are akin to treating RD estimators as locally parametric, validating the common empirical practice of using heteroskedasticity-robust standard errors in RD settings. Bias mitigation approaches are discussed and a novel bootstrap higher-order bias correction procedure based on the fixed bandwidth asymptotics is suggested.
Development of an experimental system for characterization of high-temperature superconductors cooled by liquid hydrogen under the external magnetic field

An experimental system has been developed to investigate electro-magnetic properties of high-Tc superconductors cooled by liquid hydrogen under the external magnetic field of up to 7 T. A LH2 cryostat is concentrically mounted on the inside of a LHe cryostat to cool a NbTi superconducting magnet. The experimental system is installed in an explosion-proof room. Explosion proof electrical devices are used and current leads are covered with an enclosure filled with nitrogen gas. A remote control system has been developed. Furthermore, the effects of stray magnetic field on the existing and the new devices are investigated and electro-magnetic shielding panels and enclosure made of iron were designed. It is confirmed through the cryogenic test that the experimental system meets the design requirements.
A family-based intervention to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in adolescents: a pilot study

Abstract Objective To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a pilot family-based newsletter intervention to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption among adolescents. Design Family-based, two-group randomised control trial with baseline, post-intervention and follow-up measures. The intervention group received two FV newsletter packs over a 1 month period by postal mail. Social cognitive and behavioural choice theories provide the theoretical framework for the design and development of intervention materials. Control families were provided with all intervention materials at the end of the study. Adolescent FV consumption was assessed by an FFQ. Adolescent-reported barriers to eating FV, FV habits and preferences were the secondary outcomes, along with parent FV consumption, and parents reported knowledge, encouragement, home availability and accessibility of FV. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to detect differences in behavioural and psychosocial outcomes between groups, time and group-by-time. Setting East Midlands, UK. Subjects Forty-nine parents and adolescents aged 12–14 years. Results Process evaluation indicated high reach, dose acceptability and fidelity of the intervention. At post-intervention and 6 weeks later at follow-up, adolescents in the intervention group had significantly higher fruit: (P < 0·01) and vegetable (P < 0·05) consumption and higher preferences for vegetables (P < 0·01), compared with the control group. At post-intervention and follow-up, parents in the intervention group had significantly higher fruit (P < 0·001) and vegetable (P < 0·01) consumption and reported higher accessibility of fruit and vegetables (P < 0·001), compared with those in the control group. Conclusions Family-based, newsletter interventions promoting FV consumption to adolescents appear to be feasible and effective at increasing FV consumption.
Suicidal Ideation Among Medical Students: Prevalence and Predictors

Abstract Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among medical students, second to car accidents. We investigated the prevalence and predictors of suicidal ideation (SI) among medical students in Brazil. This is a cross-sectional study with 475 medical students of a public university. The research protocol included data on sociodemographics and academic life, and structured instruments to assess social support and psychopathological symptoms, including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The outcome was evaluated using the BDI suicide item. Bivariate analyses were followed by logistic regression. SI was present in 34 participants (7.2%). In the logistic regression, SI remained associated with living alone, thoughts of abandoning the course, moderate or severe depressive symptoms, and probable obsessive-compulsive disorder. SI is frequent among medical students and can be identified with a simple screening question. Special attention should be given to students living alone, with thoughts of abandoning the course, and relevant depressive or obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
A thermographic method for the evaluation of the iron losses distribution in electromagnetic devices

The Authors operate in the field regarding the development and realization of small electromagnetic and electromechanical devices, and the study of the required magnetic materials; for that purpose the availability of a method for evaluating with discrete accuracy the distribution of the iron losses in such devices should be very useful. At that aim a methodology is here proposed based on the use of a particular thermographic analysis; a special series of tests have been performed for obtaining the distribution of the iron losses inside the magnetic circuit. In this paper the method application has been carried out for the case of a small transformer. The results are encouraging and allow to think to apply the procedure for other devices and materials, such as for example, components realized with Soft Magnetic Materials (SMC).
Innovative solutions and applications for polymer light-emitting diodes

This work focuses on the development of new technical solutions for polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs). Treatments were developed to use innovative materials, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, as hole-transporting layers and surface modifiers on top of ITO. A processing treatment for the preparation of the polymeric emissive layer of PLEDs was also investigated which allowed the improvement of the on/off switching speed of the devices thus enabling their employment in novel applications for visible light communications. Graphene-based transparent thin films obtained via the exfoliation of graphite in the liquid phase were produced with a view of using them as surface modifiers of indium tin oxide (ITO) or as transparent electrodes in organic optoelectronic devices. As-deposited films are relatively resistive, but the sheet resistance was decreased by up to three orders of magnitude by thermal treatment down to values of 10E5 Ohm/square . The films were also chemically doped via the physisorption of the electron-withdrawing molecule (CF3SO2)2NH. This resulted in an increase of the work function by up to 0.5 eV , to yield a value of 5.3 eV comparable to what can be achieved with poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Thin films of liquid-phase exfoliated graphene and sorted single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were deposited on thin ITO layers ( 100 nm). The work function values of these films measured in air using the Kelvin probe were compared with the work function values measured via electroabsorption when the film is inside a device and in contact with the emissive polymer of the device’s active layer. The data shows that the latter appear to be 0.1/0.2 eV higher than those measured in air, whereas this difference is not present for ITO alone. This suggests a charge transfer at the interface of graphene films with the polymer layer. Finally, the thermal processing of the active layer of PLEDs was reported to increase the on/off speed of encapsulated devices by more than double to reach a cut-off frequency of approximately 260 kHz. The underlying mechanism was investigated. Unexpectedly, the increased speed of the device corresponds to the formation of crystalline domains that decrease the thin-film transistor mobility. The data suggest suggests an increase in the charge injection inside the active layer via a trap-assisted injection mechanism. Thanks to such optimisation processing a maximum data rate up to 55 Mbit/s can be envisaged by employing wavelength multiplexing with a high-performance artificial neural network (ANN) equalizer [1].
Imperatives and Intonation: The Case of the Down-Stepped Level Terminal Contour

Imperatives are associated with a wide range of illocutions and can function as commands, requests, offers, advice, well-wishes, etc. (Schmerling 1982). Recent work on imperatives (Portner 2007, Kaufmann 2012, Condoravdi & Lauer 2012, von Fintel & Iatridou 2017, a.o.) aims to reconcile their diverse illocutions with a unified semantics, which consists of a compositionally determined denotation and a sentence type convention for their discourse effect. Some researchers have also argued that intonation plays a key role in deriving distinct interpretations associated with imperatives (Portner 2015, Keough et al. 2016, Oikonomou 2016). However, it remains an open question how exactly intonation interacts with the imperative convention, and how the observed interpretations are derived on the basis of intonation, the effect of imperatives on the context, their content, and contextual conditions. In this paper, we present a case study that engages with these issues. We introduce a terminal contour that has so far received no attention in the context of imperatives and speech act theory. The contour is traditionally known as the ‘calling contour’ (Pike 1945) and is transcribable in ToBI as H* ! H-L%. We will henceforth refer to it as DLT, short for down-stepped level terminal contour. The name reflects the tune’s distinctive intonational profile and acknowledges that its meaning contribution makes it appropriate for uses that go well beyond calling someone. To give a more concrete sense of how the tune sounds, pitch contours of sample DLT imperatives are presented in Figure 1.1
Towards Trusted Social Networks with Blockchain Technology

Large-scale rumor spreading could pose severe social and economic damages. The emergence of online social networks along with the new media can even make rumor spreading more severe. Effective control of rumor spreading is of theoretical and practical significance. This paper takes the first step to understand how the blockchain technology can help limit the spread of rumors. Specifically, we develop a new paradigm for social networks embedded with the blockchain technology, which employs decentralized contracts to motivate trust networks as well as secure information exchange contract. We design a blockchain-based sequential algorithm which utilizes virtual information credits for each peer-to-peer information exchange. We validate the effectiveness of the blockchain-enabled social network on limiting the rumor spreading. Simulation results validate our algorithm design in avoiding rapid and intense rumor spreading, and motivate better mechanism design for trusted social networks.
Dimple formation and its elimination in multi-point forming for sheet metal

The formation of the defective dimple and its influencing factors in multi-point forming(MPF) process of sheet metal were analysed mechanically and it was indicated that dimpling defect could be eliminated evidently with elastic cushion.In the forming processes of MPF press and multi-step MPF,the restraint condition and deformation path of sheet metal were changed,and the forming defects were subdued,then the forming limitation was improved and large deformation could be achieved.Numerical results and forming tests of typical specimens demonstrate that dimples are eliminated effectively by means of elastic cushion and multi-step MPF.
Real-time PCR assay for quantitative mismatch detection.

We describe here a quantitative real-time PCR assay for the detection of single-base-pair differences that does not require fluorescently labeled gene-specific probes or complicated primer combinations. Following PCR or RT-PCR of a gene segment that may contain allele-specific differences, 100 pg amplified product are used for a real-time PCR with allele-specific primers and SYBR Green. The use of HEPES buffer at a pH of 6.95 together with AmpliTaq DNA polymerase results in a threshold difference between the correct template and the mismatched template of as many as 20 cycles, depending on the mismatch. Correct matches can be detected in an excess of mismatched template at least at the 0.01 level for the six primer-template matches versus mismatches tested: GC vs. A.C, AT vs. G.T, GC vs. C.C, GC vs. G.G, AT vs. C.T, and GC vs. G.A. Because the initial amplification is separate from real-time detection, conditions can be independently optimized for each step, making the assay particularly suitable for the detection of allele-specific expression in single cells.
RETRACTED: Differential expression of the angiotensin-(1-12)/chymase axis in human atrial tissue

OBJECTIVE Heart chymase rather than angiotensin converting enzyme has higher specificity for angiotensin (Ang) I conversion into Ang II in humans. A new pathway for direct cardiac Ang II generation has been revealed through the demonstration that Ang-(1-12) is cleaved by chymase to generate Ang II directly. We address here whether Ang-(1-12) and chymase gene expression and activity are detected in the atrial appendages of 44 patients (10 females) undergoing heart surgery for the correction of valvular heart disease, resistant atrial fibrillation or ischemic heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS Immunoreactive Ang-(1-12) expression was 54% higher in left atrial compared with right atrial appendages. This was associated with higher abundance of left atrial appendage chymase gene transcripts and chymase activity, but no differences in angiotensinogen mRNA. Atrial chymase enzymatic activity was highly correlated with left atrial but not right atrial enlargement as determined by echocardiography, while both tyrosine hydroxylase and neuropeptide Y atrial appendage mRNAs correlated with atrial angiotensinogen mRNAs. CONCLUSIONS Higher Ang-(1-12) expression and upregulation of chymase gene transcripts and enzymatic activity from the atrial appendages connected to the enlarged left versus right atrial chambers of subjects with left heart disease defines a role of this alternate Ang II forming pathway in the processes accompanying adverse atrial and ventricular remodeling.
Resource-Transition Circuits and Siphons for Deadlock Control of Automated Manufacturing Systems

The resource-transition circuit ( RTC) and siphon are two different structural objects of Petri nets and used to develop deadlock control policies for automated manufacturing systems. They are related to the liveness property of Petri net models and thus used to characterize and avoid deadlocks. Based on them, there are two kinds of methods for developing deadlock controllers. Such methods rely on the computation of all maximal perfect RTCs and strict minimal siphons (SMSs), respectively. This paper concentrates on a class of Petri nets called a system of simple sequential processes with resources, establishes the relation between two kinds of control methods, and identifies maximal perfect RTCs and SMSs. A graph-based technique is used to find all elementary RTC structures. They are then used to derive all RTCs. Next, an iterative method is developed to recursively construct all maximal perfect RTCs from elementary ones. Finally, a one-to-one correspondence between SMSs and maximal perfect RTCs and, hence, an equivalence between two deadlock control methods are established.
Silicon Nitride Photonic Integration Platforms for Visible, Near-Infrared and Mid-Infrared Applications

Silicon nitride photonics is on the rise owing to the broadband nature of the material, allowing applications of biophotonics, tele/datacom, optical signal processing and sensing, from visible, through near to mid-infrared wavelengths. In this paper, a review of the state of the art of silicon nitride strip waveguide platforms is provided, alongside the experimental results on the development of a versatile 300 nm guiding film height silicon nitride platform.
Data Mining of Pancreatic Cancer Protein Databases

: Data mining of protein databases poses special challenges because many protein databases are non-relational whereas most data mining and machine learning algorithms assume the input data to be a type of relational database that is also representable as an ARFF ﬁle. We developed a method to restructure protein databases so that they become amenable for various data mining and machine learning tools. Our restructuring method enabled us to apply both decision tree and support vector machine classiﬁers to a pancreatic protein database. The SVM classiﬁer that used both GO term and PFAM families to characterize proteins gave us over 73% accuracy in predicting whether a protein is involved in pancreatic cancer.
Characteristics of North American Meat & Bone Meal Relevant to the Development of Non-feed Applications

Unmarketable animal tissues are typically processed by rendering plants, which transform them into meat & bone meal (MBM) or similar products. MBM’s traditional use as animal feed has become increasingly threatened, but MBM has potential for non-feed applications. Development of new products and processes is hindered by lack of reliable data on many of MBM’s chemical and physical properties. MBM samples as well as data on raw material and process were collected from 19 rendering facilities in the United States and Canada. A large majority of the raw material was tissue from cattle, swine and poultry. All facilities surveyed practiced continuous dry rendering; 89% of the facilities use continuous cookers and 11% use falling film evaporators. MBM is high in protein (44.6-62.8%, mfb), but this protein is poorly soluble; at pH 7 solubility ranged from 2.20 to 7.22 %. Among all samples, the particles’ median geometric mean diameter was 387 im, and the size distribution was broad. The median density of MBM particles was 1.41 (g/ml); median density of MBM in bulk ranged from 0.50 g/ml when loose-filled to 0.68 g/ml when packed. pH values of the samples ranged from 5.89 to 7.19 and samples containing the most cattle tissue had the highest pH. Thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity values for both loose-filled and packed MBM are reported, as well as CIE L*a*b* color values.
Plant species accumulation curves are determined by evenness and spatial aggregation in drylands worldwide.

Species accumulation curves (SAC), i.e. the relationship between species richness and the number of sampling units in a given community, can be used to describe diversity patterns while accounting for the well-known scale-dependence of species richness. Despite their value, the functional form and the parameters of SAC, as well as their determinants, have barely been investigated in plant communities, particularly in drylands. We characterized the SAC of perennial plant communities from 233 dryland ecosystems from six continents by comparing the fit of major functions (power-law, logarithmic and Michaelis-Menten). We tested the theoretical prediction that the effects of aridity and soil pH on SAC are mediated by vegetation attributes such as evenness, cover, and spatial aggregation. We found that the logarithmic relationship was the most common functional form, followed by Michaelis-Menten and power-law. Functional form was mainly determined by evenness while the SAC parameters (intercept and slope) were largely determined by spatial aggregation. In addition, aridity decreased small scale richness (intercept of SAC) but did not affect accumulation rate (slope of the SAC). Our results highlight the role that attributes such as spatial aggregation and evenness play as main mediators of the SAC of vegetation in drylands, the Earth's largest biome.