Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
German Guidelines on Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders

Evidence-based strategies for screening, diagnosing and treating alcohol use disorders (AUD) are instrumental in the early and better management of individuals at risk for or suffering from AUD. However, existing guidelines vary and may be biased by conflicts of interests. Unbiased recommendations can be achieved only if sufficient detail is provided on the composition and representativeness of author groups, methodological rigor, handling of potential conflicts of interest and financing. This paper presents the first evidence-based guidelines for AUD from German-speaking countries. These guidelines are based on the work of delegates from a representative sample of 46 scientific societies (mostly medical) from Austria, Germany and Switzerland dealing with AUD. It also included patients and relatives. Recommendations were derived from a standardised hierarchical process involving quality controls drawn from existing guidelines, de novo literature searches and/or expert experience. Potential conflicts of interest were assessed yearly and led to exclusion from voting in specific areas. An overall cost of more than 400,000€ (for alcohol and tobacco guidelines) were exclusively covered by the participating societies and academic institutions. More than 100 recommendations on screening, diagnostics and treatment of AUD are outlined in this paper, and their scientific background is given in the online supplementary material. Tables of aggregated study synopses (in English) and the full version of guidelines (in German) are available (see “Links”).
ADOPTION OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY IN INDONESIA: Impact to Teacher Education and Professional Development

The paper discussed the implication of adopting international education policy in Indonesia through international development aid and funding. Specific implications to teacher education and teacher professional development was discussed by analyzing two education reforms enacted in 1980 to 1990’s. The paper describes implementation processes and challenges faced by the programs from local dynamics especially on how social, political and historical influence teacher identity as well as teaching culture. The implications to school, district as well as national policy was discussed in light of uniformity of educational system by dissemination of best practices and model of education through aid and other cooperative projects. Local responses to international education policy is increasingly relevant to ensure education reform will respond local needs and sensitive to local context.Artikel ini mendiskusikan implikasi dari mengadopsi kebijakan international di Indonesia melalui dana dan bantuan international. Khususnya, dampak pada pendidikan guru dan perkembangan professional guru dikaji melalui dua program pendidikan yang diterapkan pada tahun 1980-an hingga 1990-an. Deskripsi dari pelaksanaan dan tantangan yang dihadapi dalam implementasi program tersebut dilihat dari konteks local dimana pengaruh social, politik dan sejarah mewarnai konsepsi identitas guru serta budaya pengajaran di sekolah. Implikasi pada kebijakan sekolah, pemerintah local dan nasional dimana kecenderungan akan penyeragaman system pendidikan terjadi melalui kerjasama dan bantuan juga dijabarkan. Artikel ini menekankan pentingnya respon local yang relevan terhadap penerapan kebijakan pendidikan internasional agar sensitive terhadap kebutuhan dan konteks local itu sendiri.
Do Recent Seizures and Recent Changes in Antiepileptic Drugs Impact Performances on Neuropsychological Tests in Subtle Ways that Might Easily Be Missed?

Summary: Purpose: The possibility that a recent seizure or a recent change in antiepileptic medication might produce an occult change in neuropsychological performance is of interest, and especially so in the context of evaluation for epilepsy surgery. Such an evaluation is often done in a setting of video‐EEG monitoring where a strong effort is made to produce seizures as quickly as possible with abrupt changes in medication, alterations in sleep, etc., which could impact the validity of neuropsychological findings.
Theoretical Modeling of Elliptic Curve Scalar Multiplier on LUT-Based FPGAs for Area and Speed

This paper uses a theoretical model to approximate the delay of different characteristic two primitives used in an elliptic curve scalar multiplier architecture (ECSMA) implemented on k input lookup table (LUT)-based field-programmable gate arrays. Approximations are used to determine the delay of the critical paths in the ECSMA. This is then used to theoretically estimate the optimal number of pipeline stages and the ideal placement of each stage in the ECSMA. This paper illustrates suitable scheduling for performing point addition and doubling in a pipelined data path of the ECSMA. Finally, detailed analyses, supported with experimental results, are provided to design the fastest scalar multiplier over generic curves. Experimental results for GF(2163) show that, when the ECSMA is suitably pipelined, the scalar multiplication can be performed in only 9.5 μs on a Xilinx Virtex V. Notably the design has an area which is significantly smaller than other reported high-speed designs, which is due to the better LUT utilization of the underlying field primitives.
Factors Associated with Symptomatic Vulvovaginal Candidiasis: A Study among Women Attending a Primary Healthcare Clinic in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Background: Symptomatic vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is one of the most common problems leading women to seek advice in primary healthcare facilities. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the associations between some hypothesized factors and the presence of symptomatic VVC. Subjects and Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 90 women diagnosed with symptomatic VVC and 108 women without symptomatic VVC were recruited when attending Umlazi D clinic, a primary health clinic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between June 2011 and December 2011. Confirmed symptomatic VVC was determined by Gram stain and microbiological culture of vaginal swabs. For human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women, HIV ribonucleic acid load in plasma and genital fluid was determined by real-time-polymerase chain reaction (BioMerieux, Lyon, France). CD4 counts were obtained from patients′ medical records. Data were analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 (SPSS Inc.; Chicago, IL, USA). Multiple logistic regression models were used to exclude univariate confounders. All tests were two-sided and a P < 0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: A total of 90% (81/90) of patients with symptomatic VVC complained of vulval itching, soreness and vaginal discharge when compared to 75.9% (82/108) of patients without symptomatic VVC (P < 0.01). Whilst pregnancy was independently associated with symptomatic VVC (P < 0.01), the latter was inversely related to Nugent′s scores (P < 0.01). When compared with HIV negative women, the odds for symptomatic VVC increased among women with HIV-associated immunocompromise (CD4 counts < 200 cells/mm 3 , P < 0.001), significantly shedding HIV in their genital tracts (P = 0.04), with plasma HIV load > 1000 copies/mL (P < 0.001). There was a significant negative association between the use of highly active anti-retroviral therapy and the presence of symptomatic VVC in HIV-infected women (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Although symptomatic VVC is not classified as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related condition, HIV-related immune compromised women and particularly those who are anti-retroviral therapy-naïve are likely to develop symptomatic VVC.
Another Look at Dollar Cost Averaging

Dollar cost averaging—spreading an investor’s stock purchases evenly over time—is widely touted in the popular press because of the mathematical fact that the average cost per share is less than the average price. The academic press has generally been skeptical and attributes dollar cost averaging’s popularity to investor naiveté and cognitive errors. Yet, dollar cost averaging continues to be recommended by knowledgeable investors as a sensible way to avoid ill-timed purchases. The authors argue that dollar cost averaging is, in fact, an imperfect but helpful strategy for diversifying investment decisions across time.
MMS6 Protein Regulates Crystal Morphology during Nano-sized Magnetite Biomineralization in Vivo*

Biomineralization, the process by which minerals are deposited by organisms, has attracted considerable attention because this mechanism has shown great potential to inspire bottom-up material syntheses. To understand the mechanism for morphological regulation that occurs during biomineralization, many regulatory proteins have been isolated from various biominerals. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the morphology of biominerals remain unclear because there is a lack of in vivo evidence. Magnetotactic bacteria synthesize intracellular magnetosomes that comprise membrane-enveloped single crystalline magnetite (Fe3O4). These nano-sized magnetite crystals (<100 nm) are bacterial species dependent in shape and size. Mms6 is a protein that is tightly associated with magnetite crystals. Based on in vitro experiments, this protein was first implicated in morphological regulation during nano-sized magnetite biomineralization. In this study, we analyzed the mms6 gene deletion mutant (Δmms6) of Magnetospirillum magneticum (M. magneticum) AMB-1. Surprisingly, the Δmms6 strain was found to synthesize the smaller magnetite crystals with uncommon crystal faces, while the wild-type and complementation strains synthesized highly ordered cubo-octahedral crystals. Furthermore, deletion of mms6 gene led to drastic changes in the profiles of the proteins tightly bound to magnetite crystals. It was found that Mms6 plays a role in the in vivo regulation of the crystal structure to impart the cubo-octahedral morphology to the crystals during biomineralization in magnetotactic bacteria. Magnetotactic bacteria synthesize magnetite crystals under ambient conditions via a highly controlled morphological regulation system that uses biological molecules.
Cigarette smoking behavior among US Latino men and women from different countries of origin.

OBJECTIVES This study sought to compare smoking behavior among Latino men and women from different countries of origin. METHODS A telephone-administered survey was conducted in 8 cities with Latino men and women of different national origin living in census tracts with at least 70% Latino individuals. RESULTS A total of 8882 participants completed the survey; 53% were women. The average age of respondents was 44 years; 63% were foreign-born, and 59% preferred Spanish for the interview. Current smoking was more prevalent among men (25.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 23.7, 26.3) than among women (12.1%, 95% CI = 11.1, 13.0). Smoking rates were not significantly different by national origin among men, but Puerto Rican women had higher rates of smoking than other women. Central American men and women had the lowest smoking rates. Foreign-born respondents were less likely to be smokers (odds ratio [OR] = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.66, 0.90) than US-born respondents, and respondents with 12 years or less of education had an increased odds of smoking (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.01, 1.35). High ac culturation was associated with more smoking in women (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.00-1.25) and less smoking in men (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.78-0.95). Puerto Rican and Cuban respondents were more likely to be current smokers and to smoke more than 20 cigarettes per day. CONCLUSIONS Older, US-born, and more-educated respondents were less likely to be current smokers. Respondents of Puerto Rican and Cuban origin were more likely to smoke. Acculturation has divergent effects on smoking behavior by sex.
Increase in final stages of follicular atresia and premature decay of corpora lutea in Insl3‐deficient mice

The insulin‐like factor 3 (Insl3), a member of the insulin‐like hormone family, is exclusively synthesized in gonads. Our recent analysis of Insl3‐deficient mice revealed the regulating role of the Insl3 factor on the gubernaculum development during the transabdominal descent of the testis. Here we define the role of the Insl3 factor by histometric analysis of wild‐type and Insl3−/− ovaries. Ovaries from 40‐day‐old‐ and 6‐month‐old Insl3−/− mice as well as from wild‐type littermates were serially sectioned. Sections were stained with periodic acid Schiff reaction (PAS) for counting the number of zonae pellucidae which indicated the final stages of follicular atresia. Corpora lutea were also determined. Some sections were processed using either a modified TUNEL method for in situ detection of apoptosis or a lectin labelling technique with Griffonia simplicifolia I agglutinin (GS I) for endothelial cell occurrence. The number of zonae pellucidae was higher in Insl3‐deficient ovaries of both ages than in ovaries of wild‐type sisters (P < 0.05 for 40‐day‐old ovaries; P < 0.01 for 6‐month‐old ovaries). Additionally, the wild‐type mice of both ages possessed threefold more corpora lutea than their Insl3 littermates (P < 0.01 for 40‐day‐old; P < 0.001 for 6‐month‐old). In general, wild‐type corpora lutea looked healthy, showed GS I‐positive endothelial cells and no apoptotic cells. Corpora lutea from mutants were rich in regressing GS I luteal cells, and apoptotic cells appeared. We conclude: Follicular atresia and luteolysis are accelerated in ovaries of Insl3‐deficient mice probably because of increased apoptosis. The Insl3 function thus appears to rescue endocrine cells from the apoptotic pathway. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 58:281–286, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Multilevel transformerless topologies for single-phase grid-connected converters

Multilevel voltage source inverters synthesize the AC output terminal voltage from several levels of voltages, stepped waveforms can be produced, which approach the reference waveform with low harmonic distortion, thus reducing filter requirements. The need of several sources on the DC side of the converter makes multilevel technology attractive for photovoltaic and fuel cells applications. For low-power grid connected applications a single phase converter can be used and it is possible to remove the transformer in the inverter in order to reduce losses, costs and size. Galvanic connection of the grid and the DC sources in transformerless systems can introduce additional leakage currents due to the earth capacitance. This currents increase conducted and radiated electromagnetic emissions, harmonics injected in the utility grid and looses. Amplitude and spectrum of leakage current depends not only on converter topology, it depends also on switching strategy and resonant circuit formed by the ground capacitance, the converter, the AC filter and the grid. In this paper several topologies are analyzed and compared focusing on leakage current potential
CD4-Independent Use of Rhesus CCR5 by Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 Implicates an Electrostatic Interaction between the CCR5 N Terminus and the gp120 C4 Domain

ABSTRACT Envelope glycoproteins (Envs) of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) are frequently able to use chemokine receptors, CXCR4 or CCR5, in the absence of CD4. However, while these Envs are commonly dual-tropic, no isolate has been described to date that is CD4 independent on both CXCR4 and CCR5. In this report we show that a variant of HIV-2/NIHz, termed HIV-2/vcp, previously shown to utilize CXCR4 without CD4, is also CD4 independent on rhesus (rh) CCR5, but requires CD4 to fuse with human (hu) CCR5. The critical determinant for this effect was an acidic amino acid at position 13 in the CCR5 N terminus, which is an asparagine in huCCR5 and an aspartic acid in rhCCR5. Transferring the huCCR5 N terminus with an N13D substitution to CCR2b or CXCR2 was sufficient to render these heterologous chemokine receptors permissive for CD4-independent fusion. Chimeric Envs between HIV-2/vcp and a CD4-dependent clone of HIV-2/NIHz as well as site-directed Env mutations implicated a positively charged amino acid (lysine or arginine) at position 427 in the C4 region of the HIV-2/vcpenv gene product (VCP) gp120 as a key determinant for this phenotype. Because CD4-independent use of CCR5 mapped to a negatively charged amino acid in the CCR5 N terminus and a positively charged amino acid in the gp120 C4 domain, an electrostatic interaction between these residues or domains is likely. Although not required for CD4-dependent fusion, this interaction may serve to increase the binding affinity of Env and CCR5 and/or to facilitate subsequent conformational changes that are required for fusion. Because the structural requirements for chemokine receptor use by HIV are likely to be more stringent in the absence of CD4, CD4-independent viruses should be particularly useful in dissecting molecular events that are critical for viral entry.
Approximate score‐based testing with application to multivariate trait association analysis

For genome‐wide association studies and DNA sequencing studies, several powerful score‐based tests, such as kernel machine regression and sum of powered score tests, have been proposed in the last few years. However, extensions of these score‐based tests to more complex models, such as mixed‐effects models for analysis of multiple and correlated traits, have been hindered by the unavailability of the score vector, due to either no output from statistical software or no closed‐form solution at all. We propose a simple and general method to asymptotically approximate the score vector based on an asymptotically normal and consistent estimate of a parameter vector to be tested and its (consistent) covariance matrix. The proposed method is applicable to both maximum‐likelihood estimation and estimating function‐based approaches. We use the derived approximate score vector to extend several score‐based tests to mixed‐effects models. We demonstrate the feasibility and possible power gains of these tests in association analysis of multiple and correlated quantitative or binary traits with both real and simulated data. The proposed method is easy to implement with a wide applicability.
A Method for the Study of Therapeutic Factors in Group Psychotherapy

Summary A method is described for the study of therapeutic factors in group therapy in which patients and their therapists prepare brief reports at regular intervals about those events in treatment which they regard as important; these reports are then assigned by independent judges to a classification of therapeutic factors which has been specifically devised for this purpose. The feasibility, validity and reliability of the method are discussed and its potential application to group therapy research and training briefly mentioned.
Ca2+‐dependent K+ currents and spike‐frequency adaptation in medial entorhinal cortex layer II stellate cells

The entorhinal cortex (EC), located in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) of the brain, plays an important functional role in the MTL memory circuit. Medial EC (MEC) Layer II stellate cells (SCs) serve as one of the most prominent target cell types within the EC for inputs arising from higher cortical areas, and these same cells provide most of the output from the EC to the hippocampal region. We used the whole‐cell patch clamp technique in a rat in vitro slice preparation to test whether SCs express afterhyperpolarization (AHP) currents and if these currents can be modulated. Our results revealed that SCs contain medium (mIK(Ca)) and slow (sIAHP) Ca2+‐dependent K+ currents. Furthermore, we determined that an apamin‐sensitive current does not underlie the mAHP in SCs. Our studies also showed that a cAMP‐dependent modulation process significantly reduces mIK(Ca), sIAHP, and spike‐frequency adaptation in MEC Layer II SCs. Modulation of the firing pattern of SCs resulting from this effect may play an important role in the encoding of information related to memory processes. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Government Spending and Economic Growth Process in Nigeria

This study empirically investigates the effect of government spending on different sectors of the economy and their responsive contribution to economic growth between the periods 1970 and 2015 using various components of government expenditure (i.e., expenditure on administration, economic service, social and community service and transfer). The study uses parsimonious error correction model, corrolegram test and granger causality test among orders. The output of the parsimonious error correction model reveals that all the explanatory variables under investigation failed the test of hypothesis judging by 5% level of significant except for government expenditure on social economic services, which exhibit a significant relationship to economic growth at both lag values. The output of granger causality test reports the existence of unilateral causality nexus between economic growth and expenditure on economic services in favour of gross domestic product. The result of the causality test validates the postulation of Wagner (1958) whose theory exerts that as the economy is experiencing growth, government expenditure on various sectors of the economic increases. The study then concluded that increase in government expenditure on social community services and economic services is capable of promoting economic growth in Nigeria; hence, the study recommends that Government should make effort to diversify the economy by investing more on social community service and economic service sectors so as to limit over dependency on the oil sector that cannot boast of accommodating 0.001% of the Nigerian population.
Use of AUDIT-based measures to identify unhealthy alcohol use and alcohol dependence in primary care: a validation study.

BACKGROUND As programs for screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for unhealthy alcohol use disseminate, evidence-based approaches for identifying patients with unhealthy alcohol use and alcohol dependence (AD) are needed. While the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Clinician Guide suggests use of a single alcohol screening question (SASQ) for screening and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual checklists for assessment, many SBIRT programs use alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) "zones" for screening and assessment. Validation data for these zones are limited. This study used primary care data from a bi-ethnic southern U.S. population to examine the ability of the AUDIT zones and other AUDIT-based approaches to identify unhealthy alcohol use and dependence. METHODS Existing data were analyzed from interviews with 625 female and male adult drinkers presenting to 5 southeastern primary care practices. Timeline follow-back was used to identify at-risk drinking, and diagnostic interview schedule was used to identify alcohol abuse and dependence. Validity measures compared performance of AUDIT, AUDIT-C, and AUDIT dependence domains scores, with and without a 30-day binge drinking measure, for detecting unhealthy alcohol use and dependence. RESULTS Optimal AUDIT scores for detecting unhealthy alcohol use were lower than current commonly used cutoffs (5 for men, 3 for women). Improved performance was obtained by combining AUDIT cutoffs of 6 for men and 4 for women with a 30-day binge drinking measure. AUDIT scores of 15 for men and 13 for women detected AD with 100% specificity but low sensitivity (20 and 18%, respectively). AUDIT dependence subscale scores of 2 or more showed similar specificity (99%) and slightly higher sensitivity (31% for men, 24% for women). CONCLUSIONS Combining lower AUDIT cutoff scores and binge drinking measures may increase the detection of unhealthy alcohol use in primary care. Use of lower cutoff scores and dependence subscale scores may increase diagnosis of AD; however, better measures for detecting dependence are needed.