Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do logbooks influence recall of physical activity in validation studies?

PURPOSE To examine whether physical activity logbooks influence estimates of validity of 7-d recall physical activity questionnaires. METHODS A convenience sample of 551 adults aged 18-75 yr wore an MTI accelerometer for seven consecutive days and were then randomly administered two of four 7-d recall physical activity questionnaires that varied in length and format (Active Australia Survey (AAS), long and short International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ-L and IPAQ-S), and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)). A subsample of 75% concurrently completed a physical activity logbook. RESULTS Correlations (rho) between self-reported and measured duration of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity and total activity were similar among participants who received a logbook and those who did not for each of the four instruments. There was also no interaction between assessment method (survey, accelerometer) and the assignment of a logbook. For the IPAQ-L, however, variability in the difference between accelerometer data and responses to the vigorous items was smaller among those assigned a logbook (F = 4.128, df = 260, P = 0.043). Overall, there were no differences in percent agreement or kappa for participation in sufficient levels of physical activity according to receipt of a logbook for any of the surveys. CONCLUSION The process of self-monitoring through completion of a logbook does not appear to influence estimates of validity for brief or long questionnaires with global questions. Whereas the magnitude of error in accuracy of recall of particular types of activity may be reduced by completion of a logbook that is similar in structure to the survey being validated, this does not appear to influence overall estimates of validity.
Religiosity and Life Satisfaction in Russia: Evidence from the Russian Data

Does religiosity make you happy? Many studies document positive associations between religiosity and various forms of subjective wellbeing. This is also true for general life satisfaction in normal economic conditions and in the case of economic shocks. However, both life satisfaction and religiosity may be correlated with unobserved individual and household traits or unobserved life shocks which can relate to reverse causality. These facts result in endogeneity and make ordinary least square estimates biased. In our study, we employ two methods to avoid possible endogeneity issues – we use fixed effects and instrumental variable estimations. Using Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE) data and different econometric models, we document positive associations between religiosity and life satisfaction. In particular, fixed effect and instrumental variable regressions provide evidence for a positive effect of religiosity.
Measurement of leptin in dried blood spot samples

Leptin is important in a wide range of physiological processes, but logistical constraints associated with venipuncture blood collection have limited research on leptin in diverse, community‐based settings. The aim of this short report is to present and validate an enzyme immunoassay method for quantifying leptin in samples of capillary whole blood collected from a simple finger prick and dried on filter paper. The method was evaluated through analysis of precision, reliability, stability, and comparisons with matched plasma and blood spot samples. We report acceptable levels of assay precision and reliability, and good agreement between results obtained from matched plasma and blood spot samples (r = 0.976, P < 0.001). Leptin concentrations begin to deteriorate after only 3 days at room temperature. Thus, care should be taken to refrigerate or freeze samples promptly. The relative ease of blood spot sample collection may facilitate research on leptin in a wider range of cultural and ecological settings. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 18:857–860, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Supplementation of Rotator Cuff Repair with a Bioresorbable Scaffold *

Background Repair of a torn rotator cuff should have sufficient initial strength of the fixation to permit appropriate rehabilitation. Hypothesis Augmentation with a woven polylactic acid scaffold strengthens repairs of the rotator cuff. Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Methods In the suture-anchor model, 10 pairs of sheep infraspinatus tendons were detached and repaired to suture anchors. In half of the matched specimens, the repair was reinforced with a woven poly-lactic acid scaffold repaired with the tendon to bone. In the bone-bridge model, sutures were passed through a trough and over a bone bridge distal to the greater tuberosity; half were reinforced by the scaffold. The repairs were tested to failure with a hydraulic testing machine. Results The mean ultimate strength of suture-anchor repairs augmented with the scaffold (167.3 ± 53.9 N) was significantly greater than that of nonaugmented fixation (133.2 ± 38.2 N). Failure occurred when the tendon pulled through the sutures; the scaffold remained intact. Scaffold reinforcement of the bone bridge significantly increased the ultimate strength from 374.6 ± 117.6 N to 480.9 ± 89.2 N, and the scaffold remained intact in 8 of 10 specimens. Conclusions The scaffold significantly increased the initial strength of rotator cuff repair by approximately 25%.
Incidental chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in a biopsy of Merkel cell carcinoma

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) shows cutaneous involvement in 2% of cases. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare primary cutaneous epithelial neoplasm most commonly found in sun‐exposed sites in elderly male Caucasians. A 66‐year‐old man presented with a 2‐month history of a purple painless 2 cm tumor on the scalp. Excision biopsy revealed an incompletely excised MCC, and at the periphery of the MCC, a lymphocytic infiltrate interpreted as reactive. A re‐excision biopsy showed residual MCC as well as dense aggregates of small lymphocytes within and surrounding the MCC. Immunohistochemistry showed characteristic dot‐like cytoplasmic positivity for cytokeratin 20 in the MCC; the lymphocytic infiltrate was positive for CD5, CD20 and CD23, diagnostic of CLL. Subsequent staging revealed widespread lymphadenopathy, and lymph node biopsy showed CLL. Histologically, CLL and MCC are ‘round blue cell tumors’ and are therefore in the differential diagnoses of each other. Whenever there is a more prominent than expected infiltrate of small lymphocytes surrounding a skin lesion in an elderly patient, immunohistochemistry to rule out CLL is advised. This case adds to the literature suggesting an increased incidence of CLL and other neoplasms in patients with MCC and vice versa.
Antennal sensory system of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana: Postembryonic development and morphology of the sense organs

Antennal growth in the cockroach, Periplaneta americana, takes place by division of the meriston (third antennal segment) and the meristal segments at the base of the antennal flagellum. Olfactory and contact chemoreceptive sense organs are the most numerous receptor organs on the antenna at all stages of postembryonic development. The sensory complement of male and female antennae is identical during the nymphal period, but a large difference between sexes appears at the adult stage. The adult male has nearly twice as many olfactory sensilla as the female, and more than half of these sensilla appear at the adult stage. These morphological data are consistent with the hypothesis that sensory receptors specific to the female sex attractant appear in the male only at the adult stage.
The Czech Housing Market Through the Lens of a DSGE Model Containing Collateral-Constrained Households

We incorporate a housing market with liquidity-constrained households into the Czech National Bank's core forecasting model (g3) to analyze the relationship between housing market and aggregate fluctuations in a small open economy framework. We discuss the historical shock decomposition of house prices and interpret the results in the light of recent empirical work. For a wide range of model calibrations, the interaction between the housing market and the aggregate economy is weak and so the monetary policy implications of house price fluctuations for the Czech Republic are not strong. We interpret this â€“ in line with recent empirical evidence â€“ as an indication that the wealth effects stemming from house ownership are not significant in the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, we show that the collateral mechanism significantly improves the forecasting properties of the extended model, especially for private consumption. This indicates the importance of the collateral effect, which can be caused by assets other than houses.
Reporting of long-term extension studies: lack of consistency calls for consensus

Double-blind, randomised controlled studies represent the gold-standard approach to determine the safety and efficacy of therapeutic interventions. In chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), long-term data are vital to confirm maintenance of effect and identify potential safety signals. The recent introduction of numerous biological therapies for RA has been followed by various long-term extension (LTE) studies. Although useful, the design and method of analysis in such studies vary significantly, partly due to their complexity. This viewpoint highlights general considerations needed when undertaking a LTE study and illustrates the lack of consistency in studies of RA to date. It addresses issues of selection bias, patient discontinuation and missing data. Although used for safety reporting, the lack of adequate powering makes LTE studies of limited benefit. Ethical considerations and challenges are highlighted, including potential conflicts of interest. Finally, the authors suggest the need for consensus to ensure more reliable interpretation and application of data for clinical practice. Following the development of guidelines on reporting of clinical trials in RA and more recently, registry data, a similar approach for LTE studies would be a useful endeavour.
Destination After Entering Foster Care: Road Toward Stability

The duration of children stay in a temporary foster care system needs to be minimal in order to ensure a stable and successful life. However, a time‐consuming procedure of investigations is usually taken to decide whether they can reunite with their birth parents. Moreover, if the child fails to reunite with their family, another discharge decision needs to be assessed, leading to even longer time without a normal life. Based on the data from Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), this thesis derives a prediction model to discriminate the children with a tendency of unsuccessful reuni‐ fication from the rest. An alternative discharge option can therefore be prepared concurrently for the foster youth with high non‐reunification probability. The model is obtained by logistic regression and evaluated with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.
Mutual Health Insurance and the Contribution to Improvements in Child Health in Rwanda

The mutual health insurance ( Mutuelle de Sante ) system in Rwanda is one of the most extensive community based health insurance schemes operated in Sub'Saharan Africa covering over 90 per cent of the population. Several studies, so far, have documented the success of the Mutuelle de Sante in addressing the two prime objectives of health insurance in a low' income setting, namely to increase access to health care and to reduce the burden of catastrophic health spending particularly for the poorer groups of society. This paper builds on these earlier works on the Mutuelle de Sante but despite considering the overall population, it aims to provide more detailed insights on the effects of the Mutuelle by concentrating on the role of mutual health insurance coverage for child health. In order to identify the effect of health insurance enrolment on measures of care and health we propose an instrumental variable approach. The analysis in this paper is based on data from the 2010 Rwandan Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) and administrative records on insurance coverage and health facility infrastructure. Overall, our results do confirm the positive perceptions and show that Mutuelle enrolment increases the probability of small children receiving medical treatment when ill. Furthermore, we also find a positive effect on children's health status documented through improvements in height'for'age z' scores. Unlike some studies from other contexts do we not find any indications that insurance coverage leads households to reduce preventative measures, quite to the contrary, our results rather suggest that insured households are more precautionary.
Protective effect of beta‐carotene against titanium dioxide nanoparticles induced apoptosis in mouse testicular tissue

In this study, the effects of beta‐carotene (BC) on testicular germ cell apoptosis arising from titanium dioxide nanoparticles (NTiO2) have been evaluated. In NTiO2‐treated mice, expression of apoptotic related genes including Bid, FasL, caspase‐3 and p38MAPK was significantly increased. Measurement apoptosis using TUNEL method showed significant increase in apoptotic index of germ cells in NTiO2‐treated mice (P < 0.05). TUNEL assessments showed that the increase of apoptotic index of testicular germ cells in NTiO2‐treated mice was reversed by BC. Beta‐carotene pre‐treatment could also effectively attenuate the expression of apoptotic related genes. The application of BC may serve as a beneficial medication to protect germ cells against apoptosis induced by nanoparticles and be helpful for male fertility.
Are Analysts Whose Forecast Revisions Correlate Less with Prior Stock Price Changes Better Information Producers and Monitors?

We propose an ex ante measure of analysts’ production of private information (PPI) based on the correlations between analysts’ forecast revisions and prior stock price changes. We validate this measure by examining whether analysts with lower correlations (higher PPI) provide more information value to various stakeholders and monitor managerial behavior more effectively. We find that the stock price impacts of forecast revisions issued by analysts with higher PPI are larger than those issued by analysts with lower PPI. We also find that firms' investment sensitivity to stock prices is higher and that boards of directors rely more on analysts’ forecast errors in their CEO turnover decisions when firms are followed by analysts with higher PPI. In addition, we find that firms followed by analysts with higher PPI exhibit lower accrual discretion and are less likely to restate earnings. Overall, our findings suggest PPI captures analysts’ ability to produce private information and that analysts with higher PPI are better information producers and monitors.
Children's knowledge of hierarchical phrase structure: quantifier floating in Japanese*

Abstract The interpretation of floating quantifiers in Japanese requires knowledge of hierarchical phrase structure. However, the input to children is insufficient or even misleading, as our analysis indicates. This presents an intriguing question on learnability: do children interpret floating quantifiers based on a structure-dependent rule which is not obvious in the input or do they employ a sentence comprehension strategy based on the available input? Two experiments examined four- to six-year-old Japanese-speaking children for their interpretations of floating quantifiers in SOV and OSV sentences. The results revealed that no child employed a comprehension strategy in terms of the linear ordering of constituents, and most five- and six-year-olds correctly interpreted floating quantifiers when word-order difficulty was reduced. These facts indicate that children's interpretation of floating quantifiers is structurally dependent on hierarchical phrase structure, suggesting that this knowledge is a part of children's grammar despite the insufficient input available to them.
Technology In-Sourcing and the Creation of Pioneering Technologies

This study analyzes the effect of different external technology sourcing modes on the creation of radical innovation in companies. Moreover, since prior research has indicated that exploration consists of looking beyond both organizational and technological boundaries, the role of technological distance between the partnering firms and the role of technological newness are also included. In particular, this paper examines how they affect the relationship between external technology sourcing and the creation of pioneering technologies (technologies that do not build on any existing technologies), which are used as a proxy for radical innovations. Using a sample of companies that were from the pharmaceutical industry, the results indicate that strategic alliances and corporate venture capital investments have a positive effect on the creation of pioneering technologies, whereas the effect of M&As is found to be negative. Additionally, the results show that the impact of these governance modes on the creation of pioneering technology is indeed affected by the newness of the technology and relatedness of the technological portfolios of the partnering firms. A larger technological distance between the two partnering firms increases the effect of strategic alliances on the creation of pioneering technologies. In addition, the results indicate that technological newness weakens the positive effect of CVC investments and non-equity alliances on the creation of pioneering technologies.
Prevalence and mortality of abdominal compartment syndrome in severely injured patients: A systematic review

BACKGROUND Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) in severely injured patients is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Many efforts have been made to improve outcome of patients with ACS. A treatment algorithm for ACS patients was introduced on January 1, 2005 by the World Society of the Abdominal Compartment Syndrome. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and mortality rate of ACS among severely injured patients before and after January 1, 2005 using a systematic literature review. METHOD Databases of Embase, Medline (OvidSP), Web of Science, CINAHL, CENTRAL, PubMed publisher, and Google Scholar were searched for terms related to severely injured patients and ACS. Original studies reporting ACS in trauma patients were considered eligible. Data on study design, population, definitions, prevalence, and mortality rates were extracted. Pooled prevalence and mortality of ACS among severely injured patients were calculated for both time periods using inversed variance weighting assuming a random effects model. Tests for heterogeneity were applied. RESULTS A total of 80 publications were included. Prevalence of studies that finished enrolling patients before January 1, 2005 ranged from 0.5% to 36.4% and 0.0% to 28.0% in studies after that date. For severely injured patients admitted to the ICU, this range was 0.5% to 1.3% before 2005 and 0% in one publication in the second time period. For patients with visceral injuries, ACS prevalence ranged 1.0% to 20.0%; one study in the second time period reported 11.1%. The prevalence among severely injured patients who underwent trauma laparotomy ranged from 0.9% to 36.4% in the first time period. Two studies after January 1, 2005 reported ACS prevalence of 2.3% and 13.2%, respectively. The mortality rate in both time periods ranged between 0.0% and 100.0%. CONCLUSION The overall prevalence of ACS ranged from 0.0% to 36.4%. Future studies are needed to measure the effect of improved trauma care and effectiveness of the World Society of the Abdominal Compartment Syndrome Consensus Statements. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Systematic review/meta-analysis, level III.
Evolution of EDM process modelling and development towards modelling of the micro-EDM process

The micro-EDM process is one of the basic technologies capable of producing miniature, complex and three-dimensional features down to five micrometres size. As of today, the efforts of modelling the micro-EDM process are extremely limited, although its applications have been identified. As micro-EDM is a variant of the EDM process, and both are spark erosion processes in principle, an understanding of EDM process modelling is essential for the future modelling of the micro-EDM process. This paper presents an extensive review of modelling efforts in the field of EDM processes and proposes directions for the modelling of the micro-EDM process.
A New CNN-Based Chaotic Circuit: Experimental Results

In this note the dissipative form of the nonlinear oscillator proposed in [Pokrovskii et al., 2007] is introduced. The behavior of such system is investigated through an experimental implementation of the circuit realized using electronic devices. The proposed implementation of the dissipative nonlinear oscillator, based on Cellular Nonlinear Networks, is fully described and the characterization of the rich dynamical behavior of the circuit performed, disclosing the wide range of dynamical behaviors assumed with respect to different values of the forcing frequency. Moreover, a master–slave scheme has been proposed to synchronize two dissipative oscillators in the chaotic regime. The onset of synchronization is proved both theoretically and experimentally.
Dynamics and molecular interactions of linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complex proteins

The linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complex is situated in the nuclear envelope and forms a connection between the lamina and cytoskeletal elements. Sun1, Sun2 and nesprin-2 are important components of the LINC complex. We expressed these proteins fused to green fluorescent protein in embryonic fibroblasts and studied their diffusional mobilities using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. We show that they all are more mobile in embryonic fibroblasts from mice lacking A-type lamins than in cells from wild-type mice. Knockdown of Sun2 also increased the mobility of a short, chimeric form of nesprin-2 giant (mini-nesprin-2G), whereas the lack of emerin did not affect the mobility of Sun1, Sun2 or mini-nesprin-2G. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments showed Sun1 to be more closely associated with lamin A than is Sun2. Sun1 and Sun2 had similar affinity for the nesprin-2 KASH domain in plasmon surface resonance (Biacore) experiments. This affinity was ten times higher than that previously reported between nesprin-2 and actin. Deletion of the actin-binding domain had no effect on mini-nesprin-2G mobility. Our data support a model in which A-type lamins and Sun2 anchor nesprin-2 in the outer nuclear membrane, whereas emerin, Sun1 and actin are dispensable for this anchoring.