Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why are smoking cessation strategies not implemented more effectively in clinical practice?

However, nicotine replacement therapy is not the solution for all smokers. In a recent report from a trial in VA medical centres it was shown that nicotine replacement therapy had no effect on cessation rates at 24 and 48 weeks as compared to placebo. Indeed, we should keep in mind that smoking is addictive not only pharmacologically but also psychologically. Besides nicotine replacement therapy, other elements have been identified as predictors of success in smoking cessation programmes, such as social support and skill building. All this has been well summarized in the guideline of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Clinicians may recognise the importance of smoking cessation, but most of them fail to intervene. Some may be reluctant to take action because they do not possess the skills necessary to deal with patients who smoke. A review of 28 major trials of advice from North American physicians to stop smoking showed that after brief advice, cessation rates were 3 to 13%. These and other results confirm that brief advice supplemented with some appropriate literature may have some success, but much more can be achieved if the provider has sufficient skills in ascertaining the smoker’s motivation to change. Studies using the transtheoretical model of change developed by Prochaska et al. have shown the benefit of identifying the smoker’s motivation to change his or her addiction before attempting smoking cessation programmes. The approach by the physician should vary depending on the stage of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action or maintenance). A smoker in the pre-contemplation stage will not be helped by starting nicotine replacement therapy at once but should first be informed. Different behavioural processes can be used successfully in moving the smoker from one stage to another. If the clinician is not experienced with these programmes or not willing to improve his skills in this field, he should refer the smoker to skilled and experienced health professionals. Besides nicotine replacement therapy and behavioural skills, social support for cessation helps smokers quit. Support by the partner and family is very important in smoking cessation. Family involvement is of great help. Social support at an interpersonal level may be from the family and friends, but also from the working environment or other social groups in which the smoker lives. It was clearly documented that a well implemented worksite smoking See page 438 for the article to which this Editorial refers
Presynaptic secretion of mind‐the‐gap organizes the synaptic extracellular matrix‐integrin interface and postsynaptic environments

Mind‐the‐Gap (MTG) is required during synaptogenesis of the Drosophila glutamatergic neuromuscular junction (NMJ) to organize the postsynaptic domain. Here, we generate MTG::GFP transgenic animals to demonstrate MTG is synaptically targeted, secreted, and localized to punctate domains in the synaptic extracellular matrix (ECM). Drosophila NMJs form specialized ECM carbohydrate domains, with carbohydrate moieties and integrin ECM receptors occupying overlapping territories. Presynaptically secreted MTG recruits and reorganizes secreted carbohydrates, and acts to recruit synaptic integrins and ECM glycans. Transgenic MTG::GFP expression rescues hatching, movement, and synaptogenic defects in embryonic‐lethal mtg null mutants. Targeted neuronal MTG expression rescues mutant synaptogenesis defects, and increases rescue of adult viability, supporting an essential neuronal function. These results indicate that presynaptically secreted MTG regulates the ECM‐integrin interface, and drives an inductive mechanism for the functional differentiation of the postsynaptic domain of glutamatergic synapses. We suggest that MTG pioneers a novel protein family involved in ECM‐dependent synaptic differentiation. Developmental Dynamics 238:554–571, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Open grid services of traditional Chinese medicine

A grid architecture, called TCM-grid for traditional Chinese medicine, is presented. Based on the open grid service architecture (OGSA), we develop a set of database grid services for discovering and accessing TCM database resources remotely and transparently. Upon these database grid services, a set of knowledge services are also specified to support TCM knowledge sharing in the Web environment. With our application experience, we argue that OGSA be promoted to support finely granular data sharing and knowledge-intensive tasks.
Combining Information Retrieval Methods to Improve Automated Traceability Recovery

The intensive human effort needed to manually manage traceability information has increased the interest in utilizing automated traceability recovery techniques. Promising results have been achieved using Information Retrieval (IR) techniques to identify candidate traceability links between different types of artifacts—e.g., requirements, use cases, code classes. Different IR methods have been proposed to support such a task but until now there is no single method that sensibly outperforms the others. In this paper we propose to combine different IR techniques aiming at improving the accuracy of stand-alone IR-based traceability recovery methods. The results of a case study conducted on two software repositories demonstrate that the combination of one of the IR methods experimented with the others provides statistically significant improvements as compared with stand-alone methods. The nature of the two repositories used in the case study also allows us to investigate the influence on the recovery accuracy of the language and the type of artifacts to be traced.
Quantifying Numerical and Spatial Reliability of Amygdala and Hippocampal Subdivisions in FreeSurfer

On-going, large-scale neuroimaging initiatives can aid in uncovering neurobiological causes and correlates of poor mental health, disease pathology, and many other important conditions. As projects grow in scale with hundreds, even thousands, of individual participants and scans collected, quantification of brain structures by automated algorithms is becoming the only truly tractable approach. Here, we assessed the spatial and numerical reliability for newly deployed automated segmentation of hippocampal subfields and amygdala nuclei in FreeSurfer 7. In a sample of participants with repeated structural imaging scans (N=923), we found numerical reliability (as assessed by intraclass correlations, ICCs) was reasonable: ∼95% of hippocampal subfields have “excellent” numerical reliability (ICCs≥0.90), however, only 67% of amygdala subnuclei met this same threshold. Spatial reliability was similarly reasonable, with 58% of hippocampal subfields and 44% of amygdala subnuclei having Dice coefficients≥0.70. Notably, multiple regions had poor numerical and/or spatial reliability. We also examined correlations between spatial reliability and person-level factors (e.g., participant age; T1 image quality). Both sex and image scan quality were related to variations in spatial reliability metrics. Examined collectively, our work suggests caution should be exercised for a few hippocampal subfields and amygdala nuclei with more variable reliability.
The Purdue Pegboard test: normative data for older adults with low vision

Abstract Purpose The usability of assistive technologies depends, in part, on the user’s ability to manipulate the device. In the context of aging and visual impairment, the visibility of any device and its components becomes crucial, and often users rely on tactile information in order to overcome visibility barriers. The purpose of this study was to establish performance norms for older adults with low vision on a common measure of manual dexterity: the Purdue Pegboard Test. Method The Purdue Pegboard was completed visually with the dominant, non-dominant and both hands by 134 older adults (age 60–97) with various levels of low vision, ranging from 20/30 to 20/604 in the better eye. Results Scores decreased significantly as age increased. In addition, performance using the dominant hand was generally best. Compared to previously published values, scores were lower than the norms for healthy older adults as well as those for younger visually impaired individuals. Conclusions The present values for older adults with low vision add to the already existing standards and allow for comparison among future studies with this population. Systematic examination of manual dexterity in low vision clients will enable rehabilitation specialists to make more informed recommendations in terms of usable low-vision devices. Implications for rehabilitation Older adults with visual impairment often rely on tactile cues when using assistive devices. The Purdue Pegboard provides a systematic evaluation of manual dexterity, whereby age norms exist for older adults and for visually impaired younger adults. We present normative data on the Purdue Pegboard test for older adults with low vision in order to facilitate comparison of performance. Systematic evaluation of manual dexterity will inform whether some assistive devices are suitable for older adults with a visual impairment.
RapMOD — In Situ Auto-Completion for Graphical Models

Auto-completion of textual inputs benefits software developers using IDEs. However, graphical modeling tools used to design software do not yet provide such functionality. The challenges of recommending auto-completions for graphical modeling activities are largely unexplored. Recommending such auto-completions requires detecting meaningful partly completed activities, tolerating variance in user actions, and determining the most relevant activities that a user wants to perform. We propose RapMOD, an approach that works in the background while a developer is creating or evolving models and handles all these challenges. Users' editing operations are analyzed and matched to a predefined but extensible catalog of common modeling activities for structural UML models. We found RapMOD to significantly reduce modeling effort.
How to use mechanistic effect models in environmental risk assessment of pesticides: Case studies and recommendations from the SETAC workshop MODELINK

Mechanistic effect models (MEMs) are useful tools for ecological risk assessment of chemicals to complement experimentation. However, currently no recommendations exist for how to use them in risk assessments. Therefore, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) MODELINK workshop aimed at providing guidance for when and how to apply MEMs in regulatory risk assessments. The workshop focused on risk assessment of plant protection products under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 using MEMs at the organism and population levels. Realistic applications of MEMs were demonstrated in 6 case studies covering assessments for plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. From the case studies and their evaluation, 12 recommendations on the future use of MEMs were formulated, addressing the issues of how to translate specific protection goals into workable questions, how to select species and scenarios to be modeled, and where and how to fit MEMs into current and future risk assessment schemes. The most important recommendations are that protection goals should be made more quantitative; the species to be modeled must be vulnerable not only regarding toxic effects but also regarding their life history and dispersal traits; the models should be as realistic as possible for a specific risk assessment question, and the level of conservatism required for a specific risk assessment should be reached by designing appropriately conservative environmental and exposure scenarios; scenarios should include different regions of the European Union (EU) and different crops; in the long run, generic MEMs covering relevant species based on representative scenarios should be developed, which will require EU‐level joint initiatives of all stakeholders involved. The main conclusion from the MODELINK workshop is that the considerable effort required for making MEMs an integral part of environmental risk assessment of pesticides is worthwhile, because it will make risk assessments not only more ecologically relevant and less uncertain but also more comprehensive, coherent, and cost effective. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:21–31. © 2015 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
Assessment of Post-Ischemic Neuroinflammation in Stroke : Experimental and Clinical Studies

Stroke is a major healthcare issue in both industrialized and developing countries (Yach et al., 2004): it is the third leading cause of death, after myocardial infarction and cancer, the second leading cause of dementia, and the leading cause of permanent disability in Western countries (Pendlebury et al., 2009; Rothwell et al., 2011). Ischemic stroke accounts for up to 85% of total stroke events (Feigin et al., 2003). Cerebral ischemia is caused by blood-clot obstruction of a cerebral artery. Occlusion of a brain vessel leads to a critical reduction in cerebral perfusion and, within minutes, to ischemic infarction. The resulting lesion comprises a central infarct core of irreversibly damaged brain tissue and a surrounding area of hypoperfused but still viable brain tissue (the ischemic penumbra), which can potentially be salvaged by rapid restoration of the blood flow. Intravenous thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) within 4.5 hours of symptom onset can improve the clinical outcome (NINDS, 1995; Hacke et al., 2008). Endovascular strategies (e.g. thrombectomy) can enhance reperfusion rates in large artery occlusions, but remain to be validated in randomized clinical trials. Although approved by North American and European authorities, only a small proportion of patients receive acute revascularization therapies, mainly because of late diagnosis and limited access to specialized stroke units. Neuroprotective drugs aim at salvaging the ischemic brain by targeting multiple pathophysiological processes: prolonging the time window for reperfusion therapies, limiting reperfusion injury and the risk of hemorrhage, minimizing the deleterious effects of inflammation. Compounds regulating the inflammatory response are being evaluated by the pharmaceutical industry (Barone & Parsons, 2000). Indeed, stroke triggers a marked inflammatory reaction, involving several types of immune cells, including those of the mononuclear phagocyte system. There has been a longstanding controversy about the respective role of these cells, whether they are infiltrating blood-borne macrophages or resident microglia. On one hand, there is evidence that inflammation can contribute to secondary ischemic injury and worsening of neurological status (Iadecola & Alexander, 2001). On the other hand, inflammation under certain circumstances could promote functional recovery, by supporting neurogenesis and plasticity (Ekdahl et al., 2009). Therefore, targeted intervention to control specific aspects of post-ischemic neuro-
Effect of Elbow Flexion Angle on Cortical Voluntary Activation of the Non-Impaired Biceps: A 3 Days Repeated Sessions Study

Measurement of cortical voluntary activation (VA) with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is limited by technical challenges. One challenge is the difficulty in preferential stimulation of cortical neurons projecting to the target muscle and minimal stimulation of cortical neurons projecting to antagonists. Thus, the motor evoked potential (MEP) response to TMS in the target muscle compared to its primary antagonist may be an important parameter in the assessment of cortical VA. Modulating isometric elbow angle alters the magnitude of MEPs at rest. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of isometric elbow flexion-extension angle on: 1) the ratio of biceps MEP relative to the triceps MEP amplitude across a range of voluntary efforts, and 2) cortical VA. Ten non-impaired participants completed three sessions wherein VA was determined using TMS at 45°, 90° and 120° of isometric elbow flexion, and peripheral electrical stimulation at 90° of elbow flexion. The biceps/triceps MEP ratio was greater in the more flexed elbow angle (120° flexion) compared to 90° during contractions of 50% and 75% of maximum voluntary contraction. Cortical VA assessed in the more extended elbow angle (45° flexion) was lower relative to 90° elbow flexion; this effect was dependent on the biceps/triceps MEP ratio. Cortical VA was sensitive to small changes in the linearity of the voluntary torque and superimposed twitch relationship, regardless of the elbow angle. Peripheral and cortical VA measures at 90° of elbow flexion were repeatable across three days. In conclusion, although the biceps/triceps MEP ratio was increased at a more flexed elbow angle relative to 90°, there was not a corresponding difference in cortical VA. Thus, increasing the MEP ratio via elbow angle did not affect estimation of cortical VA.
Reading Comprehension Strategies in Ninth Graders by Using Authentic Material

El proposito de esta investigacion accion es identificar la forma en que los materiales autenticos virtuales e impresos pueden influir en la comprension de lectura en el aula EFL, ya que incluyen diferentes temas que pueden enganchar y motivar a los alumnos, por lo tanto, sobre la base de un diagnostico previo, se seleccionaron sinopsis y micro historias. Esta investigacion se realizo en un grado noveno en un colegio publico ubicado en el occidente de Bogota, donde seis estudiantes fueron elegidos al azar como participantes cuya edad promedio oscilo entre los catorce y los dieciseis anos. Las principales variables identificadas fueron el uso de materiales autenticos en el aula EFL y las estrategias de comprension de lectura utilizadas por los participantes. Se aplico un enfoque de investigacion cualitativo y el proceso de recoleccion de datos incluyo un diagnostico, cuestionario, diarios de campo y los trabajos desarrolladas por los estudiantes. Tomamos como base las contribuciones de Duke and Pearson (2002) en las estrategias de comprension de lectura y de Kilickaya (2004) sobre el uso de materiales autenticos en el aula EFL. Algunos de los resultados indicaron que los estudiantes estaban mas comprometidos cuando aprendian ingles con materiales autenticos y se daban cuenta de la utilizacion de la lengua en las practicas cotidianas. Por otro lado, tendian principalmente a utilizar estrategias compensatorias tales como senales visuales a fin de comprender los textos. Por lo tanto, de acuerdo con las hojas de trabajo, llegamos a la conclusion de que esta intervencion les permitio llegar a un nivel de comprension de lectura mas avanzado.
Computed tomography quantification of tracheal abnormalities in COPD and their influence on airflow limitation

Purpose To present a method to automatically quantify tracheal morphology changes during breathing and investigate its contribution to airflow impairment when adding CT measures of emphysema, airway wall thickness, air trapping and ventilation. Methods Because tracheal abnormalities often occur localized, a method is presented that automatically determines the most abnormal trachea section based on automatically computed sagittal and coronal lengths. In this most abnormal section, trachea morphology is encoded using four equiangular rays from the center of the trachea and the normalized lengths of these rays are used as features in a classification scheme. Consequently, trachea measurements are used as input for classification into GOLD stages in addition to emphysema, air trapping and ventilation. A database of 200 subjects distributed across all GOLD stages is used to evaluate the classification with a k nearest neighbour algorithm. Performance is assessed in two experimental settings: (a) when only inspiratory scans are taken; (b) when both inspiratory and expiratory scans are available. Results Given only an inspiratory CT scan, measuring tracheal shape provides complementary information only to emphysema measurements. The best performing set in the inspiratory setting was a combination of emphysema and bronchial measurements. The best performing feature set in the inspiratory‐expiratory setting includes measurements of emphysema, ventilation, air trapping, and trachea. Inspiratory and inspiratory‐expiratory settings showed similar performance. Conclusions The fully automated system presented in this study provides information on trachea shape at inspiratory and expiratory CT. Addition of tracheal morphology features improves the ability of emphysema and air trapping CT‐derived measurements to classify COPD patients into GOLD stages and may be relevant when investigating different aspects of COPD.
Evolution of Vertebrate Cartilage Development

Major advances in the molecular genetics, paleobiology, and the evolutionary developmental biology of vertebrate skeletogenesis have improved our understanding of the early evolution and development of the vertebrate skeleton. Current Topics in Developmental Biology, Volume 86 # 2009 Elsevier Inc. ISSN 0070-2153, DOI: 10.1016/S0070-2153(09)01002-3 All rights reserved. * Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Cancer/Genetics Research Complex, Gainesville, Florida, USA { Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA { Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Florida, Cancer/Genetics Research Complex, Gainesville, Florida, USA # Current address: The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge,
Temporally controlled ablation of PTEN in adult mouse prostate epithelium generates a model of invasive prostatic adenocarcinoma

Studies of prostate cancer pathogenesis and development of new therapies have been hampered by a lack of appropriate mouse models. We have generated PSA-Cre-ERT2 mice that express the tamoxifen-dependent Cre-ERT2 recombinase selectively in prostatic epithelium, thus allowing us to target floxed genes selectively in epithelial cells of fully differentiated prostate of adult mice and to modulate the number of genetically altered cells. Our present mouse model, in which prostate carcinogenesis is initiated through Cre-ERT2-mediated somatic biallelic ablation of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN after puberty, closely mimics the course of human cancer formation. Indeed, mutant mice developed prostate epithelium hyperplasia within 4 weeks after PTEN ablation and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) in all lobes within 2–3 months, with the highest incidence in the dorsolateral lobe, which is considered to be the most similar to the peripheral zone of the human prostate, in which adenocarcinoma is preferentially localized. Eight to 10 months after PTEN ablation some PINs of the dorsolateral lobe had progressed to adenocarcinoma, but no distant metastases were found up to 20 months after PTEN ablation, indicating that progression to metastasis requires an additional mutation or mutations. Interestingly, monoallelic Cre-ERT2-mediated PTEN ablation in epithelial cells of adult prostate also generated focal hyperplasia and PINs, but exclusively in the dorsolateral lobe, and in much lower number and after a longer latency. However, no progression to adenocarcinoma was observed. Because PTEN expression was undetectable in epithelial cells from these PINs, loss of PTEN function appears to act as a permissive event for uncontrolled cell proliferation.