Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychosocial predictors of salivary cortisol among older adults with depression

ABSTRACT Background: Previous studies have identified a number of psychosocial risk factors of dysregulated cortisol (frequently referred to as the “stress hormone”) among older adults with depression. However, these studies have typically only examined a handful of risk factors at a time and have sometimes yielded inconsistent results. Method: This study aims to address this gap in the literature by simultaneously examining a range of relevant psychosocial predictors of diurnal cortisol among 54 older adults with a depressive disorder. Salivary cortisol was assessed upon awakening, at 5 PM, and at 9 PM across two consecutive days. Participants also completed measures of global psychosocial stress, current psychiatric symptomatology, pervasive distress (e.g. history of past depression), and protective factors (e.g. social support, resiliency, extent to which one has “made sense” of a significant stressor). Results: High levels of current depressive symptoms, psychiatric comorbidities, past depressive episodes, trait anxiety, and poorer ability to make sense of one's stress were found to be associated with flatter (more abnormal) cortisol slopes. However, when all of these variables were entered simultaneously in a multiple regression analysis, only history of past depression and the degree of sense made of stress emerged as unique predictors of cortisol in the model. Conclusions: These findings have important implications for identifying depressed elderly individuals with dysregulated cortisol patterns who may be most at risk for health complications. Treatments that aim to limit the chronicity of depression and help to increase the sense made of stress could potentially have a positive impact on health.
Contemporary status of insecticide resistance in the major Aedes vectors of arboviruses infecting humans

Both Aedes aegytpi and Ae. albopictus are major vectors of 5 important arboviruses (namely chikungunya virus, dengue virus, Rift Valley fever virus, yellow fever virus, and Zika virus), making these mosquitoes an important factor in the worldwide burden of infectious disease. Vector control using insecticides coupled with larval source reduction is critical to control the transmission of these viruses to humans but is threatened by the emergence of insecticide resistance. Here, we review the available evidence for the geographical distribution of insecticide resistance in these 2 major vectors worldwide and map the data collated for the 4 main classes of neurotoxic insecticide (carbamates, organochlorines, organophosphates, and pyrethroids). Emerging resistance to all 4 of these insecticide classes has been detected in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Target-site mutations and increased insecticide detoxification have both been linked to resistance in Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus but more work is required to further elucidate metabolic mechanisms and develop robust diagnostic assays. Geographical distributions are provided for the mechanisms that have been shown to be important to date. Estimating insecticide resistance in unsampled locations is hampered by a lack of standardisation in the diagnostic tools used and by a lack of data in a number of regions for both resistance phenotypes and genotypes. The need for increased sampling using standard methods is critical to tackle the issue of emerging insecticide resistance threatening human health. Specifically, diagnostic doses and well-characterised susceptible strains are needed for the full range of insecticides used to control Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus to standardise measurement of the resistant phenotype, and calibrated diagnostic assays are needed for the major mechanisms of resistance.
The role of parents in public views of strategies to address childhood obesity in the United States.

UNLABELLED POLICY POINTS: The American public--both men and women and those with and without children in the household--holds parents highly responsible and largely to blame for childhood obesity. High attributions of responsibility to parents for reducing childhood obesity did not universally undermine support for broader policy action. School-based obesity prevention policies were strongly supported, even among those viewing parents as mostly to blame for childhood obesity. Americans who viewed sectors outside the family (such as the food and beverage industry, schools, and the government) as helping address childhood obesity were more willing to support a wider range of population-based obesity prevention policies. CONTEXT The public's views of parents' behaviors and choices--and the attitudes held by parents themselves--are likely to influence the success of efforts to reverse obesity rates. METHODS We analyzed data from 2 US national public opinion surveys fielded in 2011 and 2012 to examine attributions of blame and responsibility to parents for obesity, both among the general public and parents themselves, and we also explored the relationship between views of parents and support for obesity prevention policies. FINDINGS We found that attribution of blame and responsibility to parents was consistently high, regardless of parental status or gender. Support for policies to curb childhood obesity also did not differ notably by parental status or gender. Multivariable analyses revealed consistent patterns in the association between public attitudes toward parents' responsibility and support for policies to curb childhood obesity. High parental responsibility was linked to higher support for school-targeted policies but generally was not associated with policies outside the school setting. Attribution of greater responsibility to entities external to children and their parents (schools, the food and beverage industry, and the government) was associated with greater support for both school-targeted and population-based obesity prevention policies. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that the high attribution of responsibility to parents for reducing childhood obesity does not universally undermine support for broader policy action. But appealing to parents to rally support for preventing obesity in the same way as for other parent-initiated social movements (eg, drunk driving) may be challenging outside the school setting.
Adaptive Vertical Mobility Decision in Heterogeneous Networks

This paper focuses on mobility management between heterogeneous Radio Access Networks (RANs). A fuzzy multi-criteria vertical handover algorithm that enhances the system performances is proposed. This algorithm is based on fuzzy logic control. The Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) takes into account multiple relevant criteria and a set of rules defined from prior knowledge. Neural network adapts automatically the FLC parameters to the environment fluctuations and the traffic variations. The performances of our handover algorithm are evaluated and compared to a conventional vertical handover algorithm by means of simulations. The proposed handover algorithm improves the user- perceived performances.
Remote ischaemic preconditioning reduces myocardial injury in patients undergoing heart valve surgery: randomised controlled trial

Objective To determine whether remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) is cardioprotective in patients undergoing heart valve replacement. Design Single-blinded, randomised controlled trial. Setting Tertiary referral hospital in China. Patients Adult patients (31–72 years) undergoing mitral valve, aortic valve or tricuspid valve surgery. Interventions Patients were randomised to either the RIPC (n=38) or control (n=35) group. After induction of anaesthesia, patients in the RIPC group underwent three 5 min cycles of right upper limb ischaemia, induced by an automated cuff-inflator placed on the upper arm and inflated to 200 mm Hg. Each cycle was interrupted by a 5 min period of reperfusion during which time the cuff was deflated. The control group had only a deflated cuff placed on the upper arm for 30 min. Main outcome measures Serum troponin I concentration was measured before surgery and at 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h postoperatively. The cardiac function of all patients was followed postoperatively. Results Troponin I concentration was reduced in the RIPC group (398.7±179.3 μg/l) compared with the control group (708.4±242.5 μg/l). Mean difference was 309.7±50.8 (95% CI 210.1 to 409.3, p<0.0001). A greater improvement in postsurgical cardiac function was noted in the RIPC group than in the control group. Conclusions These data indicate that RIPC reduces myocardial injury and improves cardiac function in patients undergoing heart valve surgery. Trial registration number NCT01175681.
Tuning of a PI-MR Controller Based on Differential Evolution Metaheuristic Applied to the Current Control Loop of a Shunt-APF

This paper aims to present an alternative methodology to improve the tuning of proportional-integral multiresonant (PI-MR) controller applied to the current control loop of a shunt active power filter (SAPF) by using a differential evolution (DE) metaheuristic method. For computing the PI-MR controller gains, the methodology based on Naslin polynomial (NP) can be employed, although its performance is limited. On the other hand, tuning procedures accomplished by trial-and-error methods have been largely used. In order to fill the lack of methodological procedures to determine the PI-MR controller gains, the use of DE metaheuristic optimization algorithm is proposed to perform an optimal adjustment. The DE algorithm operates minimizing an appropriate cost function, taking into account the total harmonic distortion of the source current, the error of the compensation current control loop, and the saturation limit of the control action. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is compared to the NP-based method, applied to a single-phase SAPF. The proposed methodology is validated by means of both simulation and experimental results. The evaluation of the static and dynamic performances is obtained from experimental tests performed based on a digital signal processor.
lumi: a pipeline for processing Illumina microarray

UNLABELLED Illumina microarray is becoming a popular microarray platform. The BeadArray technology from Illumina makes its preprocessing and quality control different from other microarray technologies. Unfortunately, most other analyses have not taken advantage of the unique properties of the BeadArray system, and have just incorporated preprocessing methods originally designed for Affymetrix microarrays. lumi is a Bioconductor package especially designed to process the Illumina microarray data. It includes data input, quality control, variance stabilization, normalization and gene annotation portions. In specific, the lumi package includes a variance-stabilizing transformation (VST) algorithm that takes advantage of the technical replicates available on every Illumina microarray. Different normalization method options and multiple quality control plots are provided in the package. To better annotate the Illumina data, a vendor independent nucleotide universal identifier (nuID) was devised to identify the probes of Illumina microarray. The nuID annotation packages and output of lumi processed results can be easily integrated with other Bioconductor packages to construct a statistical data analysis pipeline for Illumina data. AVAILABILITY The lumi Bioconductor package, www.bioconductor. org
Diet and the risk of unipolar depression in adults: systematic review of cohort studies.

BACKGROUND Nutrition may be a risk factor for unipolar depression. We aimed to review the association between dietary variables and the risk of depression. METHODS Fifteen databases were searched up to May 2010. Only longitudinal studies for which outcomes were unipolar depression and/or depressive symptoms in adults were eligible for inclusion. Eleven studies were included and critically evaluated. Participants were in the age range 18-97 years and the study sample size was in the range 526-27 111. Follow-up ranged from 2 to 13 years. The diversity of dietary variables and nonlinear associations precluded formal meta-analysis and so a narrative analysis was undertaken. RESULTS Variables inversely associated with depression risk were the consumption of nutrients such as folate, omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids; foods such as olive oil and fish; and a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes. Some of these associations varied by sex and some showed a nonlinear association. CONCLUSIONS At the study level, weaknesses in the assessment of exposure and outcome may have introduced bias. Most studies investigated a cohort subgroup that may have resulted in selection bias. At the review level, there is a risk of publication bias and, in addition, narrative analyses are more prone to subjectivities than meta-analyses. Diet may potentially influence the risk of depression, although the evidence is not yet conclusive. Strengthening healthy-eating patterns at the public health level may have a potential benefit. Robust prospective cohort studies specially designed to study the association between diet and depression risk are needed.
A User Re-Modeling Approach to Item Recommendation using Complex Usage Data

We study the problem of item recommendation using complex usage data. We assume that users may interact with items in various ways, each such interaction generates a usage point which may be accompanied with multiple feedback types. In addition, each user may interact with each item multiple times. We propose a generic framework that re-models the user vectors as a post-processing step that can be applied to any Matrix Factorization (MF) method. Using an evaluation on several heterogeneous real-world datasets, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach and demonstrate its superiority over two alternative methods.
Quantitative determination of steroid hormone receptor positive cells in the synovium of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis: is there a link to inflammation?

Background: Steroid hormone receptors such as glucocorticoid receptors, androgen receptors, and oestrogen receptors α (ERα) and β (ERβ) have been identified in synovial cells of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Objectives: To find a quantitative relationship between the number of receptor positive cells and markers of inflammation, and to compare the two groups of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Methods: A total of 36 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 17) and osteoarthritis (n = 19) were included, and receptor positive cells and cellular markers of synovial inflammation were quantified by immunohistochemistry and ELISA (interleukin 6 (IL6) and IL8). Results: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed a higher degree of histologically determined inflammation compared with those with osteoarthritis. However, synovial density of gluco-corticoid receptor positive (GR+), androgen receptor positive (AR+), ERα+ and ERβ+ cells were not different among patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. In patients with osteoarthritis, the density of GR+ cells positively correlated with the density of AR+, ERα+ and ERβ+ cells (p = 0.007), which was not observed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This indicates positively coupled steroid hormone receptor expression in patients with osteoarthritis but not in those with rheumatoid arthritis. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, secretion of synovial IL6 and IL8 positively correlated with the density of ERα+ and ERβ+ cells (not with gluco-corticoid receptor and androgen receptor), which was not found in the synovium of patients with osteoarthritis. This indicates that inflammatory factors might up regulate the expression of oestrogen receptors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, or vice versa. Conclusions: In patients with osteoarthritis, expression of different steroid receptors is positively coupled, which was not observed in the synovium of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This uncoupling phenomenon in rheumatoid arthritis might lead to an imbalance of the normal synovial homeostasis.
Pituitary mRNA Expression of the Growth Hormone Axis in the 1‐Year‐Old Intrauterine Growth Restricted Rat

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is one of the major causes of short stature in childhood. Abnormalities in the growth hormone (GH) axis have frequently been observed in children who are born intrauterine growth restricted and GH treatment is effective to improve final height. However, the way that the GH axis is involved is not fully understood. Previously, when investigating the effect of IUGR on the central somatotrophic axis, a hypothalamic effect was discovered with elevated somatostatin and decreased neuropeptide Y mRNA expression levels, whereas serum GH and insulin‐like growth factor I (IGFI) were unaltered. These findings were thought to indicate a hypothalamic alteration of the GH axis due to IUGR, probably to compensate pituitary output, thereby normalising peripheral values of GH and IGFI. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of IUGR on the pituitary GH axis in this rat model. Pups from rats that underwent bilateral uterine artery ligation at day 17 of pregnancy were studied. Pituitary glands were collected from 1‐year‐old offspring for quantitative measurements of GH, GH‐receptor (GH‐R), GH‐releasing hormone receptor (GHRH‐R), somatostatin receptor subtype 2 and 5, IGFI and IGFI receptor mRNA levels using a real‐time reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction. In addition, liver GH‐R and IGFI mRNA expression levels were measured and a radioimmunoassay was performed to determine serum IGFI levels. In the IUGR rat, levels of pituitary GH, GH‐R and GHRH‐R relative gene expression (RGE) were increased. No differences were found in the RGE level of all other pituitary growth factors, liver GH‐R and IGFI, and serum IGFI concentration between IUGR and control rats. The present data show that intrauterine growth failure leads to changes in the pituitary that might counterbalance the effects found previously in the hypothalamus.
Parliamentary Diplomacy and Legislative‐Executive Relations in EU Foreign Policy: Studying the European Parliament's Mediation of the Macedonian Political Crisis (2015–17)

This article studies the co‐operation between parliamentary and executive diplomats in EU foreign policy. Building on transnational perspectives, the European Parliament is conceptualized as an actor capable of pursuing autonomous diplomatic behaviour through cross‐border agency over its elected representatives, its bureaucracy, as well as through European party federations. A novel framework is proposed, built around the hypothesis that parliamentary and executive actors co‐operate by exchanging institutional, information, legitimacy and access resources in order to reach their goals more effectively. To demonstrate the argument empirically, the article studies EU‐facilitated mediation talks in Macedonia (2015–17). Building on semi‐structured interviews with 27 key stakeholders, the analysis shows how during the different stages of the mediation, executive and parliamentary actors exchanged crucial diplomatic resources in order to effectively conclude and implement the so‐called Pržino‐agreements between the government and opposition parties.
Investigation of the dynamic on-state resistance of 600V normally-off and normally-on GaN HEMTs

In this paper, current collapse phenomena and thermal effects in newly developed normally-off and normally-on GaN HEMTs are investigated. The experimental results show that a high off-state voltage and high switched drain current at high junction temperature cause an increase of the on-state resistance. During switching from 50 kHz to 400 kHz, an increase of RDSON is observed for both types of GaN devices. It is evident that the number of switching transients significantly influences the increase of the on-state resistance, suggesting that this increase is due to a current collapse in GaN HEMTs. A detailed comparison of the evaluated RDSON between GaN transistors and the newest high-speed CoolMOS-C7 transistor is presented.
Bombesin, Lysophosphatidic Acid, and Epidermal Growth Factor Rapidly Stimulate Focal Adhesion Kinase Phosphorylation at Ser-910

A rapid increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) has been extensively documented in cells stimulated by multiple signaling molecules, but virtually nothing is known about the regulation of FAK phosphorylation at serine residues. Stimulation of Swiss 3T3 cells with bombesin promoted a striking increase (∼13-fold) in the phosphorylation of FAK at Ser-910, as revealed by site-specific antibodies that recognized the phosphorylated state of this residue. Lysophosphatidic acid and epidermal growth factor (EGF) also stimulated FAK phosphorylation at Ser-910. Direct activation of protein kinase C isoforms with phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDB) also promoted striking phosphorylation of FAK at Ser-910. Treatment with the protein kinase C inhibitor GF I or Ro 31-8220 or chronic exposure to PDB prevented the increase in FAK phosphorylation at Ser-910 induced by bombesin or PDB but not by EGF. Treatment with the ERK inhibitors U0126 and PD98059 prevented FAK phosphorylation at Ser-910 in response to all of the stimuli tested. Furthermore, incubation of activated ERK2 with FAK immunocomplexes leads to FAK phosphorylation at Ser-910 in vitro. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that stimulation with bombesin, lysophosphatidic acid, PDB, or EGF induces phosphorylation of endogenous FAK at Ser-910 via an ERK-dependent pathway in Swiss 3T3 cells.
Defining progression of ovarian carcinoma during follow-up according to CA 125: a North Thames Ovary Group Study.

BACKGROUND Many studies have shown that CA 125 levels frequently rise prior to clinical evidence of progression of ovarian cancer. For clinical trials an accepted definition of progression according to CA 125 is required. We therefore determined what change in CA 125 level was the most accurate predictor of relapse in patients on follow up after therapy for ovarian cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Serial CA 125 levels were studied from 255 patients entering the North Thames Ovary Trial of 5 versus 8 courses of chemotherapy. An initial analysis was made 2 months after closure of the trial, a more detailed analysis was made after 81 confirmed relapses among evaluable patients and a final analysis was made one year later with longer follow-up. RESULTS On the basis of the results from the interim analyses and the cut-off level of 22-35 U/ml used by different laboratories, 30 U/ml was chosen as the upper limit of normal. In the final analysis a doubling of CA 125 from the upper limit of normal was defined as progression. Using this method sensitivity was 85.9%, specificity 91.3%, positive predictive value 94.8%, and negative predictive value was 77.8%. Insisting on a confirmatory elevated CA 125 level reduced the false positive rate to < 2% with a sensitivity of 83.9%. The median lead-time prior to clinical progression was 63 days. CONCLUSION A confirmed rise of serum CA 125 level to more than twice the upper limit of normal during follow up after first line chemotherapy accurately predicts tumour relapse.