Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reference values of skin autofluorescence as an estimation of tissue accumulation of advanced glycation end products in a general Slovak population

For decades, Slovakia has maintained a prominent place in mortality rates from cardiovascular diseases among European Union (EU‐27) countries. Determination of skin autofluorescence serves as an estimate of tissue accumulation of advanced glycation end products—substances accumulating in tissues and body fluids that play a pathophysiological role in age‐related diseases and their complications, such as diabetes.
Impact of the Xpert MTB/RIF tuberculosis diagnosticsystem in individuals at high risk of mortality in ruralSouth Africa

This thesis investigates the clinical impact of a point-of-care diagnostic strategy for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in a setting at the heart of the TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemics in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Although the identification and prompt treatment of active pulmonary TB disease remains the cornerstone of global TB control strategies, weak diagnostic systems contribute to substantial delays and default during the diagnostic process. As new diagnostic technologies are developed, evidence is needed around how best to deliver them within health systems in order to maximize their impact. The impact of positioning of a molecular diagnostic system (Xpert MTB/RIF) was investigated in a cluster randomised trial. Clusters (two-week time periods) were randomised to one of two strategies: centralised laboratory Xpert MTB/RIF testing or point-of-care Xpert MTB/RIF at the clinic. The trial enrolled 1297 adults with symptoms of pulmonary TB who were HIV infected and/or at high risk of drugresistant TB. There was some evidence that point-of-care placement shortened the time to initiation of treatment but there was no difference in the overall proportion of culture-positive pulmonary TB cases initiated on appropriate anti-TB treatment within 30 days. Overall mortality was lower than anticipated and, although it was higher with the point-of-care strategy, this effect was not maintained after adjusting for the presence of TB disease and CD4+ T-cell count. Further analysis suggested that the point-of-care strategy increased the proportion of valid Xpert results from the initial sputum specimen, increased the proportion of individuals receiving test results and allowed same-day treatment initiation for half of all culture-positive cases that tested positive with Xpert. The diagnostic performance of the Xpert MTB/RIF system was comparable under both strategies. However, delays in initiation of treatment for drug-resistant TB cases and for Xpertnegative/ culture-positive cases occurred similarly with both strategies, reducing the potential to detect a real impact on outcomes. Although not a primary focus of the study, the results highlighted deficiencies in the performance of sputum culture, which raise questions about its place as the gold standard diagnostic test. The development of simple, rapid diagnostics suitable for point-of-care use remains important for TB control in high burden settings. The findings will improve understanding of the key requirements for successful diagnostic strategies and the lessons learnt will help to inform future diagnostic clinical trials. Further research is needed to evaluate how different diagnostic strategies might impact on TB transmission in health care facilities and more broadly in the community.
A Web-Based Behavior Therapy Program Influences the Association Between Cognitive Functioning and Retention and Abstinence in Clients Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Objective: Deficits in cognitive functioning have been well-documented in persons with substance use disorders. In addition, some evidence suggests that poorer cognitive functioning predicts poorer engagement in substance abuse treatment and worse treatment outcomes. This trial is a non-blind, randomized clinical trial with parallel design. Methods: Clients were recruited from a local methadone maintenance clinic within the first 30 days of treatment. All participants completed a comprehensive, computerized neuropsychological assessment (MicroCog) at the time they entered the clinical trial. Participants were randomized to receive 12 months of either standard methadone maintenance treatment or methadone maintenance treatment with an integrated web-based intervention as part of treatment. The aims of the current study were to (a) characterize the cognitive functioning of clients entering methadone maintenance treatment, (b) evaluate the impact of cognitive functioning on the primary outcomes of treatment retention and opioid abstinence, and (c) determine whether cognitive functioning had a differential impact on these outcomes across treatment conditions. Randomization was non-blind and participants were stratified on past-month cocaine use and prior history of methadone, LAAM, or buprenorphine treatment. Results: Eighty participants were randomized to each condition (N = 160). Mean scores on MicroCog scales fell in the average and low average ranges and there were no differences in scores between treatment groups. Lower scores on General Cognitive Proficiency predicted longer study retention (χ 2 = 5.03, p < .05), although this effect was quite small. Generalized linear modeling showed that scores on all MicroCog scales except for Spatial Processing significantly predicted opioid abstinence (defined as percent of total weeks and percent of tested weeks with continuous abstinence), with lower scores predicting smaller percentages of continuous weeks of abstinence. This pattern was not evident in regression analyses in which abstinence was defined as number of total weeks of abstinence. An interaction effect was observed, whereby lower cognitive scores predicted lower levels of abstinence for participants in standard methadone maintenance treatment, but not for those who received the web-based intervention as part of methadone maintenance treatment. Conclusions: Technology-based interventions may hold promise for minimizing the impact of poorer cognitive functioning on treatment outcomes.
Genotype x environment interaction for milk production in Guernsey cattle.

International genetic evaluations that use national genetic evaluation results as input need to acknowledge country boundaries. The current model for international evaluation treats each country as a genetically separate trait, i.e., assumes milk production to be similar within country, but different between countries. The use of cow performance records does not require such restriction, and allows for other statistical models to consider genotype x environment interaction. First-lactation records from 40,000 Guernsey cows in four countries (Australia, Canada, United States, and South Africa) were used to detect and describe genotype x environment interaction for milk production traits. Five statistical models were considered: single-trait across-county (ST), single-trait across-country with heterogeneous residual variance (SThet), multiple-trait across-country (MT), multiple-trait herd cluster model (HC), and reaction norm model (RR). For the herd cluster model, herds were clustered into groups based on information on herd management, genetic composition, and climate. Reaction norms describe the phenotype expressed by a genotype as a function of the environment, and was modeled by random regression on the herd average for peak milk yield as the descriptor of production environment. Gibbs sampling was used to make inferences about the parameters of interest, and models were compared based on goodness of fit and deviance information criterion. Posterior mode of the heritability for the single-trait model was 0.32, and ranged from 0.15 to 0.53 for models SThet and MT. Posterior mode of the genetic correlations between countries estimated with model MT were generally high (0.78 to 0.90). However, posterior SD were high (up to 0.15 for Australia-South Africa), and values near unity for the genetic correlations were not unlikely. Model HC gave more precise inferences but lower goodness of fit compared with model MT. Results from model RR provided evidence for heterogeneity of genetic variances. This model was least supported by the data, probably because heterogeneity of residual variances was not considered. Among the models in this study, the one with homogeneous genetic and heterogeneous residual variances across countries fitted best to the data, and we expect a model for which the assumption of homogeneous genetic variance is relaxed to show an even better fit to the data.
Accuracy of Targeting and Rationing Under the Rural Employment Guarantee Programme: A Comparison between West Bengal and Rest of India

One major indicator of success of a social welfare programme is the accuracy of targeting of the benefits to the intended population or groups. Using nationally as well as state representative data for 2009-10 and 2011-12, this paper attempts to assess the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in terms of accuracy of targeting in West Bengal and compares it with rest of India. Using non-parametric and parametric methodologies, it aims to explore if poorer and deprived households are rationed out more than the non-poor households as far as participation in the programme is concerned. Though implementation of MGNREGA in West Bengal has been largely poor, its targeting performance is found to be fair when compared to other parts of the country. The findings should give impetus for the concerned authorities to improve on other dimensions of the programme and effectively implement it to realize the optimal benefits.
Vascularization of carotid plaque in recently symptomatic patients is associated with the occurrence of transcranial microembolic signals

Microembolic signals (MES) are detectable in the middle cerebral artery by transcranial ultrasound downstream to atherosclerotic lesions of the internal carotid artery (ICA) in patients with stroke or transient ischaemic attack. The occurrence of MES predicts future risk of stroke in patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenosis. The detection of intra‐plaque neo‐vascularization by contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in atherosclerotic plaques of the ICA is associated with future cardiovascular/cerebrovascular events. We investigated whether there is an association between both surrogate markers of future vascular events.
Secondhand smoke levels in Scottish pubs: the effect of smoke-free legislation

Objective: To compare levels of particulate matter, as a marker of secondhand smoke (SHS) levels, in pubs before and 2 months after the implementation of Scottish legislation to prohibit smoking in substantially enclosed public places. Design: Comparison of SHS levels before and after the legislation in a random selection of 41 pubs in 2 Scottish cities. Methods: Fine particulate matter <2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) was measured discreetly for 30 min in each bar on 1 or 2 visits in the 8 weeks preceding the starting date of the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 and then again 2 months after the ban. Repeat visits were undertaken on the same day of the week and at approximately the same time of the day. Results: PM2.5 levels before the introduction of the legislation averaged 246 μg/m3 (range 8–902 μg/m3). The average level reduced to 20 μg/m3 (range 6–104 μg/m3) in the period after the ban. Levels of SHS were reduced in all 53 post-ban visits, with the average reduction being 86% (range 12–99%). PM2.5 concentrations in most pubs post-ban were comparable to the outside ambient air PM2.5 level. Conclusions: This study has produced the largest dataset of pre- and post-ban SHS levels in pubs of all worldwide smoke-free legislations introduced to date. Our results show that compliance with the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 has been high and this has led to a marked reduction in SHS concentrations in Scottish pubs, thereby reducing both the occupational exposure of workers in the hospitality sector and that of non-smoking patrons.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Local Management of Coral Reefs Using Expert Opinion and Spatial Bayesian Modeling

Multiple stressors are an increasing concern in the management and conservation of ecosystems, and have been identified as a key gap in research. Coral reefs are one example of an ecosystem where management of local stressors may be a way of mitigating or delaying the effects of climate change. Predicting how multiple stressors interact, particularly in a spatially explicit fashion, is a difficult challenge. Here we use a combination of an expert-elicited Bayesian network (BN) and spatial environmental data to examine how hypothetical scenarios of climate change and local management would result in different outcomes for coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. Parameterizing our BN using the mean responses from our experts resulted in predictions of limited efficacy of local management in combating the effects of climate change. However, there was considerable variability in expert responses and uncertainty was high. Many reefs within the central GBR appear to be at risk of further decline based on the pessimistic opinions of our expert pool. Further parameterization of the model as more data and knowledge become available could improve predictive power. Our approach serves as a starting point for subsequent work that can fine-tune parameters and explore uncertainties in predictions of responses to management.
Federal Crop Insurance Options for Upland Cotton Farmers and Their Revenue Effects

The Agricultural Act of 2014 introduced two new crop insurance programs for upland cotton: the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX). SCO and STAX are known as “shallow loss” programs because they typically have lower deductibles and do not compensate for the bigger losses that other Federal crop insurance programs cover. This report examines the structures of SCO and STAX and how these programs interact with Revenue Protection, a preexisting crop insurance policy. It provides estimates of the contribution of SCO and STAX to revenue and downside risk reduction for upland cotton producers in various counties, revealing how risk reduction differs across counties with different inherent revenue risk caused by regional variations in yield. The report describes 2015 enrollment in STAX and SCO and finds that STAX enrollment is tied to the market share of cotton in a given county.
Palliation of pain associated with metastatic bone cancer using samarium-153 lexidronam: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of samarium-153 (153Sm) lexidronam (EDTMP) in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with painful bone metastases secondary to a variety of primary malignancies were randomized to receive 153Sm-EDTMP 0.5 or 1.0 mCi/kg, or placebo. Treatment was unblinded for patients who did not respond by week 4, with those who had received placebo eligible to receive 1.0 mCi/kg of active drug in an open-label manner. Patient and physician evaluations were used to assess pain relief, as was concurrent change in opioid analgesia. RESULTS One hundred eighteen patients were enrolled onto the study. Patients who received 1.0 mCi/kg of active drug had significant reductions in pain during each of the first 4 weeks in both patient-rated and physician-rated evaluations. Pain relief was observed in 62% to 72% of those who received the 1.O-mCi/kg dose during the first 4 weeks, with marked or complete relief noted in 31% by week 4. Persistence of pain relief was seen through week 16 in 43% of patients who received 1.0 mCi/kg, of active drug. A significant correlation (P = .01) was observed between reductions in opioid analgesic use and pain scores only for those patients who received 1.0 mCi/kg 153Sm-EDTMP. Bone marrow suppression was mild, reversible, and not associated with grade 4 toxicity. CONCLUSION A single dose of 1.0 mCi/kg of 153Sm-EDTMP provided relief from pain associated with bone metastases. Pain relief was observed within 1 week of administration and persisted until at least week 16 in the majority of patients who responded.
Metagenomic characterization of viral communities in corals: mining biological signal from methodological noise.

Reef-building corals form close associations with organisms from all three domains of life and therefore have many potential viral hosts. Yet knowledge of viral communities associated with corals is barely explored. This complexity presents a number of challenges in terms of the metagenomic assessments of coral viral communities and requires specialized methods for purification and amplification of viral nucleic acids, as well as virome annotation. In this minireview, we conduct a meta-analysis of the limited number of existing coral virome studies, as well as available coral transcriptome and metagenome data, to identify trends and potential complications inherent in different methods. The analysis shows that the method used for viral nucleic acid isolation drastically affects the observed viral assemblage and interpretation of the results. Further, the small number of viral reference genomes available, coupled with short sequence read lengths might cause errors in virus identification. Despite these limitations and potential biases, the data show that viral communities associated with corals are diverse, with double- and single-stranded DNA and RNA viruses. The identified viruses are dominated by double-stranded DNA-tailed bacteriophages, but there are also viruses that infect eukaryote hosts, likely the endosymbiotic dinoflagellates, Symbiodinium spp. , host coral and other eukaryotes in close association.
Adopting Sustainable Behavior in Institutions of Higher Education: A Study on Intentions of Decision Makers in the MENA Region

The aim of this study is to integrate the Protection Motivation and Habit theories to highlight and supplement the shortcomings of previous research. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to generate a sample of 1537 universities and colleges of MENA; a web questionnaire was emailed to the institutions, different analytical methods were used to analyse the data. The results show that (1) Protection Motivation Theory is valuable to apply specifically since it introduces the concept of coping appraisal, and (2) that Habit Theory is a suitable framework that can be employed to shed further insight on sustainable behaviour in higher education institutions. The findings both strengthen and expand previous knowledge on sustainable behaviour in higher education. Contrary to our expectations, habit does not moderate the relationship between all the dimensions of the cognitive process and the intention to adopt sustainability by decision makers. Keywords Sustainability, Protection Motivation Theory, Habit Theory, Higher Education, Decision makers.
Saving and Consumption: A Case of Australia versus Japan

The purpose of this paper is discovering how much people spend and save in both two countries of Australia and Japan by using their household consumption, household saving, and household income. The important tool that required is calculation of Marginal Propensity to Save (MPS) and Marginal Propensity to Consume (MPC). Firstly, the literature review would perform information about both of Australia and Japan in depth in recent year for how countries deal with their economics. The progression with data collection would present where were information collected from and what information are required. The information then proceeding to the methodology that described how to calculate the consumption and saving of both Australia and Japan by using MPS and MPC formulas. Moreover, the methodology would perform the calculation on forecasting their future economy by applying five articles of The One: A Simulation of CAPM Market Returns, The Time Traveler’s CAPM, Macroeconomic Forces and Arbitrage Pricing Theory, Estimating Time-Varying Beta Coefficients, and A practitioner’s guide to the CAPM: an empirical study. Next up, the paper would discuss about the results on how much people spend and save money. These also appear as percentages. Overall, the conclusion suggests the recommendation on what government should do in order to grow their economies, and future forecasting presents the tendency of economies in Australia and Japan.
Comparison of the three-in-one and fascia iliaca compartment blocks in adults: clinical and radiographic analysis.

UNLABELLED The 3-in-1 (Group 1) and fascia iliaca compartment (Group 2) blocks, two single-injection, anterior approach procedures used to simultaneously block the femoral, obturator, and lateral femoral cutaneous (LFC) nerves, were compared in 100 adults after lower limb surgery. Pain control, sensory and motor blockades, and radiographically visualized spread of local anesthetic solution were studied prospectively. Both approaches provided efficient pain control using 30 mL of 2% lidocaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine and 0.5% bupivacaine and 5 mL of contrast media (iopamidol). Complete lumbar plexus blockade was achieved in 18 (38%) Group 1 and 17 (34%) Group 2 patients (n = 50 patients per group). Sensory block of the femoral, obturator, genitofemoral, and LFC nerves was obtained in 90% and 88%, 52% and 38%, 38% and 34%, and 62% and 90% of the patients in Groups 1 and 2, respectively (P < 0.05). Sensory LFC blockade was obtained more rapidly for the patients in Group 2 (P < 0.05). Concurrent internal and external spread of the local anesthetic solution under the fascia iliaca and between the iliacus and psoas muscles was noted in 62 of the 92 block procedures analyzed radiographically. Isolated external spreads under the fascia iliaca and over the iliacus muscle were noted in 10% and 36% of the patients in Groups 1 and 2, respectively (P < 0.05). The local anesthetic solution reached the lumbar plexus in only five radiographs. We conclude that the fascia iliaca compartment block is more effective than the 3-in-1 block in producing simultaneous blockade of the LFC and femoral nerves in adults. After both procedures, blockade was obtained primarily by the spread of local anesthetic under the fascia iliaca and only rarely by contact with the lumbar plexus. IMPLICATIONS In adults, the two anterior approaches, 3-in-1 and fascia iliaca compartment blocks, provide effective postoperative analgesia. The fascia iliaca compartment technique provides faster and more consistent simultaneous blockade of the lateral femoral cutaneous and femoral nerves. Sensory block is caused by the spread of local anesthetic solution under the fascia iliaca and only rarely to the lumbar plexus.
Clathrin‐mediated endocytosis regulates occludin, and not focal adhesion, distribution during epithelial wound healing

Vesicle trafficking has long been suggested to play mechanistic roles in regulating directed cell migration. Recent evidence demonstrates that specific cell types and modes of migration involve transport of particular cargo through particular pathways. Epithelial wound healing is essential in tissue repair. However, investigations into the mechanisms regulating cell migration have mainly focused upon other models such as fibroblast‐derived cells. Roles for vesicle trafficking pathways in regulating directed cell migration have been identified in recent studies, but mechanisms through which endocytosis might be involved in epithelial wound healing have not been as well studied. Therefore, we analysed potential regulatory roles for endocytosis pathways during epithelial cell motility, with a particular focus on cell adhesion.