Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative effectiveness of dextrose prolotherapy versus control injections and exercise in the management of osteoarthritis pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Increasing evidence has supported the use of dextrose prolotherapy for patients with osteoarthritis. However, the real benefits may be affected by differences in injection protocols, comparative regimens, and evaluation scales. Methods PubMed and Scopus were searched from the earliest record until February 2016. One single-arm study and five randomized controlled trials were included, comprising 326 participants. We estimated the effect sizes of pain reduction before and after serial dextrose injections and compared the values between dextrose prolotherapy, comparative regimens, and exercise 6 months after the initial injection. Results Regarding the treatment arm using dextrose prolotherapy, the effect sizes compared with baseline were 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.14–1.17), 0.84 (95% CI, 0.40–1.27), 0.85 (95% CI, 0.60–1.10), and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.53–1.21) after the first, second, third, and fourth or more injections, respectively. The overall effect of dextrose was better than control injections (effect size, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.10–0.63). Dextrose prolotherapy had a superior effect compared with local anesthesia (effect size, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.07–0.70) and exercise (effect size, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.30–1.11). There was an insignificant advantage of dextrose over corticosteroids (effect size, 0.31; 95% CI, –0.18 to 0.80) which was only estimated from one study. Conclusion Dextrose injections decreased pain in osteoarthritis patients but did not exhibit a positive dose–response relationship following serial injections. Dextrose prolotherapy was found to provide a better therapeutic effect than exercise, local anesthetics, and probably corticosteroids when patients were retested 6 months following the initial injection.
OsMADS57 together with OsTB1 coordinates transcription of its target OsWRKY94 and D14 to switch its organogenesis to defense for cold adaptation in rice

Summary Plants modify their development to adapt to their environment, protecting themselves from detrimental conditions such as chilling stress by triggering a variety of signaling pathways; however, little is known about how plants coordinate developmental patterns and stress responses at the molecular level. Here, we demonstrate that interacting transcription factors OsMADS57 and OsTB1 directly target the defense gene OsWRKY94 and the organogenesis gene D14 to trade off the functions controlling/moderating rice tolerance to cold. Overexpression of OsMADS57 maintains rice tiller growth under chilling stress. OsMADS57 binds directly to the promoter of OsWRKY94, activating its transcription for the cold stress response, while suppressing its activity under normal temperatures. In addition, OsWRKY94 was directly targeted and suppressed by OsTB1 under both normal and chilling temperatures. However, D14 transcription was directly promoted by OsMADS57 for suppressing tillering under the chilling treatment, whereas D14 was repressed for enhancing tillering under normal condition.We demonstrated that OsMADS57 and OsTB1 conversely affect rice chilling tolerance via targeting OsWRKY94. Our findings highlight a molecular genetic mechanism coordinating organogenesis and chilling tolerance in rice, which supports and extends recent work suggesting that chilling stress environments influence organ differentiation.
Effects of pistachios on cardiovascular disease risk factors and potential mechanisms of action: a dose-response study.

BACKGROUND Nut consumption lowers cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Studies are lacking about the effects of pistachios, a nutrient-dense nut, on CVD risk factors, dose-response relations, and lipid-lowering mechanisms. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the effects of 2 doses of pistachios, added to a lower-fat diet, on lipids and lipoproteins, apolipoprotein (apo)-defined lipoprotein subclasses, and plasma fatty acids. To investigate the mechanisms of action, we measured cholesteryl ester transfer protein and indexes of plasma stearoyl-CoA desaturase activity (SCD). DESIGN In a randomized crossover controlled-feeding study, 28 individuals with LDL cholesterol > or = 2.86 mmol/L consumed 3 isoenergetic diets for 4 wk each. Baseline measures were assessed after 2 wk of a typical Western diet. The experimental diets included a lower-fat control diet with no pistachios [25% total fat; 8% saturated fatty acids (SFAs), 9% monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and 5% polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)], 1 serving/d of a pistachio diet (1 PD; 10% of energy from pistachios; 30% total fat; 8% SFAs, 12% MUFAs, and 6% PUFAs), and 2 servings/d of a pistachio diet (2 PD; 20% of energy from pistachios; 34% total fat; 8% SFAs, 15% MUFAs, and 8% PUFAs). RESULTS The 2 PD decreased (P < 0.05 compared with the control diet) total cholesterol (-8%), LDL cholesterol (-11.6%), non-HDL cholesterol (-11%), apo B (-4%), apo B/apo A-I (-4%), and plasma SCD activity (-1%). The 1 PD and 2 PD, respectively, elicited a dose-dependent lowering (P < 0.05) of total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol (-1% and -8%), LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol (-3% and -11%), and non-HDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol (-2% and -10%). CONCLUSIONS Inclusion of pistachios in a healthy diet beneficially affects CVD risk factors in a dose-dependent manner, which may reflect effects on SCD.
Vital-sign Data Fusion Models for Post-operative Patients

Deterioration in Patients who undergo upper-gastrointestinal surgery may be evident in the vital signs prior to adverse events. A dataset comprising observational vital-sign data from 128 post-operative patients was used to explore the trajectory of patients vital-sign changes during their stay in the post-operative ward. A model of normality based on pre-discharge data from patients who had a “normal” recovery was constructed using kernel density estimates, and tested with “abnormal” data from patients who deteriorate sufficiently to be re-admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. The results suggest that the criticality of post-operative patients can be evaluated by assessment of the distributions of their vital signs after their admission to the post-operative
Novel Genetic Variants Associated With Increased Vertebral Volumetric BMD, Reduced Vertebral Fracture Risk, and Increased Expression of SLC1A3 and EPHB2

Genome‐wide association studies (GWASs) have revealed numerous loci for areal bone mineral density (aBMD). We completed the first GWAS meta‐analysis (n = 15,275) of lumbar spine volumetric BMD (vBMD) measured by quantitative computed tomography (QCT), allowing for examination of the trabecular bone compartment. SNPs that were significantly associated with vBMD were also examined in two GWAS meta‐analyses to determine associations with morphometric vertebral fracture (n = 21,701) and clinical vertebral fracture (n = 5893). Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analyses of iliac crest biopsies were performed in 84 postmenopausal women, and murine osteoblast expression of genes implicated by eQTL or by proximity to vBMD‐associated SNPs was examined. We identified significant vBMD associations with five loci, including: 1p36.12, containing WNT4 and ZBTB40; 8q24, containing TNFRSF11B; and 13q14, containing AKAP11 and TNFSF11. Two loci (5p13 and 1p36.12) also contained associations with radiographic and clinical vertebral fracture, respectively. In 5p13, rs2468531 (minor allele frequency [MAF] = 3%) was associated with higher vBMD (β = 0.22, p = 1.9 × 10–8) and decreased risk of radiographic vertebral fracture (odds ratio [OR] = 0.75; false discovery rate [FDR] p = 0.01). In 1p36.12, rs12742784 (MAF = 21%) was associated with higher vBMD (β = 0.09, p = 1.2 × 10–10) and decreased risk of clinical vertebral fracture (OR = 0.82; FDR p = 7.4 × 10–4). Both SNPs are noncoding and were associated with increased mRNA expression levels in human bone biopsies: rs2468531 with SLC1A3 (β = 0.28, FDR p = 0.01, involved in glutamate signaling and osteogenic response to mechanical loading) and rs12742784 with EPHB2 (β = 0.12, FDR p = 1.7 × 10–3, functions in bone‐related ephrin signaling). Both genes are expressed in murine osteoblasts. This is the first study to link SLC1A3 and EPHB2 to clinically relevant vertebral osteoporosis phenotypes. These results may help elucidate vertebral bone biology and novel approaches to reducing vertebral fracture incidence. © 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Initial training with difficult items does not facilitate category learning

In the phenomenon of transfer along a continuum (TAC), initial training on easy items facilitates later learning of a harder discrimination. TAC is a widely replicated cross-species phenomenon that is well predicted by certain kinds of associative theory. A recent report of an approximately opposite phenomenon (i.e., facilitation by initial training on hard items) poses a puzzle for such theories, but is predicted by a dual-system model (COVIS). However, across four experiments, we present substantial evidence that this counterintuitive finding was in error. Rather, the result appears to be a false positive and, as such, should not form part of the evidence base for COVIS nor be considered as a counter-example to the pervasive TAC phenomenon.
A Robust Digital Image Watermarking Approach against JPEG Compression Attack Based on Hybrid Fractal-Wavelet

The recent progress in the digital multimedia technologies has offered many facilities in the transmission, reproduction and manipulation of data. However, this advance has also brought the problem such as copyright protection for content providers. Digital watermarking is one of the proposed solutions for copyright protection of multimedia. This paper proposes a blind watermarking algorithm based on fractal model in discrete wavelet domain for copyright protection. The idea of the presented scheme is to hide a binary image as a watermark with fractal parameters in wavelet domain of host image. Fractal compression technique is used to encode a gray image and fractal codes are embedded into the wavelet coefficients of the gray image according to well-connected watermark algorithm. The experimental results show that the algorithm is robust against JPEG compression attacks.
Identifying the Scan and Attack Infrastructures Behind Amplification DDoS Attacks

Amplification DDoS attacks have gained popularity and become a serious threat to Internet participants. However, little is known about where these attacks originate, and revealing the attack sources is a non-trivial problem due to the spoofed nature of the traffic. In this paper, we present novel techniques to uncover the infrastructures behind amplification DDoS attacks. We follow a two-step approach to tackle this challenge: First, we develop a methodology to impose a fingerprint on scanners that perform the reconnaissance for amplification attacks that allows us to link subsequent attacks back to the scanner. Our methodology attributes over 58% of attacks to a scanner with a confidence of over 99.9%. Second, we use Time-to-Live-based trilateration techniques to map scanners to the actual infrastructures launching the attacks. Using this technique, we identify 34 networks as being the source for amplification attacks at 98\% certainty.
Painting with looks: photographic images from video using quantimetric processing

When we ask the fundamental question "What does a camera measure? ", we arrive at the concept of quantimetric imaging, which uses a new quantimetric unit, q, characteristic of a particular camera (e.g. each kind of camera defines its own quantimetric unit q based on its spectral response, etc.). Fluctuations in interframe exposures, along a sequence of images, give rise to a comparametric relationship between successive pairs of images. This allows us to estimate the response function of the camera (to derive the quantimetric unit q) as well as the relative differences in exposure. A new method of video image processing that exploits multiple differently exposed pictures (frames of the video sequence) of overlapping subject matter is thus possible. The method may be used whenever a video camera having automatic exposure captures multiple frames of video with the same subject matter appearing in regions of overlap between at least some of the successive video frames. Since almost all cameras have an automatic exposure feature, typically center weighted, when a light object falls in the center of the frame the exposure is automatically decreased, whereas the exposure is automatically increased when the camera swings around to point at a darker object. Such fluctuations in gain may be used to estimate the camera's response function, to estimate exposure differences, to do quantimetric processing, as well as to obtain images having both extended dynamic range and extended dynamic domain.
SimTRaX: Simulation Infrastructure for Exploring Thousands of Cores

SimTRaX is a simulation infrastructure for simultaneous exploration of highly parallel accelerator architectures and how applications map to them. The infrastructure targets both cycle-accurate and functional simulation of architectures with thousands of simple cores that may share expensive computation and memory resources. A modified LLVM backend used to compile C++ programs for the simulated architecture allows the user to create custom instructions that access proposed special-purpose hardware and to debug and profile the applications being executed. The simulator models a full memory hierarchy including registers, local scratchpad RAM, shared caches, external memory channels, and DRAM main memory, leveraging the USIMM DRAM simulator to provide accurate dynamic latencies and power usage. SimTRaX provides a powerful and flexible infrastructure for exploring a class of extremely parallel architectures for parallel applications that are not easily simulated using existing simulators.
Dairy consumption and 6-y changes in body weight and waist circumference in middle-aged French adults.

BACKGROUND Some studies have shown an inverse relation between calcium intake and body weight or fat mass. OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate the relations of dairy consumption and calcium intake with 6-y changes in body weight and waist circumference (WC). DESIGN Multivariate analysis of variance according to dairy consumption or calcium intake quartile was presented, stratified by sex and body weight status at baseline, in 2267 middle-aged French adults. RESULTS The associations between dairy products and anthropometric changes differed according to sex and overweight status at baseline. In overweight men only, 6-y changes in weight and WC were inversely associated with the consumption of dairy products-especially that of milk (P = 0.02 for both weight and WC changes) and yogurt (P = 0.01 and 0.03 for weight and WC changes, respectively). No relation was observed with cheese and calcium intake. Positive relations were found between milk consumption and WC change in overweight women and between yogurt consumption and weight change in normal-weight women. Multivariate analyses showed a trend toward increases in weight with high dairy calcium intakes in normal-weight women. CONCLUSIONS The relation of dairy products and calcium intake with changes in weight and WC may differ according to sex, initial body-weight status, and type of dairy products. The negative association between dairy products and anthropometric changes observed in overweight men was not explained by dairy calcium intakes, which suggests that other components of dairy products or specific dietary patterns associated with dairy consumption may help to explain the observed associations.
Factor XIII Val34Leu variant and the risk of myocardial infarction

Summary Genetic factors are thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). A common variant of factor XIII (FXIII), FXIII Val34Leu, may be protective against developing an AMI, but various studies show conflicting results. We performed a meta-analysis to determine whether the FXIII Val34Leu variant is associated with a decreased risk of AMI. One hundred ninety-five articles were reviewed and 12 case-control studies were selected. We included studies involving patients with objectively diagnosed AMIs (WHO criteria), provided that FXIII Val34Leu genotyping data were available. Inclusion decisions, quality assessment, and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers. Hypothesizing that the Leu allele was protective, we performed three analyses with the Val/Val genotype as the reference group. Pooled odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were determined. Prior to pooling, heterogeneity testing was performed using the I 2 statistic. These studies included a total of 8,743 patients, of which 3,663 were AMI patients and 5,080 were healthy controls. Using the random effects methods, protective effects were seen with the Leu/Val genotype alone (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.68–0.93) and with Leu/Val and Leu/Leu genotypes combined (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.66–0.93). There was also a protective effect with the Leu/Leu genotype alone, (not statistically significant: OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.61–1.12), likely due to the low frequency of this genotype. These results suggest that there is an association between the factor XIII Leu allele and a modest protective effect against AMI and may provide useful information in profiling susceptibility to myocardial infarction.
High-fiber diet in HIV-positive men is associated with lower risk of developing fat deposition.

BACKGROUND Lipodystrophy has been described with increasing frequency in patients infected with HIV. This study focused on the identification of dietary components that may predispose HIV-positive patients to the development of fat deposition. OBJECTIVE We evaluated differences in past dietary intake between men with HIV who developed fat deposition and those who did not. DESIGN This nested case-control study consisted of 47 cases and 47 controls from the Nutrition for Healthy Living cohort. Food records from 6 to 24 mo before development of fat deposition in cases were analyzed and compared with food records from controls by using t tests for normally distributed nutrients and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests for nutrients with skewed distributions. RESULTS HIV-positive patients without fat deposition had greater overall energy intakes (kcal/kg; P = 0.03) and greater intakes of total protein (P = 0.01), total dietary fiber (P = 0.01), soluble dietary fiber (P = 0.01), insoluble dietary fiber (P = 0.03), and pectin (P = 0.02) than did HIV-positive patients with fat deposition. Those without fat deposition also tended to currently perform more resistance training (P = 0.05) and to not be current smokers (P = 0.05). CONCLUSION Our results indicate that an overall high-quality diet, rich in fiber and adequate in energy and protein, may be beneficial in preventing the development of fat deposition in persons infected with HIV. The results of this study further emphasize that a healthy lifestyle, including exercise and avoidance of unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, may also be similarly beneficial.
L IVER D ISEASE P REDICTION BY U SING D IFFERENT D ECISION T REE T ECHNIQUES

Early prediction of liver disease is very important to save human life and take proper steps to control the disease. Decision Tree algorithms have been successfully applied in various fields especially in medical science. This research work explores the early prediction of liver disease using various decision tree techniques. The liver disease dataset which is select for this study is consisting of attributes like total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, age, gender, total proteins, albumin and globulin ratio. The main purpose of this work is to calculate the performance of various decision tree techniques and compare their performance. The decision tree techniques used in this study are J48, LMT, Random Forest, Random tree, REPTree, Decision Stump, and Hoeffding Tree. The analysis proves that Decision Stump provides the highest accuracy than other techniques.
Validation of the Healthy Eating Index with use of plasma biomarkers in a clinical sample of women.

BACKGROUND The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a 100-point analytic scoring tool used to measure compliance with dietary recommendations and guidelines. OBJECTIVE The objective was to calculate HEI scores for a sample of women and to link the HEI scores to plasma biomarkers of dietary exposure. DESIGN Respondents were 340 women aged 21-80 y who were enrolled in a case-control study of diet and breast cancer. The sample included 172 patients with newly diagnosed cancer (case subjects), 149 cancer-free control subjects, and 19 women at high risk of breast cancer. Dietary intake assessment was based on 3-d food records. HEI scores were calculated for all respondents. Venous blood was collected for measurements of plasma carotenoids, vitamin C, and folate. CONCLUSIONS Higher HEI scores were associated most strongly with greater dietary variety (r = 0.71), higher intakes of fruit (r = 0.57), and lower intakes of fat and saturated fat. HEI scores were also associated with higher intakes of energy, carbohydrates, fiber, folate, and vitamin C. Higher HEI scores were associated with higher plasma concentrations of alpha-carotene (r = 0.40), beta-carotene (r = 0.28), beta-cryptoxanthin (r = 0.41), lutein (r = 0.23), and vitamin C (r = 0.26) after age and vitamin supplement use were controlled for in a regression model. There was a further association between HEI scores and socioeconomic variables. Women with higher HEI scores were more likely to be older, married, and better educated and to have higher household incomes.
Towards Attack-Agnostic Defenses

Internet attackers control hundreds of thousands to perhaps millions of computers, which they can use for a variety of different attacks. Common attacks include spam delivery, phishing, and DDoS. The current research community focus is on defenses for each specific attack type compromised hosts may launch. However, attack-specific approaches almost always have two fundamental drawbacks: they do not address the root problem that attackers control an army of compromised hosts, and they do not provide the right incentives for users to properly secure their machines. As a result, attack-specific defenses may be defeated by new attacks, even those that may be only slightly different from old attacks. We argue researchers should also focus on attackagnostic defenses whose effectiveness does not depend on the particular attack type. We initiate this line of research by investigating the design space for attack-agnostic defenses, and then detailing two extreme points within the design space: an InternetWatch List and an Internet Reputation System.
Ageism in cardiology

This article supports the argument that ageism exists in health care, particularly on the equity of access to cardiological services. Rates of use of potentially life saving and life promoting interventions and investigations decline as the patient gets older. Higher rates of cardiological interventions occur among younger people, despite the high incidence of the condition among older individuals. Any ageism in clinical medicine and policy is simply a reflection of the presence of ageist attitudes in wider society, where the youth receives a higher priority over age. Ageism in medicine needs to be addressed to preserve or recapture this trust within an aging population. A wide ranging approach is necessary if equity in the provision of health care services is to be ensured which includes improvement of clinical guidelines and more specific monitoring of health care. Educational efforts to raise awareness that age stereotyping and ageist attitudes are unethical should be initiated. Research initiatives, which cover large numbers of older people, should be developed and older people should be empowered to influence choices and standards of treatments. Finally, legislation may be required to eradicate ageism in society.