Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The quality of reporting of orthopaedic randomized trials with use of a checklist for nonpharmacological therapies.

BACKGROUND The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement for the reporting of randomized controlled trials has been limited by its applicability to surgical trials. In response, a Checklist to Evaluate a Report of a Nonpharmacological Trial was recently developed by the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials group to address reporting issues in surgical trials. We aimed (1) to apply the checklist for nonpharmacological therapies to orthopaedic randomized controlled trials across multiple journals from 2004 through 2005, and (2) to survey authors when methodological safeguards itemized in the checklist were not reported to determine whether they actually had been performed. We hypothesized that lack of reporting of a methodological safeguard did not necessarily mean it had not been conducted. METHODS We searched for relevant orthopaedic randomized controlled trials across eight journals in the period from January 2004 through December 2005. We applied the Checklist to Evaluate a Report of a Nonpharmacological Trial to all eligible studies. We contacted authors to determine what methodological safeguards were actually used, especially when details remained unclear from the publication. RESULTS We included eighty-seven randomized controlled trials from eighty-five scientific reports. In assessing the randomized controlled trials with the checklist for nonpharmacological therapies, seventy-three studies (84%) had unclear reporting of treatment allocation concealment. Only seventeen studies (20%) mentioned surgeon skill or experience. The blinding of patients, ward staff, rehabilitation staff, clinical outcome assessors, and nonclinical outcome assessors was unclear in forty-eight (55%), sixty-three (72%), sixty-four (74%), forty (46%), and thirty-three studies (38%), respectively. Authors from forty-three randomized controlled trials responded to our survey. The results of the survey showed that 41% (95% confidence interval, 25% to 58%) of the trials had adequate allocation concealment when this had been unclear from the report. Although the surgical experience of the investigators was rarely reported, most authors (70%) acknowledged that they had defined "surgical expertise criteria" such as minimum case criteria, specialized training, and clinical performance. The survey also showed that 28% to 40% of the trials had blinding of relevant groups despite the fact that the reporting of such blinding had been unclear in the publications. CONCLUSIONS The quality of reporting in the orthopaedic literature was highly variable. Readers should not assume that bias-reducing safeguards that were not reported in a randomized controlled trial did not occur. Our study reinforces the need for the consistent use of a tool like the Checklist to Evaluate a Report of a Nonpharmacological Trial to assess the methodology of surgical trials.
Withdrawal of port-catheter system for hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy implanted with fixed catheter tip method.

PURPOSE To evaluate the feasibility and safety of a method to withdraw port-catheter systems implanted by the fixed catheter tip method. MATERIALS AND METHODS Retrospective review was conducted of 14 cases of unresectable advanced liver cancer in which it was necessary to attempt 15 withdrawals of percutaneously placed implantable port-catheter systems. Reasons for withdrawal, withdrawal success, complications, and subsequent treatment of patient were evaluated. RESULTS In 14 of the 15 procedures (93.3%), the port-catheter system was successfully retrieved. Because continuation of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy was necessary in 10 procedures, a second implantation was performed after withdrawal of the initial catheter. Only one complication occurred, in which the indwelling catheter was broken in the aorta during withdrawal. CONCLUSION When retrieval of a port-catheter system implanted with the fixed catheter tip method is necessary, withdrawal can be accomplished safely with high frequency.
Aspects of the male reproductive toxicity/male antifertility property of andrographolide in albino rats: effect on the testis and the cauda epididymidal spermatozoa

Previous work has shown that Andrographis paniculata leaf, when fed to male albino rats, causes the arrest of spermatogenesis. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether andrographolide, one of the major constituents of this plant, is responsible for such an effect. The compound was administered to 3‐month‐old male Wistar albino rats at two dose levels, for 48 days. Fertility tests, analysis of the counts, motility and abnormalities of the cauda epididymidal spermatozoa, and histopathologicalevaluation of the testis were carried out. The results showed that sperm counts decreased, the spermatozoa were not motile, and several of them possessed abnormalities. The seminiferous epithelium wasthoroughly disrupted and in the seminiferous tubules, fully differentiated spermatozoa were far too limited; cells in the divisional stages were prevalent; multinucleate giant cells were abundant and Leydig cells appeared intact. It is inferred that andrographolide could affect spermatogenesis by preventing cytokinesis of the dividing spermatogenic cell lines. The multinucleate giant cells are comparable to the symplasts generated by cytochalasin‐D and ursolic acid due to action at stages V–VII of the spermatogenic cycle. Sertoli cell damage and spermatotoxic effects are also apparent. Thus, the study points to a male reproductive toxic effect of this compound when used as a therapeutic; the study also confirms the possible prospective use of andrographolide in male contraception. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Movement Tracking from Monocular Video Based on the Particle Filter

Human motion tracking from monocular video has received increasing attention in recent years due to its broad applications. Among these human motion tracking methods, the particle filter is considered as an effective approach for human motion tracking. However, there are still two limitations of current particle filter approaches such as the prior used for the filtering step is often poor due to relatively large, poorly modeled inter-frame motion and the use of the prior as an importance function results in inefficient sampling of the posterior. In this paper, we present a new approach to track 3D human motion from video clips with the assistance of a pre-captured motion library. We studied the application of particle filter to realize the basic principle of 3d human motion tracking, three-dimensional human body model, the evaluation function of the posture and dynamic model of the movement, and the results of the tracking test is given.
Corrigendum: Quantifying expert consensus against the existence of a secret, large-scale atmospheric spraying program (2016 Environ. Res. Lett. 11 084011)

Nearly 17%of people in an international survey said they believed the existence of a secret large-scale atmospheric program (SLAP) to be true or partly true. SLAP is commonly referred to as ‘chemtrails’ or ‘covert geoengineering’, and has led to a number of websites purported to show evidence of widespread chemical spraying linked to negative impacts on human health and the environment. To address these claims, we surveyed two groups of experts—atmospheric chemists with expertize in condensation trails and geochemists working on atmospheric deposition of dust and pollution—to scientifically evaluate for thefirst time the claims of SLAP theorists. Results show that 76 of the 77 scientists (98.7%) that took part in this study said they had not encountered evidence of a SLAP, and that the data cited as evidence could be explained through other factors, includingwell-understood physics and chemistry associatedwith aircraft contrails and atmospheric aerosols. Our goal is not to sway those already convinced that there is a secret, large-scale spraying program—whooften reject counter-evidence as further proof of their theories—but rather to establish a source of objective science that can informpublic discourse.
The Fate of Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds in Aeration Basins using Recirculated Aeration: A Pilot-Plant Evaluation

The fate of chloroform, which was chosen to represent chlorinated volatile organic compounds sometimes found in publicly owned wastewater treatment works, has been followed in a pilot aeration basin utilizing aeration recirculation. Tests were conducted using real wastewaters spiked with two different concentration levels of chloroform and operated at conditions similar to those of a large-scale aeration basin of the Mill Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Cincinnati, Ohio. Aeration recirculation levels of 0, 25, 50, and 75% were used to evaluate the concept that aeration recirculation can be an effective method of reducing the release of these toxic compounds to the atmosphere. Data obtained demonstrated that the concentration of chloroform in the off-gas increased as the recirculation ratio increased, but that the total mass emission rate to the atmosphere decreased due to the decreased off-gas volumetric flow rate. Biodegradation in the pilot plant increased by 183% for the 75% recirculation level compared to 0 % recirculation. Mass balance analysis results indicated that 60% of chloroform emissions could be reduced with 75% recirculation ratio with little or no effect of dissolved oxygen concentration.
Identification, Characterization, and Epitope Mapping of Human Monoclonal Antibody J19 That Specifically Recognizes Activated Integrin α4β7*

Background: The activation-specific antibodies against integrins are powerful tools in integrin studies. Results: An activation-specific antibody J19 against α4β7 was identified and characterized. Conclusion: J19 specifically binds to the activated α4β7 by recognizing the epitope only exposed in extended conformation. Significance: J19 is a potentially powerful tool for studying α4β7 function and treatment of α4β7-related inflammatory diseases. Integrin α4β7 is a lymphocyte homing receptor that mediates both rolling and firm adhesion of lymphocytes on vascular endothelium, two of the critical steps in lymphocyte migration and tissue-specific homing. The rolling and firm adhesions of lymphocytes rely on the dynamic shift between the inactive and active states of integrin α4β7, which is associated with the conformational rearrangement of integrin molecules. Activation-specific antibodies, which specifically recognize the activated integrins, have been used as powerful tools in integrin studies, whereas there is no well characterized activation-specific antibody to integrin α4β7. Here, we report the identification, characterization, and epitope mapping of an activation-specific human mAb J19 against integrin α4β7. J19 was discovered by screening a human single-chain variable fragment phage library using an activated α4β7 mutant as target. J19 IgG specifically bound to the high affinity α4β7 induced by Mn2+, DTT, ADP, or CXCL12, but not to the low affinity integrin. Moreover, J19 IgG did not interfere with α4β7-MAdCAM-1 interaction. The epitope of J19 IgG was mapped to Ser-331, Ala-332, and Ala-333 of β7 I domain and a seven-residue segment from 184 to 190 of α4 β-propeller domain, which are buried in low affinity integrin with bent conformation and only exposed in the high affinity extended conformation. Taken together, J19 is a potentially powerful tool for both studies on α4β7 activation mechanism and development of novel therapeutics targeting the activated lymphocyte expressing high affinity α4β7.
Highly fluorescent and superparamagnetic nanosystem for biomedical applications

This work reports on highly fluorescent and superparamagnetic bimodal nanoparticles (BNPs) obtained by a simple and efficient method as probes for fluorescence analysis and/or contrast agents for MRI. These promising BNPs with small dimensions (ca. 17 nm) consist of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) covalently bound with CdTe quantum dots (ca. 3 nm). The chemical structure of the magnetic part of BNPs is predominantly magnetite, with minor goethite and maghemite contributions, as shown by Mössbauer spectroscopy, which is compatible with the x-ray diffraction data. Their size evaluation by different techniques showed that the SPION derivatization process, in order to produce the BNPs, does not lead to a large size increase. The BNPs saturation magnetization, when corrected for the organic content of the sample, is ca. 68 emu g−1, which is only slightly reduced relative to the bare nanoparticles. This indicates that the SPION surface functionalization does not change considerably the magnetic properties. The BNP aqueous suspensions presented stability, high fluorescence, high relaxivity ratio (r2/r1 equal to 25) and labeled efficiently HeLa cells as can be seen by fluorescence analysis. These BNP properties point to their applications as fluorescent probes as well as negative T2-weighted MRI contrast agents. Moreover, their potential magnetic response could also be used for fast bioseparation applications.
Variable suppression of serum thyroxine in female mice of different inbred strains by triiodothyronine administered in drinking water.

BACKGROUND Recombinant-inbred mouse strains differ in their susceptibility to Graves'-like hyperthyroidism induced by immunization with adenovirus expressing the human thyrotropin (TSH) receptor. Because one genetic component contributing to this susceptibility is altered thyroid sensitivity to TSH receptor agonist stimulation, we wished to quantify thyroid responsiveness to TSH. For such studies, it is necessary to suppress endogenous TSH by administering L-3,5,3′-triiodothyronine (L-T3), with the subsequent decrease in serum thyroxine (T4) reflecting endogenous TSH suppression. Our two objectives were to assess in different inbred strains of mice (i) the extent of serum T4 suppression after L-T3 administration and (ii) the magnitude of serum T4 increase induced by TSH. METHODS Mice were tail-bled to establish baseline-serum T4 before L-T3 administration. We initially employed a protocol of L-T3-supplemented drinking water for 7 days. In subsequent experiments, we injected L-T3 intraperitoneally (i.p.) daily for 3 days. Mice were then injected i.p. with bovine TSH (10 mU) and euthanized 5 hours later. Serum T4 was assayed before L-T3 administration, and before and after TSH injection. In some experiments, serum T3 and estradiol were measured in pooled sera. RESULTS Oral L-T3 (3 or 5 µg/mL) suppressed serum T4 levels by 26%-64% in female BALB/c mice but >95% in males. T4 suppression in female B6 mice ranged from 0% to 90%. In C3H mice, L-T3 at 3 µg/mL was ineffective but 5 µg/mL achieved >80% serum T4 reduction. Unlike inbred mice, in outbred CF1 mice the same protocol was more effective: 83% in females and 100% suppression in males. The degree of T4 suppression was unrelated to baseline T4, T3, or estradiol, but was related to mouse weight and postmortem T3, with greater suppression in larger mice (outbred CF1 animals and inbred males). Among females with serum T4 suppression >80%, the increase in serum T4 after TSH injection was greater for BALB/c and C3H versus B6 mice. Moreover, the T4 increment was higher in female than in male BALB/c. CONCLUSIONS Our data provide important, practical information for future in vivo studies in inbred mice: we recommend that responses to TSH be performed in female animals injected with L-T3 i.p. to suppress baseline T4.
The 12-month prevalence of substance use and ICD-10 substance use disorders in Australian adults: findings from the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being.

AIMS To present the prevalence of substance use and ICD-10 substance use disorders in the adult Australian population using data from the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being (NSMHWB). DESIGN A cross-sectional survey assessing substance use and ICD substance use disorders (harmful use and dependence). SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A household survey of a nationally representative sample of 10,641 Australian adults (aged 18 years or older). MEASUREMENTS Trained survey interviewers administered a structured interview based on the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). FINDINGS In the past 12 months 6.5% of the sample had an ICD-10 alcohol use disorder (95% CI: 6.2, 6.9), and 2.2% had another drug use disorder (95% CI: 2.0, 2.4). More males than females had substance use disorders: 9.5% of males (95% CI: 8.5, 10.5) and 3.6% of females (95% CI: 3.2, 4.0) met criteria for an alcohol use disorder, and 3.2% of males (95% CI: 2.8, 3.6) and 1.3% of females (95% CI: 0.9, 1.7) met criteria for another drug use disorder within the past 12 months. The prevalence of substance use disorders decreased with increasing age: 10.5% of respondents aged 18-34 years met criteria for an alcohol use disorder and 4.8% met criteria for a drug use disorder. The rates of these disorders among those aged 55 years or older were 1.8% and 0.1%, respectively. Substance use disorders were more prevalent among the unemployed, those who had never married and those who were Australian-born. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of substance use disorders in the Australian population is comparable to that in other English-speaking countries.
137Caesium in samples of wild-grown Boletus edulis Bull. from Lucca province (Tuscany, Italy) and other Italian and European geographical areas

ABSTRACT Samples of the edible mushroom Boletus edulis Bull. were studied to assess the risk for human health related to their content of the artificial radionuclide 137Cs. Fresh B. edulis carpophores were collected in four undeveloped microhabitats of Lucca province (Tuscany, North-Central Italy). Dried non-cultivated samples coming from this same district and 11 other Italian provinces or European countries were instead purchased fromcommercial sources. Contents of 137Cs, reported as Bq kg‒1 dry weight (dw), were measured by γ-spectrometry. The radionuclide concentration varied depending on the gathering site in fresh samples, with 41.8 ± 5.2 Bq kg‒1 dw at site 1 (Tosco-Emiliani Apennine) and four-fold less, 12.8 ± 1.3 Bq kg‒1 dw, at site 2 (Apuan Alps). Moreover, fresh or dried carpophores from Lucca province displayed among the lowest 137Cs contents in Europe. Average 137Cs levels in all analysed samples were substantially below the legal threshold for edible mushrooms, 600 Bq kg‒1 dw. Conclusively, we report that 137Cs amounts in B. edulis depend on both the distance from the Chernobyl accident and multifactorial features of collection sites. We also show that the consumption of European B. edulis does not represent a major health risk with respect to 137Cs radio contamination. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives After 15 Years: Issues for Congress

This report discusses USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives' (OTI's) origin, its past and present activities, and issues about the program's impact, structure, and role within USAID that may be of interest to Congress. OTI's activities are overtly political, based on the idea that in the midst of political crisis and instability abroad there are local agents of change whose efforts, when supported by timely and creative U.S. assistance, can tip the balance toward peaceful and democratic outcomes that advance U.S. foreign policy objectives.
Housing, Finance, Policy and the Wider Economy

Building an understanding of the complex dynamics between housing, finance, policy and the wider economy is a critical step towards the development of a strategy that permits policy makers to leverage resources and enable the housing market to function better in the pursuit of economic, financial and social objectives. Powerful real, legislative and financial circuits suggest that an enabling strategy for housing can support societal progress and wellbeing. By summarizing the key findings in the existing theoretical and empirical literature, this study helps to explain the complex interrelations between housing, finance, policy and the wider economy by using a simple model; it also deals with housing-related policies and their effects, examines the rational for housing market regulation, investigates whether housing market corrections threaten financial and macroeconomic stability, and asks whether policies are efficacious at controlling housing market outcomes. The important takeaways from this study are: (i) policy setting should be evidence-based, which necessitates further efforts to address existing data deficiencies; (ii) finance trends are in flux and policy effects can be asymmetric, which necessitates regular and critical housing market reviews to identify misallocation, dislocation and reform needs; (iii) improvement in the functioning of the housing market requires a coordinating authority that takes steps to reconcile the various housing market stakeholdersi¯ mutually incompatible interests and arrange for concerted policy and institutional reforms. The study closes with an outlook on future research.
Combination of high order joint derivative local binary pattern (HJDLBP) and radial partitioning for automatic facial expression recognition

One of the most representative manners which human shows his inner feelings is through facial expressions. Automatic recognition of these gestures is of great importance in human computer interaction (HCI) applications. In order to automatically recognize facial expressions, local binary patterns (LBPs), which are powerful and computationally simple descriptors, have been extensively utilized for feature extraction from facial images. To improve image description accuracy, we have employed a new version of LBP, namely high order joint derivative local binary pattern (HJDLBP) in this paper which reveals spatial relations between patterns in different resolutions. Furthermore, a rotation invariant radial partitioning paradigm is utilized to localize LBP histogram calculation regions. Using radial partitioning instead of blocking eliminates head rotation effects in real world applications and improves classification accuracy. A bunch of support vector machines are trained by feature vectors to classify different facial expressions. To evaluate the proposed method we have used known and publicly available JAFFE dataset for experiments and compared the obtained results with results from state of the art approaches which use original LBP and rectangular partitioning. The comparison results show the effectiveness of the new descriptor in combination with radial partitioning for automatic facial expression categorization.
How Can We Measure Stock Market Returns? An International Comparison

The aim of our empirical work is to identify how we can measure stock returns. Stocks returns are approximated by market share price growth rate. We use two measures of stocks returns; return on assets, ROA, and return on equity, ROE. As a control variable, we use firm age. Our samples consists of 186 firms from the United Kingdom and 186 firms from the Ukraine studied over a period of 4 years from 2007 to 2010. To this end, we estimate three models. Using the data panels methodology, we could not however find evidence on a significant association between profitability measured by, return on assets and return on equity, and stock returns for Ukraine. However, we conclude a positive effect of ROA and stocks return, and a negative effect of ROE and stocks return for the United King Dom.