Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Children’s health insurance coverage in the United States: The role of parents’ ethnicity and immigration status

This study explores whether parents’ decision to carry health insurance for their children varies by race/ethnicity or immigration status. The results indicate that when compared to the reference group of native-born white parents, foreign-born, Hispanic, and black parents were less likely to have private health insurance coverage and more likely to have public health insurance coverage for their children. The likelihood of being uninsured increased with lower educational attainment, poverty, and status as a single parent, and the likelihood of having public health insurance coverage for children was positively associated with living in poverty, being female, and household size.
AT1 receptors are necessary for eccentric training‐induced hypertrophy and strength gains in rat skeletal muscle

This study was undertaken to measure the response of skeletal muscle to eccentric contractions (EC) in the presence of the angiotensin type 1 (AT1) receptor blocker, losartan. It was hypothesized that blocking AT1 receptors prior to an initial bout of EC would prevent the muscle from developing the normal adaptation to EC as demonstrated by the repeated bout effect. It was also hypothesized that continuous AT1 receptor blockade during EC training would significantly reduce muscle hypertrophy and strength gains that occur with repeated EC. Rats received losartan in their drinking water at either a low dose (20 mg (kg body weight)−1 day−1) or a high dose (40 mg (kg body weight)−1 day−1). Each bout of EC consisted of a total of 24 contractions. Rats were assigned to four groups: a single acute bout of EC (n= 6); two bouts of EC separated by 14 days (n= 8); and 4 weeks of training twice a week on the low dose (n= 5) or the high dose (n= 9). There was no effect of AT1 receptor blockade on the initial loss of function following a single acute bout of EC, or on the repeated bout effect following a second exposure to EC. AT1 receptor blockade did alter the results of EC training, in both the low and high dose groups. Losartan treatments prevented EC training‐induced increases in muscle wet and dry weights compared to untreated rats. Finally, the low and high dose losartan treatments also prevented an increase in muscle contractile force following EC training compared to the untreated group. Functional AT1 receptors are therefore not necessary for an acute adaptation to EC as demonstrated by the repeated bout effect, but are necessary for muscle hypertrophy and increased contractile force associated with EC training.
Basmag: An Optimized HMM-Based Localization System Using Backward Sequences Matching Algorithm Exploiting Geomagnetic Information

Due to the complex building construction materials, the geomagnetic field has great anomalies in indoor environments. These anomalies generate distinctive signatures corresponding to positions. Many hybrid localization schemes that combine geomagnetic information and pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) have been proposed. In this paper, we regard these distinctive geomagnetic anomalies as fingerprints for high precision indoor positioning. In order to improve the hybrid localization accuracy, we present Basmag, a robust hidden Markov model (HMM)-based indoor localization system, and we also propose a backward sequences matching algorithm (BSMA) to optimize the HMM. In order to improve the low discernibility of single geomagnetic signal, we vectorize the backward consecutive geomagnetic signals to fingerprint sequences with the help of PDR. We match the backward sequences with a pre-constructed fingerprint database to get more precise transition probabilities in HMM. We conducted a theoretical analysis of the feasibility of the BSMA. Extensive simulation results show that Basmag can achieve high-accuracy positioning. Finally, we conducted experiments performed on a smartphone in an indoor area to compare Basmag with other geomagnetic field-based and WiFi-based localization methods, and the experimental results verify the effectiveness and robustness among users with different walking styles of Basmag.
Energy needs modeling for urban households

This paper proposes a mathematical predictive model of power energy consumption per household in the district of Antsiranana. Based on the national statistical institute INSTAT, the power consumption depends on the demographic population category. Based on the general daily life equipment per household, the ordinary, medium and rich categories are defined in this investigation. Indeed, the trend from the last two decades yearly survey illustrates how the energy consumption in the district of Antsiranana varies. Based on the time dependent fitting approach, the mathematical model of the energy needs as established. The reliability of the proposed model was assessed with the correlation coefficient R2. Based on the data from the last decade, the relevance of the model was investigated. Then, prediction of the energy needs up to 2023 was proposed with 5% relative inaccuracy. Thanks to its simplicity, the method can be useful for the sustainable development. However, further improvement is still needed in order to forecast the energy consumption for tens future decades.
Hypertension and risk of brain metastasis from small cell lung cancer: a retrospective follow-up study.

BACKGROUND Although metastatic brain cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, little is known about the factors associated with its development. We examined the hypothesis that hypertension may increase the risk for brain metastasis (BM) in patients with primary small cell lung cancer (SCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective review of medical charts of patients diagnosed with SCLC between June, 1986 and June, 2003 at MeritCare in Fargo, ND, USA, was done to determine which of these patients subsequently developed brain metastases. The effects of hypertension, age, gender, body mass index and the site of SCLC on the risk of developing BM were examined using both univariate and multivariable Cox proportional-hazards regression models. Two-way interactions between hypertension and other covariates were also included in the analyses. RESULTS Two hundred and thirty-two patients were identified with SCLC and 185 patients were eligible for this study. Eighty-five (45.9%) patients developed BM. Over 54% of SCLC occurred in the right lobe and more than 70% of the patients with BM had them in multiple locations. The risk of BM is significantly higher in younger patients (p-value < 0.03). Univariate analysis showed a hazard ratio (HR) for hypertension of 1.01 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.6-1.6) for BM from SCLC. The multivariable Cox model showed an adjusted HR for hypertension of 1.06 (95%CI 0.7-1.6) for BM from SCLC CONCLUSION: As has been consistently observed for other lung cancers, SCLC is more common in the right lung. The higher incidence of BM in younger patients suggests that more aggressive therapy is needed in these patients. Hypertension does not appear to increase the risk of BM from SCLC.
Associations of sugar and artificially sweetened soda with albuminuria and kidney function decline in women.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Sugar-sweetened soda is reported to be associated with increased risk for diabetes and albuminuria, but there are currently limited data on how sugar or artificially sweetened soda may be related to kidney function decline. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS This study identified 3318 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study with data on soda intake and albuminuria; of these, 3256 also had data on estimated GFR (eGFR) change between 1989 and 2000. Cumulative average beverage intake was derived from the 1984, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998 food frequency questionnaires. Serving categories included <1/mo (referent), 1 to 4/mo, 2 to 6/wk, 1 to 1.9/d, and ≥ 2/d. Microalbuminuria (MA) was considered a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio of 25 to 355 μg/mg. For kidney function change, the primary outcome was a ≥ 30% decline in eGFR over 11 years; rapid eGFR decline defined as ≥ 3 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) per year was also examined. RESULTS Consumption of ≥ 2 servings per day of artificially sweetened (diet) soda was independently associated with eGFR decline ≥ 30% (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.36 to 3.01) and ≥ 3 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) per year (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.36 to 3.55). No increased risk for eGFR decline was observed for <2 servings per day of diet soda. No associations were noted between diet soda and MA or sugar soda and MA or eGFR decline. CONCLUSIONS Consumption of ≥ 2 servings per day of artificially sweetened soda is associated with a 2-fold increased odds for kidney function decline in women.
Mummified fruit as a source of inoculum and disease dynamics of olive anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spp.

Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum spp. , is a destructive disease of olive fruit worldwide. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of agronomical and weather factors on inoculum production using detached olive fruit and on the development of epidemics in the field. The pathogen produced very large numbers of conidia on rotted (>1.87 × 10(8) conidia/fruit) or mummified (>2.16 × 10(4) conidia/fruit) fruit under optimal conditions. On mummified fruit, conidial production was highest on mummies incubated at 20 to 25°C and 96 h of wetness. Repeated washings of mummies reduced conidial production until it was very low after five washings. When mummies were placed in the tree canopy, conidial production was not reduced after 6 months (May to October); but, when they were held on the soil or buried in the soil, conidial production comparatively decreased up to 10,000 times. Anthracnose epidemics on susceptible 'Hojiblanca' and 'Picudo' during three seasons (2005-08) were influenced by rainfall, temperature, and fruit ripening, and had three main phases: the latent period (May to October); the onset of the epidemic, which coincided with the beginning of fruit ripening (early November); and disease development, which was predicted by the Weibull model (November to March). No epidemics developed on the susceptible cultivars during the driest season (2007-08) or on the resistant 'Picual' olive during any of the three seasons. These results provide the basis for a forecasting system of olive anthracnose which could greatly improve the management of this disease.
Properties of Escherichia coli expressing bacteriophage P22 Abc (anti-RecBCD) proteins, including inhibition of Chi activity

Escherichia coli strains bearing plasmids expressing phage P22 anti-RecBCD functions abc1 and abc2 were tested for the presence of recBC-like phenotypes. Abc2 induces moderate sensitivity to UV light in wild-type and recD mutant strains but severely sensitizes both recF and recJ mutants. Abc1 has little effect on UV sensitivity in wild-type or recF or recJ mutant hosts but increases the sensitivity of recD mutants to a UV dose of 20 J/m2 about 10-fold. Abc2 induces E. coli to segregate inviable cells during growth, interferes with the growth of lambda red gam chi+ and chi 0 phage (the effect is greater with chi+ phage), inhibits Chi and Chi-like activity as measured by lambda red gam crosses, and prevents SOS induction in response to nalidixic acid; Abc1 has no effect in these tests. Abc2, alone or with Abc1, does not allow the growth of lambda red gam in the presence of a P2 prophage but does not kill the P2 lysogenic host (as lambda Gam does). Finally, Abc2 inhibits conjugational recombination in wild-type cells to the level seen in recBC mutants. These data suggest that Abc2 inhibits the recombination-promoting ability of RecBCD but leaves the exonuclease functions intact.
Monolithic 3D integration: A powerful alternative to classical 2D scaling

Monolithic or sequential 3D Integration is a powerful technological enabler for actual 3D IC design as the stacked layers can be connected at the transistor scale. This paper reviews the opportunities brought by M3DI and highlights the applications benefiting from this small 3D contact pitch. It also presents the technological challenges of this concept and offers a general overview of the potential solutions to obtain a high performance low temperature top transistor while keeping bottom MOSFET integrity.
The WHO Depression Scale RELATIONSHIP TO THE NEWCASTLE SCALES

The WHO (World Health Organization) Depression Scale is a new rating scale developed to evaluate the complete clinical history and description of depression. Items of the WHO scale were transformed to cover the items of the two Newcastle scales that are designed to differentiate between endogenous and non‐endogenous depressions. In 98 depressed inpatients examined prior to antidepressive therapy only moderate agreement between scores transformed to the two Newcastle scales was found. Also the distribution patterns of the scores on the two scales were different. In patients classified as endogenous on one or both scales a significant relationship between plasma levels of imipramine or clomipramine and antidepressive effect was found. In patients classified on both scales as doubtful – or non‐endogenous depressions – no such correlation could be identified. The initial severity of depression, as defined by the Hamilton Depression Scale, was the same in endogenous, doubtful and non‐endogenous depression according to the scores transformed to the two Newcastle scales.
Heart-rate variability and training-intensity distribution in elite rowers.

PURPOSE Elite endurance athletes may train in a polarized fashion, such that their training-intensity distribution preserves autonomic balance. However, field data supporting this are limited. METHODS The authors examined the relationship between heart-rate variability and training-intensity distribution in 9 elite rowers during the 26-wk build-up to the 2012 Olympic Games (2 won gold and 2 won bronze medals). Weekly averaged log-transformed square root of the mean sum of the squared differences between R-R intervals (Ln rMSSD) was examined, with respect to changes in total training time (TTT) and training time below the first lactate threshold (<LT(1)), above the second lactate threshold (LT(2)), and between LT(1) and LT(2) (LT(1)-LT(2)). RESULTS After substantial increases in training time in a particular training zone or load, standardized changes in Ln rMSSD were +0.13 (unclear) for TTT, +0.20 (51% chance increase) for time <LT(1), -0.02 (trivial) for time LT(1)-LT(2), and -0.20 (53% chance decrease) for time >LT(2). Correlations (± 90% confidence limits) for Ln rMSSD were small vs TTT (r = .37 ± .80), moderate vs time <LT(1) (r = .43 ± .10), unclear vs LT(1)-LT(2) (r = .01 ± .17), and small vs >LT2 (r = -.22 ± .50). CONCLUSION These data provide supportive rationale for the polarized model of training, showing that training phases with increased time spent at high intensity suppress parasympathetic activity, while low-intensity training preserves and increases it. As such, periodized low-intensity training may be beneficial for optimal training programming.
Dynamic algorithms for cooperation in user-provided network services

The ever increasing demand for Internet access, and the proliferation of advanced user-owned network equipment have given rise to collaborative schemes, where users satisfy each other's communication needs whenever they have spare network resources. In this paper, we consider such an autonomous model where users have random resource availability and decide independently how to serve each other. For this dynamic setting, we find that a myopic proportional allocation strategy, applied by each node in an asynchronous fashion based only on local information, converges to a stable equilibrium point. Moreover, we show through numerical examples, that the equilibrium exhibits a rich structure and coincides with the lexicographically maximum allocation of the users' resources. Accordingly, we consider a more sophisticated model where each user can pay for the services she receives, with service credits. This enhances the cooperation beyond those users that can directly exchange resources. For this setting, we propose a backpressure-inspired heuristic algorithm for implementing a lightweight, decentralized service exchange scheme, based on the credit backlogs, that balances as much as possible the service allocation across the different users.
Psychological interventions for women with intellectual disabilities and forensic care needs: a systematic review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE Research evidence to date concerning offending by people with intellectual disabilities (ID) has concentrated on male perpetrators and little is known about their female counterparts. This systematic literature review examines evidence on psycho-social therapies for the female intellectually disabled population within healthcare forensic facilities. METHODS A search of health, psychology and social science databases was conducted, using a varying combination of search words to detect relevant literature for this review. Four studies published between 2001 and 2012 were identified for inclusion. Articles were organised and compared in relation to study characteristics, sample, kind of treatment, instruments used to measure treatment impact, and study findings. FINDINGS In total, four studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. A range of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)-orientated group interventions for people with learning disabilities were evaluated and in most studies improvements were reported in relation to reducing problem behaviour. Evidence that has been generated by the studies is, however, limited in its explanatory value because of study design and related methodological issues. CONCLUSIONS This review has identified a significant gap in relation to research-based therapies for women with ID and forensic care needs. In particular, more research is needed focusing on women with a dual diagnosis of ID and psychiatric disorder who present challenging or criminal behaviour.
A review of the evidence to inform pneumococcal vaccine recommendations for risk groups aged 2 years and older

SUMMARY For decades, vaccination with the 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine (PPV23) has been available for risk groups aged ⩾2 years to prevent invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Recently, a 13-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV13) has been licensed for use in all age groups. PCV13 may induce better protection than PPV23 because of different immunogenic properties. This called for a revision of vaccine recommendations for risk groups. We therefore reviewed literature on risk groups for IPD, and effectiveness and safety of pneumococcal vaccines and supplemented that with information from public health institutes, expert consultations and data on IPD epidemiology. We included 187 articles. We discuss the implications of the heterogenic vulnerability for IPD within and between risk groups, large indirect effects of childhood immunization, and limited knowledge on additional clinical benefits of PCV13 in combination with PPV23 for the Norwegian recommendations. These are now step-wise and consider the need for vaccination, choice of pneumococcal vaccines, and re-vaccination interval by risk group.
Perception of Corruption and Public Support for Redistribution in Latin America

This paper studies the relationship between people's beliefs about the quality of their institutions, as measured by corruption perceptions, and preferences for redistribution in Latin America. Our empirical study is guided by a theoretical model which introduces taxes into Foellmi and Oechslin's (2007) general equilibrium model of non-collusive corruption. In this model perceived corruption influences people's preferences for redistribution through two channels. On the one hand it undermines trust in government, which reduces people's support for redistribution. On the other hand, more corruption decreases own wealth relative to average wealth of below-average-wealth individuals leading to a higher demand for redistribution. Thus, the effect of perceived corruption on redistribution cannot be signed a priori. Our novel empirical findings for Latin America suggest that perceiving corruption in the public sector increases people's support for redistribution. Although the positive channel dominates in the data, we also find evidence for the negative channel from corruption to demand for redistribution via reduced trust.
Atomic force microscopy examination of conformations of polynucleotides in response to platinum isomers: Significance of GC content at broken ends

Atomic force microscopy is a technique that enables visualization of macromolecular conformations of polynucleotides at nanometer resolution. We investigated the results of interactions of cisplatin, a DNA binding anticancer drug, and its inactive counterpart, transplatin isomer, on the molecular conformation of polynucleotides: poly d(G‐C) · poly d(G‐C) (polyGC) and poly d(A‐T) · poly d(A‐T) (polyAT). We observed that polyAT exhibited an increased number of enlarged ends of molecules, which we attribute to unwound and/or collapsed regions of polyAT. PolyGC molecules did not show such ends unless cisplatin was added to the PolyGC polymers. Transplatin had the apparent effect of causing overlapping or stacking of the polymer molecules. Addition of exonuclease‐III to these polymers removed the visible enlarged ends. The effects of cisplatin as compared to transplatin on the polyGC duplex polymers provide support for the presence of intrastrand covalent linkages, consistent with known N7 guanine interaction of the cis isomer on molecular conformation. Furthermore, our results indicate that the mechanism of interactions of DNA with cisplatin may be dependent on the GC content of the molecules. Int. J. Cancer (Radiat. Oncol. Invest.) 90, 68–72, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Unimpaired down-modulation of the hepatic granulomatous response in CD8 T-cell- and gamma interferon-deficient mice chronically infected with Schistosoma mansoni

The granulomatous response to schistosome eggs is a CD4 T-cell-dependent, Th2-cytokine-dominated immunopathologic response. As infection proceeds to chronicity, both granuloma formation and egg-induced cytokine production become downregulated, and previous experiments have implicated CD8 T cells in this process. One mechanism by which CD8 T cells could suppress immunopathology is through the production of the counterregulatory cytokine gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), but no in vivo evidence exists to directly support this hypothesis. In this study, we analyzed hepatic granuloma formation and egg-induced cytokine production in Schistosoma mansoni-infected gene knockout mice deficient in either CD8 lymphocytes or IFN-gamma. Surprisingly, we found that neither immunologic component plays an essential function in the control of granuloma and cytokine responses during either the acute or chronic stage of infection. Thus, other mechanisms may be more important in the regulation of immunopathology in schistosomiasis.