Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mobile-based intervention intended to stop obesity in preschool-aged children: the MINISTOP randomized controlled trial.

Background: Traditional obesity prevention programs are time- and cost-intensive. Mobile phone technology has been successful in changing behaviors and managing weight; however, to our knowledge, its potential in young children has yet to be examined.Objective: We assessed the effectiveness of a mobile health (mHealth) obesity prevention program on body fat, dietary habits, and physical activity in healthy Swedish children aged 4.5 y.Design: From 2014 to 2015, 315 children were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. Parents in the intervention group received a 6-mo mHealth program. The primary outcome was fat mass index (FMI), whereas the secondary outcomes were intakes of fruits, vegetables, candy, and sweetened beverages and time spent sedentary and in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Composite scores for the primary and secondary outcomes were computed.Results: No statistically significant intervention effect was observed for FMI between the intervention and control group (mean ± SD: -0.23 ± 0.56 compared with -0.20 ± 0.49 kg/m2). However, the intervention group increased their mean composite score from baseline to follow-up, whereas the control group did not (+0.36 ± 1.47 compared with -0.06 ± 1.33 units; P = 0.021). This improvement was more pronounced among the children with an FMI above the median (4.11 kg/m2) (P = 0.019). The odds of increasing the composite score for the 6 dietary and physical activity behaviors were 99% higher for the intervention group than the control group (P = 0.008). Conclusions: This mHealth obesity prevention study in preschool-aged children found no difference between the intervention and control group for FMI. However, the intervention group showed a considerably higher postintervention composite score (a secondary outcome) than the control group, especially in children with a higher FMI. Further studies targeting specific obesity classes within preschool-aged children are warranted. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02021786.
Transmission of News in Eurozone Bank Holdings and European Bank Markets in the Light of the Greek Debt Crisis

This article examines the interdependence of European bank sectors under two different aspects. First, we investigate the symmetric transmission mechanism between six Eurozone countries’ (Germany, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain) bank holdings in order to uncover the volatility and error interrelationship of these holdings and their impact on the Greek bank holdings. Also, we analyse the impact from the Greek bank holdings on the other Eurozone countries’ bank holdings. In addition, we examine the impact of the Greek bank holdings on the transmission mechanism among all six cross-country bank indices. Second, we investigate the interrelationship of Greek bank market with two emerging cross-country bank indices and two developed ones. The two groups concern Greece, France and Germany and Greece, Poland and Czech Republic, respectively. We find very strong volatility and error spillovers for five Eurozone countries’ (Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain) bank holdings, whereas French bank holdings are less integrated with the other five ones. Moreover, the results indicated that the Greek bank market is integrated better with the two emerging bank indices rather than the two developed ones. In addition, the Greek debt crisis seemed to play an important role on the volatility transmission mechanism since the volatility and error spillovers are larger in magnitude in the after-crisis period than in the pre-crisis period for both groups of countries. Based on the results regarding the degree of volatility persistence, the number of days that the innovations in the post-crisis period last is larger than the number of days of the pre-crisis period for both groups of countries under study. JEL Classification: G15, G20, C61, C3
Serum biomarkers of hepatitis B virus infected liver inflammation: A proteomic study

Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a serious infectious and widespread human pathogen, represents a major health problem worldwide. Chronic HBV infection has a very high risk of evolving into hepatocellular carcinoma. Although considerable progress was made during the recent past, the pathogenesis of HBV infection is still elusive and a definite diagnosis of HBV infected liver information still relies on biopsy histological test. In this report, we used proteomics technology to globally examine HBV infected serum samples aiming at searching for disease‐associated proteins that can be used as serological biomarkers for diagnosis and/or target proteins for pathogenetic study. By comparing with normal and HBV negative serum samples, we found that at least seven proteins were significantly changed in HBV infected sera. These greatly altered proteins were identified to be haptoglobin β and α2 chain, apolipoprotein A‐I and A‐IV, α1‐antitrypsin, transthyretin and DNA topoisomerase IIβ. The alteration of these proteins is displayed not only in quantity but also in patterns (or specificity), which can be correlated with necroinflammatory scores. In particular, apolipoprotein A‐I presents heterogeneous change in expression level with different isoforms and α1‐antitrypsin produces evidently different fragments implying diverse cleavage pathways. These unique phenomena appear specific to HBV infection. A combination simultaneously considering the quantities and isoforms of these proteins could be a useful serum biomarker (or index) for HBV diagnosis and therapy.
Trends over time and geographical variation in rates of intravitreal injections in England

Aims The recent emergence of antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) drugs has led to increased numbers of patients undergoing intravitreal injection for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The aims of this study were to report on trends over time and geographical variation in intravitreal injection rates in England, and consider the implications for publicly funded health services of introducing new and expensive treatments. Methods Hospital episode statistics were analysed for annual treatment rates of intravitreal injection between the NHS financial years of 1989/1990 and 2008/1999. Results Annual injection rates increased from 0.4 episodes (95% CI 0.37 to 0.49) per 100 000 population in 1989/1990 to 10.7 (10.4–11.0) in 2006/2007. Rates then rose exponentially to 59.5 (58.8–60.2) in 2008/2009, with increasing use of multiple injections per person. The largest growth in injection rates was found in older people, and for AMD. Numbers of treatment episodes increased from 203 (1989/1990) to 30 458 (2008/2009). Geographical analysis showed a very wide variation across local authority areas in injection rates, from 0.9 (0.2–2.2) to 42.2 (38.9–45.7) people per 100 000 population in 2005–2008. Conclusion Rates of intravitreal injection increased exponentially from 2006/2007. This followed the US Food and Drug Association licensing of ranibizumab for the treatment of neovascular AMD (2006), and its recommendation by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2008). This study demonstrates some of the major issues which arise with the emergence of expensive new treatments, including speed and cost of adoption, geographical variation in access, and implications for licensing, commissioning and health financing in an ageing society.
Solitary Plasmacytoma

Solitary plasmacytoma is a rare disease characterized by a localized proliferation of neoplastic monoclonal plasma cells, without evidence of systemic disease. It can be subdivided into solitary bone plasmacytoma if the lesion originates in bone, or solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma if the lesion involves a soft tissue. The incidence of solitary bone plasmacytoma is higher than solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma. Also, the prognosis is different: even if both forms respond well to treatment, overall survival and progression-free survival of solitary bone plasmacytoma are poorer than solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma due to its higher rate of evolution in multiple myeloma. However, the recent advances in the diagnosis of multiple myeloma can better refine also the diagnosis of plasmacytoma. Flow cytometry studies and molecular analysis may reveal clonal plasma cells in the bone marrow; magnetic resonance imaging or 18 Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography could better define osteolytic bone lesions. A more explicit exclusion of possible occult systemic involvement can avoid cases of misdiagnosed multiple myeloma patients, which were previously considered solitary plasmacytoma and less treated, with an unavoidable poor prognosis. Due to the rarity of the disease, there is no uniform consensus about prognostic factors and treatment. Radiotherapy is the treatment of choice; however, some authors debate about the radiotherapy dose and the relationship with the response rate. Moreover, the role of surgery and chemotherapy is still under debate. Nevertheless, we must consider that the majority of studies include a small number of patients and analyze the efficacy of conventional chemotherapy; few cases are reported concerning the efficacy of novel agents.
Integrierte Analyse der Einkommens- und Vermögensverteilung: Abschlussbericht zur Studie im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales, Bonn

Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Hauser, R. , Becker, I. , Grabka, M. M. , & Westerheide, P. (2007). Integrierte Analyse der Einkommensund Vermögensverteilung: Abschlussbericht zur Studie im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales, Bonn. (Forschungsbericht / Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, A369). Berlin: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-315175
Delay of phagosome maturation by a mycobacterial lipid is reversed by nitric oxide

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a facultative intracellular pathogen that inhibits phagosome maturation in macrophages thereby securing survival and growth. Mycobacteria reside in an early endocytic compartment of near‐neutral pH where they upregulate production of complex glycolipids such as trehalose dimycolate. Here, we report that trehalose dimycolate coated onto beads increased the bead retention in early phagosomes, i.e. at a similar stage as viable mycobacteria. Thus, a single mycobacterial lipid sufficed to divert phagosome maturation and likely contributes to mycobacterial survival in macrophages. Previous studies showed that activated macrophages promote maturation of mycobacterial phagosomes and eliminate mycobacteria through bactericidal effectors including nitric oxide generated by inducible nitric‐oxide synthase. We show that deceleration of bead phagosome maturation by trehalose dimycolate was abolished in immune‐activated wild type, but not in activated nitric‐oxide synthase‐deficient macrophages, nor when hydroxyl groups of trehalose dimycolate were chemically modified by reactive nitrogen intermediates. Thus, specific host defence effectors of activated macrophages directly target a specific virulence function of mycobacteria.
Integrated track splitting filter - efficient multi-scan single target tracking in clutter

A fully automatic tracking algorithm must be able to deal with an unknown number of targets, unknown target initiation and termination times, false measurements and possibly time-varying target trajectory behaviour. An efficient algorithm for tracking in this environment is presented here. This approach makes use of estimates of the probability of target existence, which is an integral part of the algorithm. This allows for the efficient generation and management of possible target hypotheses, yielding an algorithm with performance that matches what can be obtained by multiple hypothesis tracking-based approaches, but at a significantly lower computational cost. This paper considers only the single target case for clarity. The extension to multiple targets is easily incorporated into this framework. Simulation studies are given that show the effectiveness of this approach in the presence of heavy and nonuniform clutter when tracking a target in an environment of low probability of detection and in an environment where the target performs violent manoeuvres.
Central Nervous System and the Colonic Bioreactor: Analysis of Colonic Microbiota in Patients with Stroke Unravels Unknown Mechanisms of the Host Defense after Brain Injury

quickly changing polymicrobial infectious events is the endogenous flora from the skin, oro-pharynx, uro-genital region and colon. The colon is the largest reservoir for bacteria. The colon is physiologically seen a bioreactor. Here, bacteria ferment waste products of digestion, recycle water and electrolytes, and win additional energy via short fatty acids and lactate. Bacterial growth is actively promoted, leading to concentrations of 10 bacteria per mL of stool. The optimal growth conditions attract, besides fermentative strains, all microorganisms that are able to exist in this environment, leading to an unprecedented diversity of more than 5,000 species in each healthy colon. Most species are probably harmless wanderers brought into the colon by accident, Central Nervous System and the Colonic Bioreactor: Analysis of Colonic Microbiota in Patients with Stroke Unravels Unknown Mechanisms of the Host Defense after Brain Injury
The DOGMA approach to high-utilization supercomputing

Heterogeneous distributed computing has traditionally been a problematic undertaking which increases in complexity as heterogeneity increases. The recent advent of Java has made heterogeneous computing a fairly straightforward task. Nevertheless, many researchers have not considered the use of Java in a mainstream parallel programming environment. The performance of Java just-in-time compilers currently approaches optimized C for many applications, making Java a serious contender for supercomputing application development. This paper presents DOGMA (Distributed Object Group Metacomputing Architecture)-a new Java-based system which enables parallel computing on heterogeneous computers. DOGMA provides support for dedicated clusters as well as idle workstations through the use of a Web-based browse-in feature or the DOGMA screen saver, which improves workstation utilization. DOGMA supports parallel programming in both a traditional message-passing form and a novel object-oriented approach. This research provides a unified environment for developing high-performance supercomputing applications on heterogeneous systems.
Expression of 18‐wheeler in the follicle cell epithelium affects cell migration and egg morphology in Drosophila

The Drosophila ovary is a model system for examining the genetic control of epithelial morphogenesis. The somatic follicle cells form a polarized epithelium surrounding the 16‐cell germ line cyst. The integrity of this epithelium is essential for the successful completion of oogenesis. Reciprocal signaling between germ line and somatic cells establishes embryonic and eggshell polarity. The follicle cells are responsible for shaping the egg and secreting the eggshell. Follicle cells at the boundary between the nurse cells and the oocyte migrate centripetally to cover the anterior end of the oocyte and secrete the operculum. Dorsal anterior main body follicle cells undergo elaborate patterning to produce the dorsal appendages. We have examined the expression of the Toll‐like receptor, 18‐wheeler (18w), in the ovary and find it to be restricted to subpopulations of follicle cells. Females carrying loss‐of‐function 18w mutant clones in their ovaries show delayed follicle cell migrations. The eggs laid by such females also show morphological defects in egg shape and dorsal appendage morphology. We propose that the 18W protein plays an adhesive or signaling role in regions of the epithelium engaged in cell migration. Developmental Dynamics 235:1953–1961, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Ferumoxtran-10–Enhanced MRI of the Hypercholesterolemic Rabbit Aorta: Relationship Between Signal Loss and Macrophage Infiltration

Objective—Ferumoxtran-10 is an MRI contrast agent, which accumulates in macrophages and induces magnetic susceptibility artifacts (MSAs). We evaluated the ability of ferumoxtran-10–enhanced MRI to quantify focal macrophage infiltration in the aortic wall of hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Methods and Results—Six weeks after a double-balloon injury of the infrarenal aorta, 12 hypercholesterolemic rabbits underwent MRI of the aorta before (first MRI) and after (second MRI) intravenous injection of ferumoxtran-10 (n=10) or saline (n=2). A third MRI was performed 5 days later to detect ferumoxtran-10–induced MSA in the aortic wall. Aortas were subsequently processed for histology, immunohistochemistry, and gelatin zymography studies. Injured aortas displayed a macrophage-rich neointima with high-matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9 activities. Iron stain of injured aortas showed massive accumulation of ferumoxtran-10 in neointimal macrophages. Five days after the injection of ferumoxtran-10, MSAs were detected only in the injured aortas by in vivo MRI and were quantified indirectly using the percentage reduction of luminal area attributable to the extension of these MSAs in the aortic lumen. This parameter correlated with macrophage infiltration on corresponding aortic cross-sections (r=0.82; P<0.05). Conclusion—Ferumoxtran-10–enhanced MRI allows quantitative assessment of macrophage infiltration induced by balloon angioplasty in the aorta of hypercholesterolemic rabbits.
College success factors for international students studying in the United States of America after completing an international baccalaureate high school program

This quantitative study took place at a private international school in East Asia. The purpose of the study was to investigate United States college admission trends comparing International Baccalaureate Diploma Program candidates and International Baccalaureate non-Diploma Program candidates from the same school. Descriptive data was collected for the Classes of 2007-2012 and the two groups were compared based on the number of college acceptances for each group by year and as a whole, and the eventual collegiate success of the two groups once they matriculated to college, as measured by college persistence and graduation rates. The results of this study show there was a statistically significant difference between the mean number of college applications and the mean number of college acceptances per group, but there was not a statistically significant difference between the college acceptance rates for the two groups of students. There was a statistically significant difference between the matriculation rate of diploma and certificate students, but there was not a statistically significant difference between the graduation rates for the two groups of students. The information analyzed provides school stakeholders valuable data to explore the final educational outcomes for its graduates and determine if there is a significant difference in the college success of the two groups.
A polynomial observer design for a wider class of polynomial fuzzy systems

This paper presents a polynomial fuzzy observer design for a wider class of polynomial fuzzy systems via a sum of squares (SOS, for brevity) approach. The proposed SOS-based framework provides a number of innovations and improvements over the existing LMI-based approaches to Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy controller and observer designs. First, we briefly summarize previous results for a class of polynomial fuzzy systems that is more general representation of the well-known T-S fuzzy system. Next, we propose a polynomial fuzzy observer to estimate states in a wider class of polynomial fuzzy systems and derive SOS conditions to design polynomial fuzzy controllers and observers. A remarkable feature of the SOS design conditions is that they realize the so-called separation principle, that is, that a polynomial fuzzy controller and observer for this class can be separately designed without lack of guaranteeing the stability of the overall control system in addition to converging state estimation error (via the observer) to zero. The design conditions in the proposed approach can be represented in terms of SOS and are symbolically and numerically solved via the recent developed SOSTOOLS and a semidefinite program (SDP) solver, respectively. To illustrate the validity and applicability of the proposed approach, a design example is provided. The example demonstrates advantages of the SOS-based approach for the existing LMI approaches to T-S fuzzy observer designs.
Racial and psychosocial risk factors for herpes zoster in the elderly.

The effects of black race and psychologic stress on the risk of acquiring herpes zoster in late life were examined. Subjects were participants of a stratified probability sample of community-dwelling persons > or = 65 years old. A comprehensive health survey was administered in 1986-1987 (P1), 1989-1990 (P2), and 1992-1994 (P3). Incident cases of zoster between P1 and P2 and P2 and P3 served as the dependent variables. Hypothesis-testing variables included race, negative life events, and measures of social support. Control variables included age, sex, education, cancer, other chronic diseases, hospitalization, activities of daily living, self-rated health, depression, and cigarette smoking. From P1 to P2, 1.4% of black and 3.4% of white subjects developed zoster (P < .001). From P2 to P3, 2.9% of black and 7.5% of white subjects developed zoster (P < .001). After controlling for variables, black subjects were significantly less likely to develop zoster than were white subjects (adjusted odds ratio, 0.37; 95% confidence interval, 0.26, 0.53; P = .0001). Most measures of stress were not significantly related to zoster; however, study limitations preclude definitive conclusions.
Development of a fast algorithm for automatic delineation of prostate gland on 2D ultrasound images

This paper presents a fast and automatic algorithm for prostate segmentation in ultrasound images. An accurate prostate delineation on Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) images has many applications including guiding the biopsy needle to the suspicious core when registered with a preoperative imaging modality, or in treatment planning and motion monitoring in therapy interventions. However, ultrasound image segmentation is a difficult task because of the speckles and relatively low tissue-to-tissue contrast in ultrasound images. The proposed method is based on the features extracted from the intensity of the TRUS images, specifically the gradient of it. Six 2D TRUS images acquired from one patient were used to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Quantitative assessment of the method was done by comparing the automatic segmentation results with the corresponding gold standard obtained from manual segmentation of the target organ. The resulted accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 98.69±0.27%, 96.40±1.26% and 99.33±0.45%, respectively.