Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology and mortality of systemic sclerosis: a nationwide population study in Taiwan

Objectives: There have been few nationwide population studies of systemic sclerosis (SSc). We describe the epidemiological features of SSc in Taiwan. Methods: The catastrophic illness registry of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Dataset (NHIRD) and the National Death Registry of Taiwan were used to calculate estimates of the incidence, prevalence, and mortality of SSc. Results: A total of 1479 persons (325 males, 1154 females) with incident SSc were enrolled in the study. The annual incidence of SSc in Taiwan was found to be 10.9 cases (4.7 males, 17.4 females) per million population. During 2002–2007, the mean prevalence was 56.3 cases per million population. There were 204 deaths (70 males, 134 females) during the study period; 1-, 2-, and 5-year survival rates were 94.9, 92.0, and 83.2%, respectively. SSc patients had a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 3.24 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.82–3.71] for all-cause mortality, as compared with the national population in 2002. There was excess mortality from neoplasms (SMR 1.50, 95% CI 1.03–2.11), cardiovascular diseases (2.23, 1.52–3.16), kidney disease (4.67, 2.66–7.64), gastrointestinal diseases (2.50, 1.27–4.46), and pulmonary diseases (3.20, 1.89–5.09). In addition to male sex and older age, cancer and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) diagnosis were risk factors for death, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 2.71 (95% CI 1.27–5.76) and 2.59 (1.14–5.90), respectively. Conclusion: SSc patients had a threefold greater risk of all-cause mortality than the general population of Taiwan. Male sex, older age, diagnosis of cancer, and ESRD were risk factors for death.
Fostering, Child Welfare, and Ethnic Cultural Values

This article examines the interdependence of the fostering status of children, their school attendance and their labour supply in host families in Niger. We appreciate the ethnic cultural heritage of fostering, a phenomenon assumed to be rooted in the long run and transmitted along generations. The focus is on the effects of fostering on children's outcomes. We specify a simultaneous equations model with three outcomes for children (school attendance, hours of market work and hours of domestic work) and a treatment variable (fostering). The results show that foster children are more likely to attend school and to have longer hours of domestic work than biological children. Importantly, we find evidence of a schooling fostering for boys and a domestic fostering for girls. All in all, ethnic inherited values and behaviours are found to have an important role in perpetuating fostering institution and on children's welfare.
Structural-fitting Word Vectors to Linguistic Ontology for Semantic Relatedness Measurement

With the aid of recently proposed word embedding algorithms, the study of semantic relatedness has progressed and advanced rapidly. In this research, we propose a novel structural-fitting method that utilizes the linguistic ontology into vector space representations. The ontological information is applied in two ways. The fine2coarse approach refines the word vectors from fine-grained to coarse-grained terms (word types), while the coarse2fine approach refines the word vectors from coarse-grained to fine-grained terms. In the experiments, we show that our proposed methods outperform previous approaches in seven publicly available benchmark datasets.
Dollarization and Financial Development

Despite significant strides in financial development over the past decades, financial dollarization, as reflected in elevated shares of foreign currency deposits and credit in the banking system, remains common in developing economies. We study the impact of financial dollarization, differentiating across foreign currency deposits and credit on financial depth, access and efficiency for a large sample of emerging market and developing countries over the past two decades. Panel regressions estimated using system GMM show that deposit dollarization has a negative impact on financial deepening on average. This negative impact is dampened in cases with past periods of high inflation. There is also some evidence that dollarization hampers financial efficiency. The results suggest that policy efforts to reduce dollarization can spur faster and safer financial development.
Learning Global and Reconfigurable Part-Based Models for Object Detection

This paper presents a method of learning global and reconfigurable part-based models (RPM) for object detection. Recently, deformable part-based model (DPM) is widely used. A DPM consists of a root node and a collection of part nodes, which is learned under the latent SVM formulation by treating part nodes as hidden variables. Although the configuration of parts (i.e., the shapes, sizes and locations of parts) plays a major role in improving performance of object detection, it has not been addressed well in the literature. In this paper, we propose RPM to tackle it. A dictionary of part types is defined by enumerating rectangular shapes of different aspect ratios and sizes given the whole lattice (often at twice resolution of the root node), and each part type has a set of part instances when placed in the lattice. So, the configuration space of parts is quantized by the part types and part instances, and then organized into a hierarchical And-Or directed a cyclic graph (AOG). The AOG consists of three types of nodes: terminal nodes (i.e., part instances), And-nodes (representing decompositions of a part instance into two smaller ones) and Or-nodes (representing alternative ways of decompositions). The globally optimal configuration in the AOG is solved using dynamic programming (DP) where the classification error rates of terminal nodes and And-nodes are used as their figures of merit. In experiments, we test our method on the 20 object categories in the PASCAL VOC2007 dataset and obtain comparable performance with state-of-the-art methods.
Electromagnetic transients simulation models for accurate representation of switching losses and thermal performance in power electronic systems

This work presents an electrothermal model of an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) switch suitable for the simulation of switching and conduction losses in a large class of voltage-sourced converter (VSC)-based flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS) devices. The model is obtained by mathematical derivation of loss equations from the known submicrosecond device switching characteristics, and through the selection of appropriate differential equation parameters for representing the thermal performance. The model is useful in determining the device's heat generation, its junction temperature, as well as the cooling performance of the connected heat sinks. The model provides accurate results without recourse to an unreasonably small time step.
Treatment in patients who are not eligible for intravenous alteplase: MR CLEAN subgroup analysis

Background and purpose Patients with acute ischemic stroke due to intracranial large vessel occlusion benefit from intra-arterial therapy. Uncertainty exists about the effect of intra-arterial therapy in patients with contraindications for treatment with intravenous alteplase treatment. Our aim was to describe the clinical characteristics of this subgroup of patients and whether intra-arterial therapy is as safe and effective as it is after intravenous alteplase treatment. Methods All 500 MR CLEAN patients were included and we distinguished between patients who were and were not treated with intravenous alteplase treatment. We estimated the effect of intra-arterial therapy on the shift on the modified Rankin Scale score with ordinal logistic regression analysis and tested for interaction of intravenous alteplase treatment with intra-arterial therapy on outcome. Furthermore, safety parameters and serious adverse events were analyzed. Results Fifty-five patients (11%) were not treated with intravenous alteplase treatment, mostly because of prolonged coagulation time tests or recent surgery. These patients were older and more often had atrial fibrillation or other vascular comorbidity. There was no interaction between intravenous alteplase treatment and intervention effect (p = 0.927). Intra-arterial therapy effect size in patients without intravenous alteplase treatment was 2.06 [95% CI: 0.69–6.13] and in patients with intravenous alteplase treatment 1.71 [95% CI: 1.22–2.40]. There were no safety issues. Conclusions For patients with acute ischemic anterior circulation stroke caused by intracranial large vessel occlusion, who have contraindications for intravenous alteplase, intra-arterial treatment is not less effective or less safe than in patients who receive the treatment after intravenous alteplase. Clinical trial registration Clinical trial registration-URL: http://www.trialregister. nl. Unique identifier: (NTR)1804. Clinical trial registration-URL: http://www.controlled-trials.com. Unique identifier: ISRCTN10888758.
(Re)Claiming social capital: improving language and cultural pathways for students from refugee backgrounds into Australian higher education

In the past two decades, Australian universities and schools have received increasing numbers of students from refugee backgrounds (SfRBs). Approximately half of Australia's refugee intake are aged between 15 and 19 years, an age when education is a priority. Furthermore, there is a paucity of research that addresses the educational, social and cultural expectations and experiences of SfRBs in higher education, and transition, especially those who were educated and held status in their own countries and who are now looking to gain educational and economic capital in Australia. Given these factors, it is of local, national and international significance to explore SfRBs' movements into the Australian higher education sector and to develop programs and strategies to support SfRBs to participate meaningfully and achieve meaningful success in their studies.
Strategy and professional identity of VSE owner-managers

This study shows how the professional identity of owner-managers of VSEs guides their strategy and enterprise growth. The literature on VSEs considers that owner-managers play an important role in the strategic orientation of their enterprise. While we join this stream of literature, our article highlights the role of this rarely analysed factor. We studied several cases in order to illustrate the effects of the owner-manager's professional identity. The two VSEs studied are pharmacies – an activity sector that is atypical and unstable. The analysis of these contrasting cases shows they adopt different strategies that depend on whether they attach more importance to the 'health professional' or 'retailer' dimension of their job. By combining professional identity with 'owner-managers', this research illustrates the importance of conceptions of 'the job' on strategic behaviour.
Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor &ggr; Agonists Accelerate Oligodendrocyte Maturation and Influence Mitochondrial Functions and Oscillatory Ca2+ Waves

We have previously shown that natural (15-deoxy-&Dgr;12,14-prostaglandin J2) and synthetic (pioglitazone) agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor &ggr; (PPAR-&ggr;) strengthen the intrinsic cellular mechanisms protecting oligodendrocyte (OL) progenitors (OPs) from oxidative insults and promote their differentiation. Here, we demonstrate that repeated administrations of PPAR-&ggr; agonists to OP cultures accelerate their differentiation to OLs, as indicated by increased numbers of O4- and O1-positive cells that show increased myelin basic protein expression, elaborated cholesterol-enrichedmembranes and have increased peroxisomes. Moreover, PPAR-&ggr; agonist-treated OLs show increased activity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain Complex IV and an increased ability to respond to environmental signals, such as adenosine diphosphate (ADP), with oscillatory Ca2+ waves; the latter closely correlated with the presence of mitochondria and were inhibited by the mitochondrial respiratory chain Complex I inhibitor rotenone. Because Ca2+ oscillations and mitochondrial respiratory chain activity play crucial roles in OL differentiation, these findings suggest that PPAR-&ggr; agonists could protect OLs and promote myelination through several mechanisms, including those involving mitochondrial functions. Our studies support the therapeutic potential of PPAR-&ggr; agonists in brain diseases in which mitochondrial alteration, oxidative stress, and demyelination occur and point to the need for a better understanding of the role of PPAR-&ggr; and its agonists in OL biology.
Scler Kremenchutzky and for the Patagonia Multiple Sclerosis Research Project

can be found at: Multiple Sclerosis Additional services and information for http://msj.sagepub. com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts: http://msj.sagepub. com/subscriptions Subscriptions: http://www.sagepub. com/journalsReprints.nav Reprints: http://www.sagepub. com/journalsPermissions.nav Permissions: http://msj.sagepub. com/cgi/content/refs/14/5/656 SAGE Journals Online and HighWire Press platforms): (this article cites 19 articles hosted on the Citations
Conjugated equine estrogens and global cognitive function in postmenopausal women: Women's Health Initiative Memory Study

CONTEXT Children with familial hypercholesterolemia have endothelial dysfunction and increased carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), which herald the premature atherosclerotic disease they develop later in life. Although intervention therapy in the causal pathway of this disorder has been available for more than a decade, the long-term efficacy and safety of cholesterol-lowering medication have not been evaluated in children. OBJECTIVE To determine the 2-year efficacy and safety of pravastatin therapy in children with familial hypercholesterolemia. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that recruited children between December 7, 1997, and October 4, 1999, and followed them up for 2 years. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Two hundred fourteen children with familial hypercholesterolemia, aged 8 to 18 years and recruited from an academic medical referral center in the Netherlands. INTERVENTION After initiation of a fat-restricted diet and encouragement of regular physical activity, children were randomly assigned to receive treatment with pravastatin, 20 to 40 mg/d (n = 106), or a placebo tablet (n = 108). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary efficacy outcome was the change from baseline in mean carotid IMT compared between the 2 groups over 2 years; the principal safety outcomes were growth, maturation, and hormone level measurements over 2 years as well as changes in muscle and liver enzyme levels. RESULTS Compared with baseline, carotid IMT showed a trend toward regression with pravastatin (mean [SD], -0.010 [0.048] mm; P =.049), whereas a trend toward progression was observed in the placebo group (mean [SD], +0.005 [0.044] mm; P =.28). The mean (SD) change in IMT compared between the 2 groups (0.014 [0.046] mm) was significant (P =.02). Also, pravastatin significantly reduced mean low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels compared with placebo (-24.1% vs +0.3%, respectively; P<.001). No differences were observed for growth, muscle or liver enzymes, endocrine function parameters, Tanner staging scores, onset of menses, or testicular volume between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION Two years of pravastatin therapy induced a significant regression of carotid atherosclerosis in children with familial hypercholesterolemia, with no adverse effects on growth, sexual maturation, hormone levels, or liver or muscle tissue.
Euthanizing value of a statistical life: monetizing differences in public perception and alternatives

ABSTRACT There is some controversy associated with the language describing monetary values for changes in health or mortality risks, especially the term ‘value of a statistical life’ (VSL). We investigate if the general public distinguishes differences in language describing the concept of VSL using four different descriptive treatments. Based on a survey of willingness to accept (WTA) in which individuals receive payment to participate in a future study, results show that the general public does not perceive a difference in the language used to describe changes in risks. This suggests that public objections to the VSL may not be caused by the specific description used nor can be ameliorated by refinement. Further, the results alleviate concern that language chosen may affect respondent participation and welfare estimates. Because of its apparent absence in the literature, we also adapt and demonstrate a non-parametric conservative estimate of WTA.
Full-Range Detection in Cascaded Microring Sensors Using Thermooptical Tuning

We present detailed analysis and experimental demonstration of full-range detection in cascaded microring sensors by using thermooptical tuning. A cascaded microring sensor translates spectrum shifts into intensity changes eliminating the need for expensive spectral analysis equipment for sensing applications. Without tuning capability, this configuration provides high sensitivity, but a small detection range since the intensity output decays toward zero for low overlap between spectra of individual microrings. We overcome this limitation by using thermooptic tuning in one of the microrings for extending the detection range to span an entire free spectral range of the probing microring. Additionally, we analyze the impact of resonance linewidths and differences in free spectral ranges (FSRs) of microrings on the widths of output intensity peaks. With full FSR thermooptical tuning, we demonstrate a total detection range of 0.0241 refractive index units (RIU) and a limit of detection of 4.6 × 10-5 RIU for microrings with 100-μm radii. Photodetector-based signal readout combined with CMOS compatible manufacturability makes this device design attractive as a silicon-based optical sensing platform.
Interleukin‐18 gene polymorphisms and risk of recurrent pregnancy loss: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Interleukin‐18 (IL‐18) plays a potential pathological role in recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). The results of published studies on the relationship between IL‐18 gene promoter polymorphisms (‐137G/C and‐607C/A) and RPL risk remain controversial. This meta‐analysis was performed to evaluate the association of IL‐18, ‐137G/C and‐607C/A gene polymorphisms with the risk of RPL under recessive, dominant and additive genetic models. A literature search was conducted in Medline, Embase and Web of Science for studies that described the effect of IL‐18 gene polymorphisms on RPL risk. The numbers of each ‐137G/C and‐607C/A genotype in the case and control groups were extracted. Quality of the original studies’ methodology was also assessed. Meta‐analysis was performed using Stata 13.1 software and the fixed effect model was used. Five articles were included in this meta‐analysis. No significant heterogeneity between the studies was noted. The IL‐18 ‐137 G/C polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased risk of RPL under a recessive genetic model (CC vs. GG + CG: odds ratio = 1.56, 95% confidence interval = 1.13 ~ 2.15). For the ‐607C/A mutation, we failed to find any association under any genetic models. The Egger's regression asymmetry test showed no publication bias. Our present study indicates a positive association between the CC genotype of the IL‐18 ‐137G/C gene and RPL risk. Future well‐designed large studies are needed to validate the association between IL‐18 gene polymorphisms and the risk of RPL.
Colistin and tigecycline resistance in carbapenemase‐producing Gram‐negative bacteria: emerging resistance mechanisms and detection methods

A literature review was undertaken to ascertain the molecular basis for tigecycline and colistin resistance mechanisms and the experimental basis for the detection and delineation of this resistance particularly in carbapenemase‐producing Gram‐negative bacteria. Pubmed, Google Scholar and Science Direct were searched with the keywords colistin, tigecycline, resistance mechanisms and detection methods. Trans‐complementation and comparative MIC studies, mass spectrometry, chromatography, spectrofluorometry, PCR, qRT‐PCR and whole genome sequencing (WGS) were commonly used to determine tigecycline and colistin resistance mechanisms, specifically modifications in the structural and regulatory efflux (acrAB, OqxAB, kpgABC adeABC‐FGH‐IJK, mexAB‐XY‐oprJM and soxS, rarA robA, ramRAB marRABC, adeLRS, mexRZ and nfxb) and lipid A (pmrHFIJFKLM, lpxA, lpxC lpxD and mgrB, pmrAB, phoPQ,) genes respectively. Mutations in the ribosomal 16S rRNA operon rrnBC, also yielded resistance to tigecycline through target site modifications. The mcr‐1 gene conferring resistance to colistin was identified via WGS, trans‐complementation and a murine thigh infection model studies. Common detection methods are mainly antibiotic sensitivity testing with broth microdilution while molecular identification tools are mostly PCR and WGS. Spectrofluorometry, MALDI‐TOF MS, micro‐array and real‐time multiplex PCR hold much promise for the future as new detection tools.
‘It is not the State's fault that we have a person like this’: relations, institutions and the meaning of ‘rights’ to carers of People with Psychosocial Disabilities in Chile

Background. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has been adopted by national governments to advance the interests and wellbeing of people with psychosocial disabilities (PPSD). It is often assumed that the adoption of a ‘rights’ framework will advance the dignity and autonomy of PPSD. However, little is known about how families and communities understand ‘rights’. The present paper, based on research conducted in Santiago, Chile, takes a contextual approach to rights, asking: How do family carers of PPSD understand and use the idea of ‘rights’? How does the context of caregiving shape families’ understanding of rights? Methods. Four focus groups were conducted with a total of 25 family carers (predominantly mothers) of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and other severe neuropsychiatric conditions. Thematic analysis was conducted. Results. Carers’ experience of caregiving was marked by isolation, stigmatization, a lack of support and mistreatment by public services. Their family networks did not provide sustained help and support, and the public services they had used were characterized by scarce resources and inadequate support. Carers did not refer to rights of dignity or autonomy. Given an unsupportive context, and worries about who would care for their child after the carer's death, their primary interest in ‘rights’ was a right to guaranteed, long-term care. While carers endorsed the idea of universal, state-supported rights, appeals to compassion and the exchange of favours were spoken of as the most effective strategies for gaining a minimum level of services and support. Conclusions. Carers’ understandings, framed against a background of unmet needs and shaped by a history of unsatisfactory interactions with services and institutions, do not resonate with the principles of the CRPD. We suggest an expanded, relational struggle for rights that acknowledges the role of families and the tensions surrounding the distribution of rights within the family.
A 760μW 4th order butterworth FGMOS Gm-C filter with enhanced linearity

A 4th order Butterworth Gm-C filter based on a low-power design technique employing Floating-Gate MOS (FGMOS) transistors is presented. It consists in a topological rearrangement of conventional fully-differential Gm-C structures decreasing the number of active blocks of the filter and relaxing the transconductor requirements at transistor level. Moreover, high linearity is obtained at low and medium frequencies of the pass band. Measurement results from a test chip prototype in a 0.5 μm standard CMOS n-well process are provided and compared with other published circuits, corroborating the advantages of the proposed topology. A static power consumption of 0.76 mW for a 3.3 V supply voltage has been obtained, with a BW tunable from 300 kHz to 850 kHz.