Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recall of body weight and body size estimation in women enrolled in the breast cancer detection and demonstration project (BCDDP).

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and pictorial representations of body size in women from young adulthood to late mid-life. DESIGN Retrospective, descriptive study of BMI and pictorial estimation of body size. SUBJECTS 5,807 women age 33-77 years enrolled in the National Cancer Institute's and American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Detection and Demonstration Project (BCDDP). MEASUREMENTS Body weight and height were measured in 1973. In 1977, a subset of the cohort recalled their usual height and weight at 10 y intervals starting at age 20. In 1987, subjects reported their usual and current weight and selected one of nine pictorials best representing their body size at ages 15, 25, 40, 50 and +60 y. RESULTS For the cohort, and among White women, Pearson correlations between recalled BMI (Kg/M2) and pictorials for each decade ranged from 0.62-0.67 and was 0.80 for current BMI and current pictorial. The range of correlations between pictorials and recalled BMI for other race/ethnic groups were 0.72-0.87 (Black), 0.53-0.75 (Hispanic) and 0.28-0.87 (Asian). Among a subset of women with data on measured BMI, recalled BMI and pictorials at specific ages, the correlation between pictorials and measured BMI was 0.75, compared to the correlation between recalled BMI and measured BMI which was 0.89. CONCLUSION Correlations are higher between recalled BMI and measured BMI compared to the correlation between pictorials and measured BMI. Therefore, estimates of body size by pictorials alone may not be appropriate for epidemiological investigations. Alternate uses of pictorials may include assessment body weight in low literate populations or in instances where body weight is not or has not been measured.
Cointegration by MCA and modular MCA

A new approach for investigating the cointegration relationship between time series is proposed based on the so called minor component analysis (MCA) and its extension, modular MCA. With no need to place one variable on the left-hand side and use the others as regressors on the estimation of the long-run equilibrium regression, and also no need to build up a vector autoregression model for rank based analysis, this approach conducts cointegration analysis directly based on the linear combination of the instantaneous values of nonstationary variables via an eigen-analysis corresponding to the smallest eigenvalue, which can be implemented either in a batch way or by a Hebbian learning adaptive algorithm. A method for estimating the order of the cointegration has been also developed. Experiments are made in comparison with the least square regression based cointegration approach and have demonstrated the advantages of the approach.
Optimal mental task discrimination for brain-computer interface

A Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification method for data acquired by EEG recording for brain/computer interface systems is here proposed. The aim of this work is to evaluate the SVM performance in the recognition of a human mental task, among others. A prerequisite has been the developing of a system able to recognize and classify the following four tasks: thinking to move the right hand, thinking to move the left hand, performing a simple mathematical operation, and thinking to a nursery rhyme. The data set exploited in the training and testing phases has been acquired by means of 61 EEG electrodes and consists of 4000 time series. These time data sets were then transformed into the frequency domain, in order to obtain the power frequency spectrum. In such a way, for every electrode, 128 frequency channels were obtained. Finally, the SVM algorithm was used and evaluated to get the proposed classification. Different choices of electrodes have been considered: we found that analysing only a subset of electrodes we can get better results than considering all the 63 electrodes.
Privacy Technology to Support Data Sharing for Comparative Effectiveness Research: A Systematic Review

Objective: Effective data sharing is critical for comparative effectiveness research (CER), but there are significant concerns about inappropriate disclosure of patient data. These concerns have spurred the development of new technologies for privacy-preserving data sharing and data mining. Our goal is to review existing and emerging techniques that may be appropriate for data sharing related to CER. Materials and Methods: We adapted a systematic review methodology to comprehensively search the research literature. We searched 7 databases and applied 3 stages of filtering based on titles, abstracts, and full text to identify those works most relevant to CER. Results: On the basis of agreement and using the arbitrage of a third party expert, we selected 97 articles for meta-analysis. Our findings are organized along major types of data sharing in CER applications (ie, institution-to-institution, institution hosted, and public release). We made recommendations based on specific scenarios. Limitation: We limited the scope of our study to methods that demonstrated practical impact, eliminating many theoretical studies of privacy that have been surveyed elsewhere. We further limited our study to data sharing for data tables, rather than complex genomic, set valued, time series, text, image, or network data. Conclusion: State-of-the-art privacy-preserving technologies can guide the development of practical tools that will scale up the CER studies of the future. However, many challenges remain in this fast moving field in terms of practical evaluations and applications to a wider range of data types.
Dissociable neural correlates of contour completion and contour representation in illusory contour perception

Object recognition occurs even when environmental information is incomplete. Illusory contours (ICs), in which a contour is perceived though the contour edges are incomplete, have been extensively studied as an example of such a visual completion phenomenon. Despite the neural activity in response to ICs in visual cortical areas from low (V1 and V2) to high (LOC: the lateral occipital cortex) levels, the details of the neural processing underlying IC perception are largely not clarified. For example, how do the visual areas function in IC perception and how do they interact to archive the coherent contour perception? IC perception involves the process of completing the local discrete contour edges (contour completion) and the process of representing the global completed contour information (contour representation). Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to dissociate contour completion and contour representation by varying each in opposite directions. The results show that the neural activity was stronger to stimuli with more contour completion than to stimuli with more contour representation in V1 and V2, which was the reverse of that in the LOC. When inspecting the neural activity change across the visual pathway, the activation remained high for the stimuli with more contour completion and increased for the stimuli with more contour representation. These results suggest distinct neural correlates of contour completion and contour representation, and the possible collaboration between the two processes during IC perception, indicating a neural connection between the discrete retinal input and the coherent visual percept. Hum Brain Mapp 33:2407–2414, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sensory functioning and intelligence in old age: a strong connection.

Relations among age, sensory functioning (i.e., visual and auditory acuity), and intelligence were examined in a heterogeneous, age-stratified sample of old and very old individuals (N = 156, M age = 84.9 years, age range = 70-103). Intelligence was assessed with 14 tests measuring 5 cognitive abilities (speed, reasoning, memory, knowledge, and fluency). Together, visual and auditory acuity accounted for 49.2% of the total and 93.1% of the age-related reliable variance in intelligence. The data were consistent with structural models in which age differences in intelligence, including speed, are completely mediated by differences in vision and hearing. Results suggest that sensory functioning is a strong late-life predictor of individual differences in intellectual functioning. Explanations are discussed, including the possibility that visual and sensory acuity are indicators of the physiological integrity of the aging brain (common cause hypothesis).
Barriers to Participation in the National FFA Organization According to Urban Agriculture Students

Urban youth engaged in after-school organizations have more positive attributes compared to their unengaged contemporaries. The FFA is one particular intra-curricular organization with after-school components; yet, urban students do not participate in FFA at the same levels as rural students. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore barriers to participation in FFA among urban high school agriculture students in an urban school district. We surveyed students’ level of participation in FFA to determine their perceived barriers to FFA participation. Findings revealed students do not agree with any of the listed or expected barriers; however, significant differences surfaced between non-members and active members concerning barriers related to friends, family, school, and the community. The study exposed a need to address the perceptions of friends, family, and community when recruiting urban FFA members.
Toll-Like Receptor-4 Modulates Survival by Induction of Left Ventricular Remodeling after Myocardial Infarction in Mice1

Left ventricular (LV) remodeling is known to contribute to morbidity and mortality after myocardial infarction (MI). Because LV remodeling is strongly associated with an inflammatory response, we investigated whether or not TLR-4 influences LV remodeling and survival in a mice model of MI. Six days after MI induction, TLR4 knockout (KO)-MI mice showed improved LV function 32 and reduced LV remodeling as indexed by reduced levels of atrial natriuretic factor and total collagen as well as by a reduced heart weight to body weight ratio when compared with WT-MI mice. This was associated with a reduction of protein levels of the intracellular TLR4 adapter protein MyD88 and enhanced protein expression of the anti-hypertrophic JNK in KO-MI mice when compared with wild-type (WT)-MI mice. In contrast, protein activation of the pro-hypertrophic kinases protein kinase Cδ and p42/44 were not regulated in KO-MI mice when compared with WT-MI mice. Improved LV function, reduced cardiac remodeling, and suppressed intracellular TLR4 signaling in KO-MI mice were associated with significantly improved survival compared with WT-MI mice (62 vs 23%; p < 0.0001). TLR4 deficiency led to improved survival after MI mediated by attenuated left ventricular remodeling.
Impacts of innovation, productivity and specialization on tourism competitiveness – a spatial econometric analysis on European regions

Tourism is clearly a place-based activity, while in many advanced economies it is increasingly becoming a knowledge-based activity, with a high potential for the development of practice- and place-based innovation strategies. This study analyses whether and how regional systems of innovation influence the competiveness of tourism destinations in Europe. Impacts of both traditional production factors (physical and human capital), productivity, specialization and other contextual variables – related to the territorial capital of each region – on regional tourism performance of 237 European regions (NUTS 2) are analysed over a period of 8 years, using advanced techniques for spatial econometric analysis. The results reveal lower levels of productivity in those regions where tourism services are more labour intensive, while regions where education, innovation and productivity demonstrate higher levels are those where gross value added in tourism is less important for the regional economy. Policy implications are discussed, taking into consideration the principles for smart specialisation strategies in European regions and the possibility for cross-border regional cooperation. This work also confirms the research potential of spatial econometric analysis – and in particular spatial autocorrelation techniques – for tourism studies.
1,2-Di-tert-butylethane-1,2-diyl bis(tert-butanesulfinamide)

In the title compound, C18H40N2O2S2, a vicinal diamine derivative, the crystal structure is stabilized by two intramolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The distance between the two kernel chiral C atoms is 1.580 (2) Å.
Faculty and resident perspectives on ambulatory care education: A collective case study of family medicine, psychiatry, and surgery

Background Ambulatory care (AC) experiences within medical education are garnering increasing attention. We sought to understand how faculty and residents’ describe their experiences of AC and ambulatory care education (ACEduc) within, between, and across disciplinary contexts. Methods We designed a Stakian collective case study, applying constructivist grounded theory analytic methods. Using purposive and snowball sampling, we interviewed 17 faculty and residents across three instrumental cases: family medicine, psychiatry, surgery. Through constant comparative analysis, we identified patterns within, between, and across cases. Results Family medicine and psychiatry saw AC as an inherent part of continuous, longitudinal care; surgery equated AC with episodic experiences in clinic, differentiating it from operating. Across cases, faculty and residents cautiously valued ACEduc, and in particular, considered it important to develop non-medical expert competencies (e.g., communication). However, surgery residents described AC and ACEduc as less interesting and a lower priority than operating. Educational structures mediated these views. Conclusion Differences between cases highlight a need for further study, as universal assumptions about ACEduc’s purposes and approaches may need to be tempered by situated, contextually-rich perspectives. How disciplinary culture, program structure, and systemic structure influence ACEduc warrant further consideration as does the educational potential for explicitly framing learners’ perspectives.
Mucosal intestinal alteration in experimental colitis correlates with nitric oxide production by peritoneal macrophages: Effect of probiotics and prebiotics

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists mainly of Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn disease (CD). Although its aetiology is still not clearly established, it is thought to be due to overly aggressive immune response to enteric bacteria in genetically predisposed individuals. Manipulating the microbiota using probiotics or prebiotics is considered as a promising field of new therapeutic strategies used to attenuate immune disorders observed during IBD. The production of nitric oxide (NO) seems to be implicated in IBD pathogenesis. In our study, an acute UC was induced in Swiss mice using 3% Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS). The preventive effects of “Ultrabiotique®” (a probiotic) and inulin (a prebiotic) on the colitis were investigated. The production of NO was evaluated in the supernatants of peritoneal macrophages (pMφ) cultures. Colonic mucosa histology was subsequently examined. Results showed severe acute UC after administration of DSS. High levels of NO in pMφ cultures were also observed compared to control samples. These findings correlated with a significant destruction of the colonic mucosa. Oral administration of Ultrabiotique® or inulin decreased the severity of DSS-induced colitis. These treatments lead to a decrease in NO levels in pMφ cultures. A considerable reduction of colonic lesions was also noticed. Our findings suggest the involvement of NO in experimental UC pathogenesis. Pre- and pro-biotics, as discussed herein, seem to have an anti-inflammatory effect.
Accumulated oxygen deficit and short-distance running performance.

Recent studies have suggested that determining the accumulated oxygen deficit (AOD), in units of oxygen equivalents per kilogram body mass (ml O2 Eq.kg-1), during a short exhaustive run, may represent a non-invasive measure of anaerobic metabolism. However, there is little information either on the reproducibility of the laboratory determination or its relationship with human performance. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the reproducibility of AOD during inclined treadmill running (study 1), and to examine its relationship with short-distance running performance (study 2). Twelve volunteers (11 males, 1 female) took part in study 1 and AOD was determined (relative exercise intensity approximately 120% VO2 max) on two separate occasions at a treadmill inclination of 10.5%; the laboratory-measured AOD values were 65.2 +/- 10.9 vs 66.3 +/- 12.5 ml O2 Eq.kg-1, respectively (r = 0.94, P < 0.01). A second subject group (10 males, 4 females) undertook study 2, which investigated AOD values and track times over 100, 400 and 800 m. The mean calculated AOD value was 66.1 +/- 12.0 ml O2 Eq.kg-1, and the average track times were 13.6 +/- 1.3, 60.9 +/- 6.8 and 138.8 +/- 18.5 s for the 100, 400 and 800 m, respectively. The r-values for the relationship between AOD and track time were -0.88, -0.82 (P < 0.01) and -0.61 (P < 0.05) for the 100, 400 and 800 m, respectively. The results of the present study suggest that the AOD (ml O2 Eq.kg-1) is a unique and reproducible physiological characteristic which is strongly correlated with sprint capacity.
Incidence of potato viruses S and X and potato leafroll virus in potatoes in Queensland

In 1986-87, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test for potato virus S (PVS), potato virus X PVX) and potato leafroll virus (PLRV) in certified potato “seed” obtained from either Victoria or New South Wales. one of the viruses was found in the Victorian “seed”, but one out of three samples from New South Wales contained 10% PVS. In similar ELSA tests of tubers harvested from commercial crops in Queensland, PVS and PVX were found in about two-thirds of crops at an overall average level of 3–4%, whereas PLRV occurred in tubers of all crops tested at an average level of 9%. It is concluded that the level of PVS and PVX in certified “seed” and commercia1 crops in Queensland is much lower than was found in a previous survey in 1977-78, and that PLRV is now the most common virus of potatoes in Queensland.
Assessing the effectiveness of telepresence for business meetings

Business meetings conducted using fully-immersive telepresence systems provide participants with the lifelike-experience of a face-to-face meeting and offer the cost- and time-saving advantages of computer-mediated communication. However, telepresence systems are still much more expensive than simpler computer-mediated meeting modes, which makes the choice of this technology for business meetings a non-trivial decision problem. In this study, drawing upon the literature on social presence, media richness, and media appropriateness that relate media choice to task characteristics and objectives, we identify 19 objectives for business meetings. We then present hypotheses on the effectiveness of various meeting modes for achieving these objectives, focusing on the social presence dimension of four meeting modes (audio-conferencing, video-conferencing, telepresence, and face-to-face). We test these hypotheses using survey data from a large company in which all the technologies are available on a relatively broad basis.
Domain adaptation problem in statistical machine translation systems

Globalization suddenly brings many people from different country to interact with each other, requiring them to be able to speak several languages. Human translators are slow and expensive, we ﬁnd the necessity of developing machine translators to automatize the task. Several approaches of Machine translation have been develop by the researchers. In this work, we use the Statistical Machine Translation approach. Statistical Machine Translation systems perform poorly when applied on new domains. The domain adaptation problem has recently gained interest in Statistical Machine Translation. The basic idea is to improve the performance of the system trained and tuned with different domain than the one to be translated. This article studies different paradigms of domain adaptation. The results report improvements compared with a system trained only with in-domain data and trained with all the available data.
Assessment of Service Protocol Adaptability Based on Novel Walk Computation

In recent years, we witness the increasing trend that more applications are developed by composing Web services. Services interact with each other in ways not necessarily foreseen during their development phase. In this setting, mismatches usually exist between services, and adapters are typically synthesized to reconcile mismatches occurring in certain interactions. The technique that identifies the most suitable provider service from a set of functionally equivalent candidates with respect to certain requirements specified by the requester is essential. To address this challenge, we propose a technique called adaptability assessment , which 1) provides a set of conditions that determines when service interactions can be conducted and 2) computes an adaptation degree that specifies to what extent a service protocol is adaptable to another service protocol. Adaptability assessment complements the techniques that synthesize adapters. Specifically, when adaptability assessment suggests that two service protocols can conduct some interactions according to the adaptation mechanisms of a certain adapter and these interactions can fulfill the requester's requirements, then the effort of synthesizing an adapter is beneficial to potential service interactions. As such, the requester can acknowledge whether his/her expected interactions can be conducted or not and under which conditions. This is important before conducting an interaction, particularly when this interaction is critical, long running, and nonrepeatable.
Effect of Foot and Ankle Position on Tarsal Tunnel Compartment Pressure

Tarsal tunnel intracompartment pressures were determined in 10 fresh-frozen normal human adult cadaver specimens. With the foot and ankle held in mild plantarflexion and neutral eversion-inversion, mean tarsal tunnel pressure was minimal (2 ± 1 mmHg). However, when the foot and ankle were positioned in full eversion, mean tarsal tunnel pressure increased to 32 ± 5 mmHg (P ≤ 0.005); in full inversion, mean pressure increased to 17 ± 5 mmHg (P ≤ 0.05). There was no significant difference in mean tarsal tunnel pressure between the everted and inverted positions. These results support the hypothesis that increased pressure within the tarsal tunnel when the foot is moved into the everted or inverted position may aggravate posterior tibial nerve entrapment. These findings may also provide an explanation for clinically observed aggravation of symptoms in these positions, night pain, and improvement of symptoms with neutral immobilization in some patients with tarsal tunnel syndrome.