Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Association Between Usage of Colchicine and Pneumonia: A Nationwide, Population-Based Cohort Study

Objectives: A previous study suggested that colchicine may cause leukopenia and increase the risk of infection, such as pneumonia. Thus, we investigated the potential relationship between colchicine use and risk of developing pneumonia. Methods: Data were collected from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), a nationwide, population-based database. A 13-year retrospective cohort study was conducted, and all investigated subjects were identified by International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, codes between 2000 and 2012. Propensity score matching was applied to adjust for potential confounding variables, and then Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the hazard ratio (HR) of pneumonia in gout patients and its associations with colchicine use, colchicine dosage, and days of colchicine use. Results: A total of 24,410 gout patients were enrolled in this study, including 12,205 cases who were treated with colchicine (colchicine group) and 12,205 cases who did not receive colchicine (non-colchicine group). The overall incidence rates of pneumonia in the colchicine group and non-colchicine group were 18.6 and 12.6 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. The colchicine group had a higher risk of pneumonia as compared with the non-colchicine group [adjusted HR, 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.32 to 1.53; P < 0.05]. High cumulative dose and days of colchicine use notably increased the risk of contracting pneumonia. Conclusion: This nationwide population-based cohort study reveals that gout patients taking colchicine are at increased risk of developing pneumonia compared with gout patients who do not use colchicine. Therefore, it is crucial that gout patients being treated with colchicine be given the minimally effective dosage for the shortest possible duration to minimize their risk of pneumonia.
Parent and Friend Influences on the Multiple Health Behaviors of Adolescents in Hawai`i

Background and Purpose: The prevalence of youth obesity has increased dramatically in the United States, becoming a severe concern in Hawai`i and disproportionally impacting Filipino youth. The main study objective was to describe the influence of parents and friends on adolescents’ dietary, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors. Methods: We collected quantitative and qualitative data from two classrooms in Hawai`i, from ethnic minority adolescents (N=42; 11 and 12 graders) and their parents (N=31). Participating adolescents were 86% female with a mean age of 16.5 + . 6 years, and their parents were 77% female with a mean age of 45.9 + 6.9 years. The majority of participants described themselves as Filipino American. Self-report data were collected via adolescent surveys and follow-up group discussion, as well as individual adolescent-led parent interviews. Quantitative data were descriptive, and qualitative data were conceptualized into underlying themes based on the targeted health behavior and the source of influence (parents and friends). Results: The majority of students reported parents as the dominant influence on their dietary and sedentary behaviors; however, friends were reported as the principal influence on adolescents’ physical activity levels. Parents’ reported a strong dietary influence via home availability, but minimal influence on adolescents’ physical activity. Conclusion: Home food availability and reduced television time are prime targets for family-based interventions among ethnic minority Hawai`ian populations. © 2014 Californian Journal of Health Promotion. All rights reserved.
Low Complexity CORDIC based methodologies for BSS

Our Project aim is to develop a real time chip to process the sensor signals and separating the source signals, which is used in Health care and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) like Autism, ECG and disease detection. Autism is a disease which affects the child mental behaviour. So If we analyse the signals form the brain so we can observe the how effectively the disease is cured. So to analyze the Autism we need EEG signals from almost 128 Leads from the scalp of child. In cardiovascular diseases, patient's ECG signal is monitored, which is a combination of ECG, Artefacts and noise.Desired ECG signal is separation from mixed signals is vital for accurate analysis of disease. All these operations has to be done in real-time scenario with patient being monitored all the time. So, there is a need of low-complexity, low-power architecture for this signal separation is needed. Here, we proposed a COordinate Rotation Digital Computer (CORDIC) based engine to separate mixed signals. The proposed algorithm can merge the two key steps of conventional Fast ICA pre-processing and update and is therefore capable of reducing the hardware complexity of the conventional Fast ICA significantly. Hardware implementation can further be simplified due to the recursive nature of the proposed algorithm where the same 2D hardware module can be used as the fundamental core to implement architecture. Architecture has been further improved such that same hardware can be used for any number of input signals by making it reconfigurable. Further, a hybrid architecture has been proposed by combining Fast ICA with cross product.
Science to emergency management response

The M7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake in 2016 presented a number of challenges to science agencies and institutions throughout New Zealand. The earthquake was complex, with 21 faults rupturing throughout the North Canterbury and Marlborough landscape, generating a localised seven metre tsunami and triggering thousands of landslides. With many areas isolated as a result, it presented science teams with logistical challenges as well as the need to coordinate efforts across institutional and disciplinary boundaries. Many research disciplines, from engineering and geophysics to social science, were heavily involved in the response. Coordinating these disciplines and institutions required significant effort to assist New Zealand during its most complex earthquake yet recorded. This paper explores that effort and acknowledges the successes and lessons learned by the teams involved.
Prevalence, Incidence and Ecological Determinants of Diabetic Retinopathy in Iran: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract Purpose To estimate the pooled prevalence and incidence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Iran and to investigate their correlations with the Human Development Index (HDI), healthcare access (i.e., density of specialists and sub-specialists), and methodological issues. Methods Electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and local databases were searched for cohort and cross-sectional studies published prior to January 2018. Prevalence and incidence rates of DR were extracted from January 2000 to December 2017 and random effects models were used to estimate pooled effect sizes. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool was applied for quality assessment of eligible studies. Results A total of 55,445 participants across 33 studies were included. The pooled prevalence (95% CI) of DR in diabetic clinics (22 studies), eye clinics (4 studies), and general population (7 studies) was 31.8% (24.5 to 39.2), 57.8% (50.2 to 65.3), and 29.6% (22.6 to 36.5), respectively. It was 7.4% (3.9 to 10.8) for proliferative DR and 7.1% (4.9 to 9.4) for clinically significant macular edema. The heterogeneity of individual estimates of prevalence was highly significant. HDI (P < 0.001), density of specialists (P = 0.004), subspecialists (P < 0.001), and sampling site (P = 0.041) were associated with heterogeneity after the adjustment for type of DR, duration of diabetes, study year, and proportion of diabetics with controlled HbA1C. Conclusion Human development and healthcare access were correlated with the prevalence of DR. Data were scarce on the prevalence of DR in less developed provinces. Participant recruitment in eye clinics might overestimate the prevalence of DR.
Simultaneous EEG-fMRI for Functional Neurological Assessment

The increasing incidence of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases requires increasingly sophisticated tools for their diagnosis and monitoring. Clinical assessment takes advantage of objective parameters extracted by electroencephalogram and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) among others, to support clinical management of neurological diseases. The complementarity of these two tools can be now emphasized by the possibility of integrating the two technologies in a hybrid solution, allowing simultaneous acquisition of the two signals by the novel EEG-fMRI technology. This review will focus on simultaneous EEG-fMRI technology and related early studies, dealing about issues related to the acquisition and processing of simultaneous signals, and including critical discussion about clinical and technological perspectives.
Predictors of Patients’ Loyalty Toward Doctors on Web-Based Health Communities: Cross-Sectional Study

Background Web-based health communities provide means for patients to not only seek care but also to promote their relationship with doctors. However, little is known about the predictors of patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities. Objective This study aimed to investigate the predictors of patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities. Methods On the basis of sociotechnical systems theory and attachment theory, we propose that social factors including emotional interaction, perceived expertise, and social norm influence patients’ loyalty through their emotional attachment, whereas technical factors including sociability, personalization, and perceived security affect patients’ loyalty through functional dependence. To validate our proposed research model, we used the survey method and collected 373 valid answers. Partial least square was used to analyze the data. Results Our empirical analysis results showed that all the social factors including emotional interaction (beta=.257, t350=2.571; P=.01), perceived expertise (beta=.288, t350=3.412; P=.001), and social norm (beta=.210, t350=2.017; P=.04) affect patients’ emotional attachment toward doctors significantly, whereas except sociability (beta=.110, t350=1.152; P=.25), technical factors such as personalization (beta=.242, t350=2.228; P=.03) and perceived security (beta=.328, t350=3.438; P=.001) impact functional dependence significantly. Considering the effect of working mechanisms, both emotional attachment (beta=.443, t350=4.518; P<.001) and functional dependence (beta=.303, t350=2.672; P=.008) influence patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities significantly. Conclusions Patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities is important for the effectiveness of doctors’ advice or service in Web-based health communities. The research results not only fill the gaps in the literature of the patient-doctor relationship and Web-based health communities but also has many implications for establishing patients’ loyalty on Web-based health communities and in physical context.
An empirical comparison of ensemble methods based on classification trees

In this paper, we perform an empirical comparison of the classification error of several ensemble methods based on classification trees. This comparison is performed by using 14 data sets that are publicly available and that were used by Lim, Loh and Shih [Lim, T. , Loh, W. and Shih, Y. -S. , 2000, A comparison of prediction accuracy, complexity, and training time of thirty-three old and new classification algorithms. Machine Learning, 40, 203–228. ]. The methods considered are a single tree, Bagging, Boosting (Arcing) and random forests (RF). They are compared from different perspectives. More precisely, we look at the effects of noise and of allowing linear combinations in the construction of the trees, the differences between some splitting criteria and, specifically for RF, the effect of the number of variables from which to choose the best split at each given node. Moreover, we compare our results with those obtained by Lim et al. [Lim, T. , Loh, W. and Shih, Y. -S. , 2000, A comparison of prediction accuracy, complexity, and training time of thirty-three old and new classification algorithms. Machine Learning, 40, 203–228. ]. In this study, the best overall results are obtained with RF. In particular, RF are the most robust against noise. The effect of allowing linear combinations and the differences between splitting criteria are small on average, but can be substantial for some data sets.
Complex coronary intervention outcomes: real world left main coronary artery angioplasty experience from a tertiary care center in South India

Background: Left Main Coronary Artery (LMCA) Disease is among the most complex forms of the coronary artery stenosis, the leading cause of mortality in the world.Methods: In this analysis, 102 patients with elective angioplasty for LMCA stenosis with PCI from 6/2013 to 5/2016, 3 years (70 in GenxSync™ arm and 32 in other devices arm; 100 DES and 2 BMS) were included. RADHIKa Analysis compared post-hoc subgroups of GenxSync™ and control groups.Results: Mean population age was 59.99±12.03 years; 60.27±10.49 years in GenxSync™ arm, and 58.31±14.32 years in control arm. A significant population (44, 43.14%) had diabetes, renal impairment (14, 13.73%) and hypertension (25, 24.51%). The MACCE in GenxSync™ arm was 17 13(18.58%) Versus 5(15.63%) [RR=0.93, RR’=-0.07, ψ=-14.01. p=0.3). Most patients presented with unstable Angina (41, 40.20%) in all, 31(44.29%) in GenxSync™ and 10 (31.25%) in Control arm. AWMI and IWMI were 18, 17.65% each, attributed to 12 (17.14%) in GenxSync™ 6 (18.75%) in Control. Effort angina was 15(21.43%) in GenxSync™ and 10 (31.25%) in Control and NSTEMI was 25,24.51% (18 (25.71%)- GenxSync™ 7(21.88%) Control). The MACE in GenxSync™ arm at 24, 12 and 6 months was 12(17.15%), 8(11.43%) and 4(5.71%) respectively versus corresponding MACE in the control arm as 5(15.63%), 2(2.86%) and 2(6.25%) respectively. The TVR was present only in GenxSync™ Arm, which was contributed by 2 CABGs and 12 months and 1 additional PCI at 24 months.Conclusions: In real-world scenario of LMCA cases, performance and safety of various stents were similar. GenxSync™ Sirolimus Eluting Stent, in the post-hoc bifurcation had results similar to other real-world cases, based upon RADHIKa analysis.
How do they measure up? Differences in stakeholder perceptions of quality measures used in English community nursing

Objectives To establish how quality indicators used in English community nursing are selected and applied, and their perceived usefulness to service users, commissioners and service providers. Methods A qualitative multi-site case study was conducted with five commissioning organizations and their service providers. Participants included commissioners, provider organization managers, nurses and service users. Results Indicator selection and application often entail complex processes influenced by wider health system and cross-organizational factors. All participants felt that current indicators, while useful for accountability and management purposes, fail to reflect the true quality of community nursing care and may sometimes indirectly compromise care. Conclusions Valuable resources may be better used for comprehensive system redesign, to ensure that patient, carer and nurse priorities are given equivalence with those of other stakeholders.
Overexpression of SMYD3 in Ovarian Cancer is Associated with Ovarian Cancer Proliferation and Apoptosis via Methylating H3K4 and H4K20

Background: Epigenetic regulation has been verified as a key mechanism in tumorigenesis. SET and MYND domain-containing protein 3 (SMYD3), a histone methyltransferase, is a promising epigenetic therapeutic target and is overexpressed in numerous human tumors. SMYD3 can promote oncogenic progression by methylating lysines to integrate cytoplasmic kinase signaling cascades or by methylating histone lysines to regulate specific gene transcription. However, the exact role of SMYD3 in the progression of ovarian cancer is still unknown. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was employed to test SMYD3 expression in ovarian cancer tissues from clinical patients. CCK-8 assay, Real-time cell analysis (RTCA), colony formation assay, cell cycle and apoptosis tested by Flow cytometer were employed to test the effects of SMYD3 on cell proliferation and apoptosis in ovarian cancer cell lines. A PCR array was used to identify the downstream targets of SMYD3. And, PCR and Western blot were used to verify their expression. The binding of SMYD3 on the promoter of target genes were tested by ChIP assays. We also use nude mice subcutaneous tumor model and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model to investigate the tumor promotive function of SMYD3 in vivo. Results: SMYD3 expression was higher in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines than in normal ovarian epithelial tissue and human ovarian surface epithelial cells (HOSEpiC). After silencing SMYD3, the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells was significantly inhibited in vitro. In addition, the SMYD3-specific small-molecule inhibitor BCI-121 suppressed ovarian cancer cell proliferation. Downregulation of SMYD3 led to S phase arrest and increased the cell apoptosis rate. Furthermore, a PCR array revealed that SMYD3 knockdown caused the upregulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors CDKN2A (p16INK4), CDKN2B (p15INK4B), CDKN3 and CDC25A, which may be responsible for the S phase arrest. In addition, the upregulation of CD40LG and downregulation of BIRC3 may explain the increased cell apoptosis rate after silencing SMYD3. We also discovered that SMYD3 bound on the promoter of CDKN2A and down-regulated its expression by triple-methylating H4K20. In addition, SMYD3 bound on the promoter of BIRC3 and up-regulated its expression by triple-methylating H3K4. Finally, knocking down SMYD3 could inhibit ovarian cancer growth in nude mice subcutaneous tumor model and PDX model. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that SMYD3 was overexpressed in ovarian cancer and contributes to the regulation of tumor proliferation and apoptosis via SMYD3-H4K20me3-CDKN2A pathway and SMYD3-H3K4me3-BIRC3 pathway. Thus, SMYD3 is a promising epigenetic therapeutic target for ovarian cancer.
An Overview of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unclassified in Children

Background: The inflammatory bowel diseases cover a diverse range of conditions generally grouped into Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) based on clinical, laboratory, radiological, endoscopic, and histological criteria. However, inflammatory bowel disease unclassified (IBDU) is used when there are clinical and endoscopic signs of chronic colitis without specific features of UC or CD but features of both. Conjecture exists regarding IBDU, especially in children, as to whether it represents a unique childhood phenotype or whether it reflects the difficulties in assigning an IBD subtype at an early age. Summary: This review examines the current understanding of pediatric IBDU and assesses the evidence supporting IBDU as a distinctive disease entity on the spectrum of inflammatory bowel disease. Key Messages: Pediatric-onset IBDU is more common than adult-onset IBDU. Therefore, an understanding of IBDU in this age group assumes more importance. However, there remains a paucity of information and a lack of exclusive longitudinal studies on pediatric IBDU. Subsequently there is significant disparity in the reported prevalence, clinical course, reclassification trends, and treatment responses around pediatric IBDU. Therefore, it remains challenging to chart the natural history of pediatric IBDU and consequently form an accurate understanding of where pediatric IBDU sits on the spectrum of disease.
Automatic grading device for red globe grapes based on machine vision and method thereof

The invention discloses an automatic grading device for red globe grapes based on a machine vision and a method thereof, relating to the technical field of fruit grading. The structure of the device is as follows: an airtight box and a lamp box are connected up and down to form an integral body, a circular hole is formed in a clapboard between the two boxes; a tablet computer is arranged on the sidewalls of the two boxes; an annular fluorescent lamp is internally arranged at the middle of the upper part of the lamp box, an industrial camera is internally arranged at the middle of the lower part of the airtight box, and a lens of an industrial camera rightly faces the circular hole; the industrial camera is connected with the tablet computer via a data wire; and the red globe grapes are placed in the lamp box. The automatic grading device and the method thereof disclosed by the invention can finish automatic grading by using a machine vision technology, as well as are uniform in standard, accurate in grading, high in efficiency due to the utilization of the computer for processing images, capable of realizing non-destructive testing grading, adaptive to the modern automatic detection industry due to a machine instead of human eyes, and good in application prospect and popularization prospect.
Strength and Reaction Time Capabilities of New Zealand Polo Players and Their Association with Polo Playing Handicap

Polo is an equestrian team sport consisting of four players per team, with level of play determined by cumulative player handicap (−2 to +10 goals), with a higher handicap denoting a better player. There is minimal literature investigating Polo players’ physical attributes, hence the understanding of the physical characteristics that may contribute to an improved handicap are unknown. This study sought to identify the relationship between pertinent strength measures (left and right hand grip strength; absolute and relative isometric mid-thigh pull) and reaction time in Polo handicap in 19 New Zealand Polo players, and ascertain whether handicap could be predicted by these measures. Correlation coefficients were expressed using R values, accompanying descriptors and 90% confidence intervals (C.I.). Variance explained was expressed via the R2 statistic, and statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Right hand grip strength, isometric mid-thigh pull values were found to significantly correlate to and explain variance within Polo player handicap (all moderate to large correlations; p < 0.05). Whereas left hand grip strength (R: 0.380; 90% C.I. −0.011 to 0.670) and reaction time (0.020; −0.372 to 0.406) were non-significant, moderate and trivial correlates and predictors of handicap respectively. Practically, these findings highlight the differing roles between rein and mallet hands of Polo players and emphasise the importance of a strong and stable platform when riding and striking the ball. Lack of association with reaction time may be explained in part by higher handicapped Polo players employing a more proactive approach to the game.