Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality of life in patients with cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract

Accurate assessment of health-related quality of life in patients with upper gastrointestinal cancers is essential to help determine treatment strategies. Questionnaires may be used to screen for physical and psychosocial morbidity, to evaluate new therapies and there is accumulating evidence to suggest that quality of life scores have prognostic value. There are well validated generic measures of quality of life suitable to use in patients with cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract, but only two systems (EORTC QLQ-C30 and the FACT-G) have site-specific modules that have been constructed for this patient group. The future use of computer-assisted techniques to collect, analyze and interpret quality of life data will enable the implementation of quality of life results in clinical practice.
Effects of Knowledge of Results (KR) Frequency in the Learning of a Timing Skill: Absolute versus Relative KR Frequency

The interaction between the amount of practice and frequency of Knowledge of Results (KR) was investigated in a timing skill. In the acquisition phase the task involved 90 trials of releasing a knob and transporting three tennis balls from three near recipients to three far ones in a specific sequence and target time. The retention test performed 24 hr. later had the same sequence of transport but a new target time was required. In both phases, absolute error and standard deviation plus constant error was measured. The five groups differed in relation to frequency of KR and amount of practice. The results showed that intermediate frequencies as well as higher frequencies of KR elicited better performance during the retention test.
Residual symptoms after partial remission: an important outcome in depression

Synopsis This paper draws attention to an important adverse outcome in depression, the occurrence of residual symptoms after partial remission. Among patients with definite major depression followed every 3 months to remission and thereafter, residual symptoms reaching 8 or more on the Hamilton Depression Scale 17-item total were present in 32% (19) of the 60 who remitted below major depression by 15 months. The pattern was of mild but typical depressive symptoms. Residual symptoms were more common in subjects with more severe initial illness, but were not related to any other predictors, including longer prior illness, dysthymia, or lower dose of drug treatment during the illness episode. There were weak associations with personality that might have been consequences of symptom presence. Residual symptoms were very strong predictors of subsequent early relapse, which occurred in 76% (13/17) of those with residual symptoms and 25% (10/40) of those without.
Sources of the motor and somatic sensory innervation of the trapezius muscle in the rat

The study was carried out on nine sexually mature male rats of the Wistar breed weighing approxi- mately 250 g each. Animals were anaesthetized with thiopental sodium injected intraperitoneally (30 mg/kg of body weight). The animals were then injected with Fast Blue tracer into the right trapezius muscle. After a survival period of five weeks the rats were transcardially perfused with buffered paraformaldehyde. The following tissue blocks were collected: spinal cord (cervical and thoracic part) with spinal ganglia and whole brain with medulla oblongata. The tissues collected were cut into 12 μm-thick cryostat sections, which were viewed under a fluorescent microscope equipped with a filter block for FB. FB-positive (FB + ) neurons were counted in every fourth section to avoid double analysis. After injections of the tracer to the right trapezius muscle FB + neurons were found in many nuclei and ganglia. The labelled cells of the medulla oblongata nuclei were found in the bilateral vestibular nuclei including superior (SuVe), lateral (LVe), medial (MVe) and spinal (SpVe) vestibular nuclei and also in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DR) which is a single nucleus, but only in the ipsilateral ambiguous nucleus (Amb). FB + perikarya were also found in the spinal cord, extending between the first cervical segment (C 1 ) and the cranial half of the seventh spinal cervical segment (C 7 ), in an ipsilateral area ventrolateraly with respect to the central canal, within the spinal nucleus of the accessory nerve (SAN). Retrograde labelled sensory neurons were found in the bilateral spinal ganglia (SPG-s), from the second cervical ganglion (C 2 ) to the third thoracic ganglion (Th 3 ).
Parental beliefs about supervising children when crossing roads and cycling

Pedestrian and cyclist injuries are significant public health issues, together accounting for 11–30% of road deaths in highly motorised countries. Children are particularly at risk. In Australia in 2009 11.4% of pedestrian deaths and 6.4% of cyclist deaths comprised children aged 0–16 years. Parental attitudes and level of supervision are important to children's road safety. Results from a telephone survey with parents of children 5–9 years (N = 147) are reported. Questions addressed beliefs about preventability of injury, appropriate ages for children to cross the road or cycle independently and the frequency of holding 5–9 year old children's hands while crossing the road. Results suggest that parents believe most injuries are preventable and that they personally can act to improve their own safety in the home, on the road, at work, as well as in or on the water. Most parents (68%) indicated children should be 10 years or older before crossing the road or cycling independently. Parents were more likely to report holding younger children's hands (5–6 years) when crossing the road and less likely to do so for 7- to 9-year olds. There was a small effect of child gender, with parents more likely to hold a boy's hand than that of a girl.
Potent Antipneumococcal Activity of Gemifloxacin Is Associated with Dual Targeting of Gyrase and Topoisomerase IV, an In Vivo Target Preference for Gyrase, and Enhanced Stabilization of Cleavable Complexes In Vitro

ABSTRACT We investigated the roles of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV in determining the susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniaeto gemifloxacin, a novel fluoroquinolone which is under development as an antipneumococcal drug. Gemifloxacin displayed potent activity against S. pneumoniae 7785 (MIC, 0.06 μg/ml) compared with ciprofloxacin (MIC, 1 to 2 μg/ml). Complementary genetic and biochemical approaches revealed the following. (i) The gemifloxacin MICs for isogenic 7785 mutants bearing either parC orgyrA quinolone resistance mutations were marginally higher than wild type at 0.12 to 0.25 μg/ml, whereas the presence of both mutations increased the MIC to 0.5 to 1 μg/ml. These data suggest that both gyrase and topoisomerase IV contribute significantly as gemifloxacin targets in vivo. (ii) Gemifloxacin selected first-stepgyrA mutants of S. pneumoniae 7785 (gemifloxacin MICs, 0.25 μg/ml) encoding Ser-81 to Phe or Tyr, or Glu-85 to Lys mutations. These mutants were cross resistant to sparfloxacin (which targets gyrase) but not to ciprofloxacin (which targets topoisomerase IV). Second-step mutants (gemifloxacin MICs, 1 μg/ml) exhibited an alteration in parC resulting in changes of ParC hot spot Ser-79 to Phe or Tyr. Thus, gyrase appears to be the preferential in vivo target. (iii) Gemifloxacin was at least 10- to 20-fold more effective than ciprofloxacin in stabilizing a cleavable complex (the cytotoxic lesion) with either S. pneumoniaegyrase or topoisomerase IV enzyme in vitro. These data suggest that gemifloxacin is an enhanced affinity fluoroquinolone that acts against gyrase and topoisomerase IV in S. pneumoniae, with gyrase the preferred in vivo target. The marked potency of gemifloxacin against wild type and quinolone-resistant mutants may accrue from greater stabilization of cleavable complexes with the target enzymes.
OARS Methodology

The Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) methodology was designed to assess functional capacity in five dimensions (social resources, economic resources, mental health, physical health, and activities of daily living) and to measure use of and need for 24 types of generic services. The OARS questionnaire now has been used in more than 150 research and practice settings. Recent refinements in the OARS methodology include new information about validity and reliability, computerized summary ratings for the five dimensions of functional status, and eleven scales that measure specific aspects of functioning within the five dimensions. This paper describes the conceptual foundation, appropriate uses, psychometric properties, and recent refinements in the OARS methodology. Empirical data from a geriatric clinic population are used for purposes of illustration. The paper presents an assessment of the strengths and limitations of the OARS methodology based on more than a decade of experience. Particular attention is paid to the degree to which the measures of functional status can be related to health service use measures to inform geriatric research and practice.
Intrauterine exposure to diabetes is a determinant of hemoglobin A(1)c and systolic blood pressure in pima Indian children.

CONTEXT/OBJECTIVE Given the increasing rates of both childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM), we investigated whether maternal diabetes status during pregnancy is a determinant of risk factors associated with T2DM or cardiovascular disease in offspring during childhood. DESIGN/PARTICIPANTS Forty-two Pima Indians, aged 7-11 yr, were identified retrospectively from maternal oral glucose tolerance tests as offspring of a diabetic pregnancy (22 ODM, eight males, 14 females) or offspring born before the mother developed diabetes (20 PRE, 12 males, eight females). SETTING/MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight, height, body mass index, percent body fat, blood pressure, and fasting concentrations of glucose, insulin, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), total cholesterol, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were measured while staying in an in-patient clinical research unit and compared in cross-sectional analyses. RESULTS After adjustment for age and gender, ODM had significantly higher concentrations of HbA1c (ODM = 5.7 +/- 0.4, PRE = 5.0 +/- 0.4%, P = 0.002), higher systolic (SBP) blood pressure (ODM = 118 +/- 13, PRE = 107 +/- 10 mm Hg; P = 0.02), and lower concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (ODM = 41 +/- 9, PRE = 48 +/- 6 mg/dl, P = 0.03) than PRE. Maternal diabetes status during pregnancy persisted as a significant determinant of SBP (beta = 7.50, P = 0.03) and HbA1c (beta = 0.43, P = 0.002), independent of age, gender, and percent body fat. CONCLUSION Intrauterine exposure to diabetes is a significant determinant of higher SBP and HbA1c during childhood, independent of adiposity and a genetic predisposition to T2DM. These data suggest that in utero exposure to diabetes confers an additional independent risk for the development of T2DM and/or cardiovascular disease later in life.
Biological Control of the Removal of Abiogenic Particles from the Surface Ocean

Concurrent measurements of particle concentrations in the near-surface water and of particle fluxes in the deep water of the Sargasso Sea show a close coupling between the two for biogenic components. The concentrations of suspended matter appear to follow an annual cycle similar to that of primary production and deepwater particle flux. Although the concentration of particulate aluminum in the surface water appears to vary randomly with respect to that cycle, the removal of aluminum to deep water is intimately linked to the rapid downward transport of organic matter.
Aggression, impulsivity, and plasma sex hormone levels in a group of rapists, in relation to their history of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between retrospectively assessed childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, aggression – impulsivity, and plasma sex hormone levels, in a group of 44 rapists. All participants completed the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS), the Aggression Questionnaire, the Life-Time History of Aggression, the Barratt Impulsivity Scale, the Suicide Risk Scale, and the Temperament and Character Inventory. Levels of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone were estimated in plasma samples, and free androgen index was calculated. The subgroup of rapists with WURS score of 46 or higher (n = 27) evidenced significantly higher levels of self-reported aggression, life-time history of aggression, and impulsivity, as well as significantly higher scores on novelty seeking and self-transcendence and significantly lower scores on self-directedness and cooperativeness, in comparison with the subgroup with WURS scores of 45 and lower. The WURS score showed a positive correlation with aggression, impulsivity, and suicidality. Plasma sex hormone levels did not show any differences between the two rapist subgroups. History of childhood ADHD symptoms in this sample of rapists was linked to higher levels of aggression, impulsivity, and suicidality, a temperament profile characterized by frequent exploratory activity and quick loss of temper, and a character profile characterized by purposeless, difficulty accepting others, and lack of empathy. Lastly, a history of childhood ADHD symptoms does not seem to be linked to adult plasma sex hormone levels.
Beating Brute Force for (Quantified) Satisfiability of Circuits of Bounded Treewidth

We investigate the algorithmic properties of circuits of bounded treewidth. Here the treewidth of a circuit C is defined as the treewidth of the underlying undirected graph of C, after the vertices corresponding to input gates have been removed. Thus, boolean formulae correspond to circuits of treewidth 1. • Our first main result is an algorithm for counting the number of satisfying assignments of circuits with n input gates, treewidth ω, and at most s · n gates. The running time of our algorithm is [Equation], which for formulae instantiates to 2n(1--1/O(s)). This is the first algorithm to achieve exponential speed-up over brute force for the satisfiability of linear size circuits with treewidth bounded by a constant greater than 1. For treewidth 1, i.e., boolean formulae, our algorithm significantly outperforms the previously fastest 2n(1--1/O(S2)) time satisfiability algorithm by Santhanam [32]. • Our second main result is an algorithm for True Quantified Boolean Circuit Satisfiability for circuits of treewidth ω, in which every input gate has fan-out at most s. The running time of our algorithm is [Equation]. Our algorithm is the first to achieve exponential speed-up over brute force for such circuits. Indeed, even for quantified boolean formulae where every variable appears at most s times, the previously best known algorithm by Santhanam [32] has running time 2n(1--1/O(f(s)·log n)). • Utilizing the structural properties of low treewidth circuits which helped us obtain improved exponential-time algorithms for satisfiability, we also show that the number of wires of any constant treewidth circuit that computes the majority function must be super-linear.
Predictors of Frequent Recourse to Health Professionals by People with Severe Mental Disorders

Objective: Based on Andersen's behavioural model, our study sought to determine predictors and blocks of factors that could explain why people with severe mental disorders (SMDs) more often seek the services of health professionals. Methods: This longitudinal study involved 292 users with SMDs located in Le Sud-Ouest, the southwest borough of Montreal. Data were collected from participants' medical records and through 7 questionnaires. Using Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, independent variables were divided into 3 classes—predisposing factors, enabling factors, and need factors—and were introduced in this order in a hierarchical logistic model. Results: Among 292 users, 110 (37.7%) were frequent users who consulted about one health professional every 3 days. Participants who were more likely to call on health professionals were single and older, depended on welfare as their main source of income, lived in supervised housing, suffered from schizophrenia, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and adjustment disorders, and, marginally, exhibited multiple mental disorders. Conclusion: Mental health services could promote strategies to overcome the reluctance of younger people to seek professional services. Professionals should pay close attention to subsidiary conditions, such as adjustment disorders, from which people with SMDs may suffer. Interventions to improve the socioeconomic condition of unemployed people with SMDs may help to reduce health care service use among that clientele. Programs such as supported employment should be tailored and enhanced for people receiving welfare to decrease stigmatization and improve job market integration.
Cardiovascular disease in diabetes: where does glucose fit in?

CONTEXT Recent prospective clinical trials have failed to confirm a unique benefit from normalization of glycemia on cardiovascular disease outcomes, despite evidence from basic vascular biology, epidemiological, and cohort studies. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION The literature was searched using the http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih. gov search engine including over 20 million citations on MEDLINE (1970 to present). Keyword searches included: atherosclerosis, cardiovascular, and glucose. Epidemiological, cohort, and interventional data on cardiovascular disease outcomes and glycemic control were reviewed along with analysis of recent reviews on this topic. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS High glucose activates a proatherogenic phenotype in all cell types in the vessel wall including endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, inflammatory cells, fibroblasts, and platelets, leading to a feedforward atherogenic response. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND COHORT STUDIES: Epidemiological and cohort evidence indicates a clear and consistent correlation of glycemia with cardiovascular disease. A recent report of over 25,000 subjects with diabetes in the Swedish National Diabetes Registry verifies this relationship in contemporary practice. Interventional Studies: Prospective randomized interventions targeting a hemoglobin A1c of 6-6.5% for cardiovascular disease prevention failed to consistently decrease cardiovascular events or all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS Basic vascular biology data plus epidemiological and cohort evidence would predict that glucose control should impact cardiovascular events. Prospective clinical trials demonstrate that current strategies that improve blood glucose do not achieve this goal but suggest that a period of optimal control may confer long-term cardiovascular disease benefit. Clinicians should target a hemoglobin A1c of 7% for the prevention of microvascular complications, individualized to avoid hypoglycemia.
Extracting fuzzy rules to describe weed infestations in terms of soil factors

Site-specific treatment of weeds in precision agriculture is essential to know which factors determine a high occurrence of weeds. Former statistical studies searching for relationships between individual soil variables and wild-oat occurrence found no clear linear relationship among the analyzed variables. However, farmers observations pointed to better wild oats grow in specific locations where the physical and chemical conditions are probably more conducive. Data mining is justified in applications where conventional analysis methods are not able to extract useful and task-oriented knowledge. This paper proposes a fuzzy rule-based model, generated from a supervised learning process, to describe the complex relationships among weed occurrence and some soil properties. A genetic algorithm is used to derive the set of fuzzy rules by driving a search in the space of possible solutions (or models). This linguistic model has the advantage of being both intuitive and directly interpretable by the operator involved in the field tasks.
Elastic capsule deformation in general irrotational linear flows

Knowledge of the response of elastic capsules to an imposed fluid flow is necessary for predicting the deformation and motion of biological cells and synthetic capsules in microfluidic devices and in microcirculation. Capsules have been studied in shear, planar extensional and axisymmetric extensional flows. Here, the flow gradient matrix of a general irrotational linear flow is characterized by two parameters, its strain rate, defined as the maximum of the principal strain rates, and a new term, q, the difference of the two lesser principal strain rates, scaled by the maximum principal strain rate; this characterization is valid for ellipsoids in irrotational linear flow, and gives good results for spheres in general linear flows at low capillary numbers. We demonstrate that deformable non-spherical particles align with the principal axes of an imposed irrotational flow. Thus, it is most practical to model deformation of non-spherical particles already aligned with the flow, rather than considering each arbitrary orientation. Capsule deformation was modeled for a sphere, a prolate spheroid and an oblate spheroid, subjected to combinations of uniaxial, biaxial and planar extensional flows; modeling was performed using the immersed boundary method. The time response of each capsule to each flow was found, as were the steady-state deformation factor, mean strain energy and surface area. For a given capillary number, planar flows led to more deformation than uniaxial or biaxial extensional flows. Capsule behavior in all cases was bounded by the response of capsules to uniaxial, biaxial and planar extensional flows.
Expression and Localization of Carbonic Anhydrase Genes in the Serpulid Polychaete Hydroides elegans

The metalloenzyme, carbonic anhydrase (CA), catalyzes the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide into bicarbonate, and is responsible for biomineralization processes in animals. In the Annelida, the marine worms in the family Serpulidae are typified by the construction of calcium carbonate tubes. Hydroides elegans, a common member of warmwater biofouling communities around the world, provides an outstanding model for studies of calcification. To better understand the molecular process of biomineralization in H. elegans, we searched transcriptomes for CA genes at several life-history stages. Twelve CA genes were recovered in the transcriptomes. Whole mount in situ hybridization was performed for two of those genes on larvae and calcifying juveniles. A cytosolic CA isoform, HeCA1, and a secreted CA isoform, HeCA2, were expressed within the collar segment corresponding to the location of glands involved in formation of the calcified tube. Expression of these genes within collar segment tissues supports the role of CAs in generating bicarbonate for biomineralization processes. A phylogenetic tree of the α-CA gene family was constructed to increase understanding of CA-gene evolution within the family and its relationship to CA genes among the Metazoa.