Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health inequalities among children and adolescents in Germany. Developments over time and trends from the KiGGS study

This study examines the extent to which health inequalities among children and adolescents in Germany have developed over the past decade. The analyses are based on data from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS), which are representative of the 0- to 17-year-old population in Germany. The KiGGS data were collected in three waves: the KiGGS baseline study (2003-2006), KiGGS Wave 1 (2009-2012) and KiGGS Wave 2 (2014-2017). Prevalences of five health outcomes are considered: general health, mental health problems, physical activity, the consumption of sugary soft drinks, and smoking. Moreover, it defines health inequalities in relation to differences in the socioeconomic status of the family (SES), an index derived from the parents’ level of education, occupation and income, and considers both absolute and relative health inequalities. In order to do so, the Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and the Relative Index of Inequality (RII) were calculated using linear probability or log-binomial models. Significant inequalities were identified to the detriment of young people from families with a low SES. These inequalities were particularly pronounced in the KiGGS Wave 2 data with regard to general health and the consumption of sugary soft drinks. Additionally, evidence from trend analyses for these two outcomes suggests that relative inequalities have increased. However, absolute inequalities decreased during the same period, and this also applies to smoking. The persistently high and, in some cases, widened levels of health inequalities indicate that adolescents from families with a low SES do not benefit to the same extent from disease prevention and health promotion measures for children and adolescents as young people from families with a higher SES.
Industry sponsorship and financial conflict of interest in the reporting of clinical trials in psychiatry.

OBJECTIVE Financial conflict of interest has been reported to be prevalent in clinical trials in general medicine and associated with a greater likelihood of reporting results favorable to the intervention being studied. The extent and implications of industry sponsorship and financial conflict of interest in psychiatric clinical trials have not been investigated, to the authors' knowledge. METHOD The authors examined funding source and author financial conflict of interest in all clinical trials published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the Archives of General Psychiatry, the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry between 2001 and 2003. RESULTS Among 397 clinical trials identified, 239 (60%) reported receiving funding from a pharmaceutical company or other interested party, and 187 studies (47%) included at least one author with a reported financial conflict of interest. Among the 162 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies examined, those that reported conflict of interest were 4.9 times more likely to report positive results; this association was significant only among the subset of pharmaceutical industry-funded studies. CONCLUSIONS Author conflict of interest appears to be prevalent among psychiatric clinical trials and to be associated with a greater likelihood of reporting a drug to be superior to placebo.
[Enhancer activity of solitary long terminal repeat of the human endogenous retrovirus of the HERV-K family].

The transient expression of the luciferase reporter gene helped us to detect a tissue-specific enhancer activity of the solitary extraviral long terminal repeat (LTR) of the human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K). The LTR was previously mapped to the 19q13.2 locus. It contains a number of potential regulatory elements including TATA box, binding sites for some nuclear factors, and a polyadenylation signal. However, an analysis of the genomic sequences close to the LTR did not reveal any known genes or the expressing marker sequences (EST), whose functioning could be regulated by this LTR. The enhancer activity can be preserved in the solitary LTR due to its involvement in a long-range control of genome functioning or by the absence of functional disruptive mutations within the human-specific LTR, because it is of a relatively young evolutionary age. The English version of the paper: Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry, 2002, vol. 28, no. 4; see also http://www.maik. ru.
Trends of smart grids development as fostered by European research coordination: The contribution by the EERA JP on smart grids and the ELECTRA IRP

Smart Grids play a central role in order to accommodate the levels of renewable energy sources penetration foreseen in the SET-Plan of the European Commission for the future “low-carbon” energy system. In the field of electricity grids the European Electricity Grid Initiative, the EERA JP on Smart Grids, and the ETP on Smart Grids coordinate their activity in order to promote the evolution of the present power system. This work summarizes their goals, objectives and activities, highlighting the existing links and interactions.
Vitamin A Levels and Immunity in Humans

ABSTRACT In animal studies, vitamin A deficiency induces a shift from type 2 (humoral) to type 1 (cellular) cytokines; there are no similar data for humans. Control of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections requires type 1 cytokine (cellular) immunity. These infections and vitamin A deficiency are highly prevalent in Africa. We therefore examined the interactions among serum vitamin A levels, immune parameters, HIV infection status, Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine scarring (as an indicator of a type 1 cytokine profile), and clinical findings for 70 hospitalized children in Malawi, Africa. Directly conjugated monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry were used to assess cell-specific cytokine production by peripheral blood monocytes and lymphocyte subpopulations. The statistical techniques employed included nonparametric statistics and logistic regression analyses. Thirty percent of the participants had severe vitamin A deficiency (<10 μg/dl), 34% had moderate deficiency (10 to <20 μg/dl), and 36% had normal levels (≥20 μg/dl). Vitamin A levels were lower for HIV-positive than for HIV-negative children (median, 10 and 17 μg/dl, respectively). Vitamin A-deficient children (<20 μg/dl) were more likely than non-vitamin A-deficient children to have higher proportions of natural killer (NK) cells (median, 8.3 and 5.2%, respectively) and lower ratios of interleukin-10-producing monocytes to tumor necrosis factor alpha-producing monocytes after induction (median, 1.0 and 2.3, respectively). Vitamin A-deficient children were also more likely than non-vitamin A-deficient children to exhibit respiratory symptoms (47% versus 12%) and visible BCG vaccine scars (83% versus 48%), which are indicative of a type 1 response to vaccination. Vitamin A status did not vary with gender, age, incidence of malaria parasitemia, blood culture positivity, or rates of mortality (6% of vitamin A-deficient children died versus 20% of non-vitamin A-deficient children). Lower vitamin A levels were associated with a relative type 1 cytokine dominance and proportionately more NK cells, both of which may be somewhat beneficial to persons who are exposed to HIV, M. tuberculosis, or other type 1 pathogens.
Mining Object Correlations to Improve Storage Performance in Virtual Environments

Object correlations are common semantic patterns in virtual environments (VE). They can be exploited for improve the effectiveness of storage caching, prefetching, data layout, and disk scheduling. Unfortunately, information about object correlations is unavailable at the VE level. However, little approaches for discovering object correlations in VE to improve the performance of storage systems. Moreover, current methods are presented for typical data mining datasets and not suitable for our virtual reality datasets. In this paper, we develop a class of view-based projection-generation method for mining various frequent sequential traversal patterns in the virtual environments. The frequent sequential traversal patterns are used to predict the user navigation behavior and help to reduce disk access time with proper placement patterns into disk blocks. Finally, we have done extensive experiments to demonstrate how these proposed techniques not only significantly cut down disk access time, but also enhance the accuracy of data prefetching.
Stroke Evaluation and Treatment

Abstract Cerebrovascular accidents remain the third leading cause of death in the United States, with many left with life-long disabilities. The causes and contributing factors of stroke are beginning to be well defined, but what is not appreciated are the various techniques for assisting recovery. Understanding what parts of the neurological and musculoskeletal exams predict short-term and long-term disabilities helps guide patients and families. Newer and effective rehabilitative approaches are available as are home, outpatient, and hospital-based sites for recovery. Improvements after stroke are now recognized to continue for months to years after the event. Available therapeutic techniques and evaluative studies are presented in this review.
From Age-Friendly Research to Age-Friendly City and Age-Friendly Regional Network: Case of Tuymazy and Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian Federation

This paper discusses the strategy and success factors of development of age-friendly programs in the City of Tuymazy and Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian Federation, as a part of the Global Age-Friendly Project of World Health Organization. A research followed by a small grass root initiative led to development of a large regional program with 21 municipalities involved. The key success factors included: creating an agency to trigger, promote and implement age-friendly practices; establishing partnerships with government and other organizations in the area; building and maintaining media and public relations; building on culture; expanding and encouraging civic engagement; starting small; providing recognition and credit. Building awareness and partnerships is vital for advancing age-friendly programs. With multiple stakeholders involved it is important to maintain regular communications conduct information sessions and stick to the planning and reporting schedule. For continuity and sustainability of a large scale project it is essential to hire paid staff
Enterprise Capability Modeling: Concepts, Method, and Application

Strategic alignment among digital services and organizational objectives is crucial for IT, if the enterprise is to use it for competitive advantage. The motivation for the work presented in this paper is based on the need for the design of services that meet the challenges of alignment, agility and sustainability in relation to dynamically changing enterprise requirements. To this end, the paper presents an approach to enterprise modeling that historically has its roots in strategic management and more recently has been considered within the broader spectrum of enterprise architecture, business process management and service-oriented development. We refer to this approach as a capability-centric modeling approach. The paper establishes a framework within which capability modeling would be used in collaboration with other modeling viewpoints and focuses on the specific concepts and techniques that relate to enterprise capability. These concepts and techniques are elaborated upon using a scenario from a leading digital services enterprise.
Contabilidade aplicada ao Setor Público: Um Estudo Sobre o Reconhecimento da Depreciação na Contabilidade dos Estados Brasileiros

O objetivo deste artigo foi comparar os efeitos do reconhecimento da depreciação nos entes subnacionais brasileiros, no período entre 2003 e 2014. Assim foram coletados dados de todos os Estados brasileiros como depreciação, imobilizado e variação patrimonial diminutiva. Entretanto, a amostra final foi de 13 Estados por falta de dados completos no período de 12 anos. A técnica escolhida foi a análise do vizinho mais próximo. Pode-se que concluir que houve avanços, mas insuficientes para uma representação patrimonial fidedigna dos entes públicos subnacionais e que posteriormente reflete no patrimônio público nacional. Percebe-se que não há uma consistência na política contábil adotada ao longo do tempo.
Exploring Applications for Using Video Podcasts in Online Learning

The purpose of this paper was to explore research-based applications for using video podcasts in an online learning environment. Five key video podcast uses were examined including administration, instruction, student assignments, feedback, and community. Administrative video podcasts provide course information on areas such as learning goals, lesson plan instructions, course policies, and homework or assignment expectations. Instruction-based video podcasts present short summaries or worked examples for teaching specific concepts. Student assignment video podcasts offer a creative way for students to demonstrate a variety of skills in a wide range of subject areas. Feedback-based video podcasts provide formative guidance to students about their progress or summative evaluation for assignments they complete. Finally, community-based video podcasts help build instructor-to-peer and peer-to-peer connections within an online learning course. Future exploration on the design of video podcasts, regardless of the application used, is discussed.
DEMAND RESPONSE OF SPACE HEATING AND VENTILATION – IMPACT ON INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Demand response can be utilized within heating and ventilation of buildings to reduce CO2 emissions and energy costs on both utility and consumer level. During demand response control, some of the indoor environmental parameters (room air temperature or CO2 concentration) are either increased or decreased. Hence, the demand response is a bargaining process between energy cost savings and acceptable impact on indoor environmental quality. This study determined the real-time pricing-based demand response impact on indoor air temperature and CO2 concentration during occupied time in an educational office building. Additionally, the annual energy cost savings were calculated. Both CAV and VAV ventilation designs were included in the study. The following system parameters were controlled: space heating, supply air temperature and airflow rate. The study was conducted by dynamic energy and indoor environmental simulations with the software IDA-ICE 4.7. 1. The simulations showed that demand response of space heating, supply air temperature and airflow rate can be utilized without significantly affecting the indoor environmental quality (room temperature and CO2 concentration) and still achieve energy cost savings.
Simulation-based evaluations of HF radar ocean current algorithms

A computer simulation is used to analyze errors in high-frequency (HF) radar ocean surface current measurements. Two pointing algorithms used for current extraction, a direction finding approach using MUltiple SIgnal Characterization (MUSIC) developed by Schmidt (1986), and conventional beam forming, are compared in terms of the effect of variations in sea state parameters on current measurement error. The radar system parameters used in the simulation were taken from the University of Michigan's multi-frequency coastal radar (MCR), which operates on four frequencies from 4.8 to 21.8 MHz and employs an eight-element linear phased array for its receive antenna. Results show MUSIC direction finding to be applicable to phased array systems and to have a better sensitivity to sharp current features, but larger random error than traditional beam forming methods. Also, for cases where beam forming errors are dominated by beam width or low signal to noise ratio, results show MUSIC to be a viable alternative to beam forming.
Design of a Shape-Constrained Dual-Band Polygonal Monopole for Car Roof Mounting

This paper describes the design of a new compact dual-band roof antenna (which is capable of operating in both U.S. and European mobile telephone bands) for automotive applications. The flipper shape of the antenna and its dimensional constrains are chosen according to prevailing automotive market trends. The chosen basic geometry of the radiating element is a planar printed monopole structured as a vertical fan with two narrow strips folding toward the ground plane and etched on a low-cost, medium-permittivity thin substrate. The geometrical variations of the basic radiating structure are introduced afterward to constrain the antenna shape under the assigned profile and to allow easy integration of a small Global Positioning System patch antenna without affecting radiation and bandwidth performances. The integration of a matching network directly over the etched monopole trace allows a good input matching over the lower and upper operative bands to be obtained, slightly affecting the radiation efficiency of the whole antenna.
Crystal structure and encapsulation dynamics of ice II-structured neon hydrate

Significance Clathrate hydrates have ice-like crystalline structures typically stabled under low-temperature and high-pressure conditions. They are of great importance as potential materials for energy storage and production and carbon dioxide sequestration. Here the first structural refinement data of neon hydrate, to our knowledge, are presented. Both the experimental observations by in situ neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that neon atoms can be enclathrated to form ice II-structured hydrates. The guest Ne atoms occupy the center of ice channels and have substantial freedom of movement owing to the lack of strong bonding between guest molecules and host lattices. The framework of Ne hydrate can be self-stabilized without the encapsulation of guest atoms, which is very special in the hydrate family. Neon hydrate was synthesized and studied by in situ neutron diffraction at 480 MPa and temperatures ranging from 260 to 70 K. For the first time to our knowledge, we demonstrate that neon atoms can be enclathrated in water molecules to form ice II-structured hydrates. The guest Ne atoms occupy the centers of D2O channels and have substantial freedom of movement owing to the lack of direct bonding between guest molecules and host lattices. Molecular dynamics simulation confirms that the resolved structure where Ne dissolved in ice II is thermodynamically stable at 480 MPa and 260 K. The density distributions indicate that the vibration of Ne atoms is mainly in planes perpendicular to D2O channels, whereas their distributions along the channels are further constrained by interactions between adjacent Ne atoms.
Activin induces cell death in hepatocytes in vivo and in vitro

While studying endocrine responses to activin in female rats, we discovered that activin caused a marked reduction in liver mass. The regressed livers exhibited no gross signs of necrosis or infarction, but histopathological evaluation revealed extensive cell death in the centrilobular regions. The dying cells appeared to fragment into structures resembling apoptotic bodies. Liver mass and histological appearance were restored after cessation of activin infusion, indicating that on an organ level, this effect was reversible. To determine whether the effects observed in vivo were caused by direct actions on the liver, we then tested activin on isolated hepatocytes in serum‐free medium. Under these conditions, activin caused many hepatocytes to undergo fragmentation, which was accompanied by a loss of 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)–reducing activity, an index of viability. We compared the effects of activin with those of transforming growth factor‐β because activin is structurally related to transforming growth factor‐β and because transforming growth factor‐β has been shown previously to induce cell death in hepatocytes. Both proteins caused cell death of comparable magnitude, as defined by the extent of loss of MTT‐reducing activity, but transforming growth factor‐β was active at one tenth of the effective activin concentrations. A neutralizing monoclonal antibody to transforming growth factor‐β blocked the response to transforming growth factor‐β but had no effect on the response to activin. Conversely, follistatin, an activinbinding protein, blocked the response to activin but not to transforming growth factor‐β. Inhibin, which antagonizes the effects of activin in many systems, had little effect on the response to activin. Activin and transforming growth factor‐β differed in their onset of action; exposure to transforming growth factor‐β for only 1 hr induced a maximal response, whereas maximal response to activin required its continuous presence for 24 hr. These results show a novel effect of activin on cell death in hepatocytes in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that activin may have a previously unrecognized role in regulating hepatic function. (HEPATOLOGY 1993;18:347–356).
The potential of the commonplace: A sociological study of emotions, identity and therapeutic change

Aims: To explore aspects of treatment clients identify as having had a positive effect on their process of change. Method: The first author conducted data collection for one year through both participant observation and interviews. Results: Certain, apparently commonplace, informal interaction situations appear to constitute emotionally moving and identity-constructing contexts that have a significant impact on clients. These are situations in which new, ‘‘straight’’ identities can be proffered, tried out and explored. The situations in question seem to move clients, emotionally, mentally and biographically in a positive direction. Conclusions: The process of change is presented as an upside-down version of the traditional labelling theory: if normal people can be labeled as deviants, deviants can be re-labeled as normal. This study concludes that commonplace interactions are powerful labeling situations. These situations seem at first glance to be trivial, superficial and very common. Still, and perhaps because of their ‘‘smallness’’, they are identified as authentic and thereby trustworthy contributors to new narratives of worthy selves.