Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictors of Postpartum Return to Smoking: A Systematic Review

Background Finding effective ways to help pregnant women quit smoking and remain abstinent is a major public health issue. Approximately half of UK women who smoke attempt cessation after conception; unfortunately, up to 75% return to smoking within 12 months postpartum. Interventions for preventing postpartum return to smoking (PPRS) have not been found to be effective. It is important to identify factors associated with PPRS, to inform development of alternative interventions. Aim Identify by systematic review factors associated with PPRS. Methods Systematic searches of electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL), trials registers, and conference proceedings were conducted to November 2016. Studies statistically examining factors associated with PPRS were included. Modified versions of the Newcastle Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale were used to assess studies' quality and a narrative synthesis focused on those judged of high quality. Results Thirty-nine studies (12 trials, 27 observational studies) were included. Thirty-one (79.5%) studies were high-quality. Among these, the most common significant predictors of PPRS were being less well educated, younger, multiparous, living with a partner or household member who smoked, experiencing higher stress, depression or anxiety, not breastfeeding, intending to quit only for pregnancy and low confidence to remain abstinent postpartum. Conclusions Of the factors found to be associated with PPRS, intending to quit smoking only for the duration of pregnancy, partner/household member smoking and confidence to remain abstinent are those most likely to have a direct, causal impact on smoking behavior after childbirth, and need to be considered when designing interventions to prevent PPRS. Implications This is the first systematic review of factors that may facilitate or inhibit PPRS. Considering how having a partner or household member who smokes, intending to quit smoking only for pregnancy, having self-efficacy to quit long term, breastfeeding and depression exert direct or indirect impacts on women's relapse to smoking and how such impacts could successfully be manipulated will inform development of new interventions to prevent PPRS.
Coral Fluorescent Proteins as Antioxidants

Background A wide array of fluorescent proteins (FP) is present in anthozoans, although their biochemical characteristics and function in host tissue remain to be determined. Upregulation of FP's frequently occurs in injured or compromised coral tissue, suggesting a potential role of coral FPs in host stress responses. Methodology/Principal Findings The presence of FPs was determined and quantified for a subsample of seven healthy Caribbean coral species using spectral emission analysis of tissue extracts. FP concentration was correlated with the in vivo antioxidant potential of the tissue extracts by quantifying the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging rates. FPs of the seven species varied in both type and abundance and demonstrated a positive correlation between H2O2 scavenging rate and FP concentration. To validate this data, the H2O2 scavenging rates of four pure scleractinian FPs, cyan (CFP), green (GFP), red (RFP) and chromoprotein (CP), and their mutant counterparts (without chromophores), were investigated. In vitro, each FP scavenged H2O2 with the most efficient being CP followed by equivalent activity of CFP and RFP. Scavenging was significantly higher in all mutant counterparts. Conclusions/Significance Both naturally occurring and pure coral FPs have significant H2O2 scavenging activity. The higher scavenging rate of RFP and the CP in vitro is consistent with observed increases of these specific FPs in areas of compromised coral tissue. However, the greater scavenging ability of the mutant counterparts suggests additional roles of scleractinian FPs, potentially pertaining to their color. This study documents H2O2 scavenging of scleractinian FPs, a novel biochemical characteristic, both in vivo across multiple species and in vitro with purified proteins. These data support a role for FPs in coral stress and immune responses and highlights the multi-functionality of these conspicuous proteins.
Multicenter, open-label, extension trial to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of early versus delayed treatment with tolvaptan in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease: the TEMPO 4:4 Trial

Abstract Background In TEMPO 3:4, the vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist tolvaptan slowed total kidney volume (TKV) growth and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline relative to placebo. Methods TEMPO 4:4 was designed to provide an additional 2 years of data on the long-term safety and efficacy of tolvaptan in subjects completing TEMPO 3:4. The objective was to assess the disease-modifying effects of tolvaptan on TKV and eGFR end-points including change from baseline over the combined duration of TEMPO 3:4 and TEMPO 4:4, and non-inferiority of slopes during TEMPO 4:4. Results Of the 1445 subjects randomized to TEMPO 3:4, 871 (60.3%) enrolled in TEMPO 4:4. Percent changes in TKV from TEMPO 3:4 baseline to TEMPO 4:4 Month 24 were 29.9% and 31.6% (prior tolvaptan versus prior placebo, P = 0.38). Adjusting for baseline covariates improved the TKV treatment difference at Month 24 in TEMPO 4:4 from −1.70% to − 4.15% between the groups (P = 0.04). Slopes of TKV growth during TEMPO 4:4 were higher in early- versus delayed-treatment groups (6.16% versus 4.96% per year, P = 0.05). Analysis of secondary eGFR endpoints demonstrated a persistent effect on eGFR (3.15 mL/min/1.73 m2, P < 0.001), and non-inferiority in eGFR slopes. The safety profile on exposure to tolvaptan in TEMPO 4:4 was similar to that in TEMPO 3:4. Conclusions The results of TEMPO 4:4 support a sustained disease-modifying effect of tolvaptan on eGFR. The lack of a sustained treatment difference on TKV may be accounted for by limitations of the trial design, including loss of randomization and baseline imbalances ensuing TEMPO 3:4. The safety profile was similar to that observed in TEMPO 3:4.
Cross-cultural invariance of the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R): comparing UK and US samples

Abstract Objective: This research sought to test the measurement invariance of the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R) across United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) samples. Multiple-group measurement was tested and latent means analysis compared levels of birth satisfaction across the samples. Method: Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), data previously collected from 409 mothers (181 US mothers; 228 UK mothers) were used to examine the multiple-group measurement invariance of the BSS-R across US and UK samples. Results: A correlated factors BSS-R model demonstrated partial measurement invariance. US mothers had significantly lower birth satisfaction levels on the three BSS-R subscales. Conclusions: This research demonstrates that the BSS-R is a robust tool that can be used to reliably measure women’s birth satisfaction within and across the US and UK.
Gait Implications of Visual Field Damage from Glaucoma

Purpose To evaluate fall-relevant gait features in older glaucoma patients. Methods The GAITRite Electronic Walkway was used to define fall-related gait parameters in 239 patients with suspected or manifest glaucoma under normal usual-pace walking conditions and while carrying a cup or tray. Multiple linear regression models assessed the association between gait parameters and integrated visual field (IVF) sensitivity after controlling for age, race, sex, medications, and comorbid illness. Results Under normal walking conditions, worse IVF sensitivity was associated with a wider base of support (β = 0.60 cm/5 dB IVF sensitivity decrement, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.12–1.09, P = 0.016). Worse IVF sensitivity was not associated with slower gait speed, shorter step or stride length, or greater left–right drift under normal walking conditions (P > 0.05 for all), but was during cup and/or tray carrying conditions (P < 0.05 for all). Worse IVF sensitivity was positively associated with greater stride-to-stride variability in step length, stride length, and stride velocity (P < 0.005 for all). Inferior and superior IVF sensitivity demonstrated associations with each of the above gait parameters as well, though these associations were consistently similar to, or weaker than, the associations noted for overall IVF sensitivity. Conclusion Glaucoma severity was associated with several gait parameters predictive of higher fall risk in prior studies, particularly measures of stride-to-stride variability. Gait may be useful in identifying glaucoma patients at higher risk of falls, and in designing and testing interventions to prevent falls in this high-risk group. Translational Relevance These findings could serve to inform the development of the interventions for falls prevention in glaucoma patients.
Throughput and Fairness Analysis of Wi-Fi and LTE-U in Unlicensed Band

Shortage of available licensed spectrum is a major barrier to the development of 5G networks. The deployment of long term evolution (LTE) in unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) is a promising solution to overcome such a barrier. However, the interaction between LTE-U and Wi-Fi in unlicensed spectrum has not been well understood. In this paper, we use stochastic geometry to develop a framework for a multi-radio access technologies (multi-RAT) heterogeneous network, which consists of an LTE-U tier and a Wi-Fi tier. To reduce the intra- and inter-RAT interference, LTE-U employs an ALOHA-like random access scheme and Wi-Fi performs carrier sensing and energy detection before transmission. We derive the coverage probability and spatial throughput of Wi-Fi and LTE-U networks, and perform the asymptotic analysis when the density of Wi-Fi and LTE-U nodes approach infinity. Based on our analysis, we investigate the effect of network parameters on the coverage probability and spatial throughput of these networks. Furthermore, in order to achieve weighted max-min fairness, we optimize the retention probability of LTE-U nodes to maximize the minimum weighted spatial throughput of Wi-Fi and LTE-U networks.
Biosynthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles by a New Pichia kudriavzevii Yeast Strain and Evaluation of Their Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities

The potential ability of a new yeast strain, Pichia kudriavzevii, in the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) through a green method was explored in this study. The effect of reaction time (12, 24 and 36 h) on the structure of the resulting ZnO nanoparticles was investigated. From the XRD and TEM results, the ZnO-NPs with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and a particle crystal size of ~10–61 nm was formed at different reaction times. Combing XRD, TEM, and PL results, it was revealed that the sample prepared at intermediate duration (24 h) has the most favorable nanosized structure with the lowest defect concentration. The biomedical properties of ZnO-NPs as free radical scavenging activity, cytotoxicity and antibacterial agents were characterized. Biosynthesized ZnO-NPs showed strong DPPH free radical scavenging and a dose dependent toxicity with non-toxic effects on Vero cells for concentrations below 190 µg/mL. Desirable bactericidal activity was shown by the ZnO-NPs on Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aurous) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens). A maximum inhibition zone of ~19 mm was observed for Staphylococcus epidermidis at a concentration of 100 µg/mL for sample prepared at 24 h. The results from this study reveal that ZnO-NPs possesses potential for many medical and industrial applications.
Doppler Spread and Coherence Time of Rural and Highway Vehicle-to-Vehicle Channels at 5.9 GHz

An experimental study of the Doppler coherence time properties of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) wireless channels at 5.9 GHz in both rural and highway environments is presented. Simultaneous RF and mobility measurements were conducted in environments near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The average Doppler spread was observed to depend linearly on effective speed, defined as the square root of the sum of the squares of the ground speeds of the two vehicles. Sample spectrum is analyzed and comparisons with the double-ring models are presented. The coherence time was observed to vary inversely with effective speed, as expected. In addition, the coherence time was observed to decrease with vehicle separation out to about 100 m, followed by a relative peak at about 200 m. A possible interpretation of this peak in terms of a two-ray propagation model is presented. The observed Doppler spread should not be a problem for proposed V2V OFDM signal transmission formats, but the channel coherence time is much shorter than a typical packet suggesting that present equalization schemes may not be adequate.
Prediction of the digestible energy in pig diets from analyses of fibre contents

Digestible energy (DE) values were determined for 15 pig diets with pigs 8 to 18 weeks old by standard digestibility procedures. The 15 diets contained 4360 to 4920 kcal gross energy (GE)/kg dry matter (DM), 2750 to 4070 kcal DE/kg DM, 2·8 to 15·8% crude fibre (CF), 2·4 to 21·1% acid-detergent fibre (ADF), and 7·3 to 33·8% neutraldetergent fibre (NDF). The prediction equations obtained were all highly significant. DE was most accurately predicted when the fibre value used was NDF, the regression equation being: DE = 4314·37·22 NDF (residual SD + 265). The inclusion of GE in the regression equation considerably improved its accuracy: DE = 1·510 GE-2579·39·37 NDF (residual SD ±127). However, the greater digestibility by pigs of NDF in diets containing sweet lupin seed meal (SLSM) resulted in these diets being more efficiently digested than diets containing other common protein supplements. Omitting the four diets containing SLSM from the regression analysis resulted in an even more accurate prediction equation: DE = 1·177 GE-1085·40·22 NDF (residual SD±107). It is suggested that this equation may be used to predict DE of pig diets compounded from commonly used constituents.
Understanding RUP Integrity of COLM

The authenticated encryption scheme COLM is a third-round candidate in the CAESAR competition. Much like its antecedents COPA, ELmE, and ELmD, COLM consists of two parallelizable encryption layers connected by a linear mixing function. While COPA uses plain XOR mixing, ELmE, ELmD, and COLM use a more involved invertible mixing function. In this work, we investigate the integrity of the COLM structure when unverified plaintext is released, and demonstrate that its security highly depends on the choice of mixing function. Our results are threefold. First, we discuss the practical nonce-respecting forgery by Andreeva et al. (ASIACRYPT 2014) against COPA’s XOR mixing. Then we present a noncemisusing forgery against arbitrary mixing functions with practical time complexity. Finally, by using significantly larger queries, we can extend the previous forgery to be nonce-respecting.
Kinesin 6 Regulation in Drosophila Female Meiosis by the Non-conserved N- and C- Terminal Domains

Bipolar spindle assembly occurs in the absence of centrosomes in the oocytes of most organisms. In the absence of centrosomes in Drosophila oocytes, we have proposed that the kinesin 6 Subito, a MKLP-2 homolog, is required for establishing spindle bipolarity and chromosome biorientation by assembling a robust central spindle during prometaphase I. Although the functions of the conserved motor domains of kinesins is well studied, less is known about the contribution of the poorly conserved N- and C- terminal domains to motor function. In this study, we have investigated the contribution of these domains to kinesin 6 functions in meiosis and early embryonic development. We found that the N-terminal domain has antagonistic elements that regulate localization of the motor to microtubules. Other parts of the N- and C-terminal domains are not required for microtubule localization but are required for motor function. Some of these elements of Subito are more important for either mitosis or meiosis, as revealed by separation-of-function mutants. One of the functions for both the N- and C-terminals domains is to restrict the CPC to the central spindle in a ring around the chromosomes. We also provide evidence that CDK1 phosphorylation of Subito regulates its activity associated with homolog bi-orientation. These results suggest the N- and C-terminal domains of Subito, while not required for localization to the central spindle microtubules, have important roles regulating Subito, by interacting with other spindle proteins and promoting activities such as bipolar spindle formation and homologous chromosome bi-orientation during meiosis.
Dosimetric comparison of three intensity‐modulated radiation therapies for left breast cancer after breast‐conserving surgery

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to evaluate dosimetric differences of intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in target and normal tissues after breast‐conserving surgery. Methods IMRT five‐field plan I, IMRT six‐field plan II, and field‐in‐field–direct machine parameter optimization–IMRT plan III were designed for each of the 50 patients. One‐way analysis of variance was performed to compare differences, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Homogeneity index of plan III is lower than those of plans I and II. No difference was identified in conformity index of targets. Plan I exhibited difference in mean dose (D mean) for the heart (P < 0.05). Plan I featured smaller irradiation dose volumes in V 5, V 20 (P < 0.05) of the left lung than II. Plan I exhibited significantly higher V 5 in the right lung than plans II and III (P < 0.05). Under plan I, irradiation dose at V 5 in the right breast is higher than that in plans II and III. Patients in plan III presented less total monitor unit and total treatment time than those in plans I and II (P < 0.05). Conclusion IMRT six‐field plans II, and field‐in‐field–direct machine parameter optimization–IMRT plans III can reduce doses and volumes to the lungs and heart better while maintaining satisfying conformity index and homogeneity index of target. Nevertheless, plan II neglects target movements caused by respiration. In the same manner, plan III can substantially reduce MU and shorten patient treatment time. Therefore, plan III, which considers target movement caused by respiration, is a more practical radiation mode.
Experimental studies on a vapour compression system using nanorefrigerants

Convective heat transfer is very important in the HVAC, refrigeration and microelectronics cooling applications. R134a is most widely adopted alternate refrigerant in refrigeration equipment, such s domestic refrigerators and air conditioners. Though the global warming up potential of R134a is relatively high, it is affirmed that it is a long term alternate refrigerants in lots of countries. The addition of nanoparticles to the refrigerant results in improvements in the thermophysical properties and heat transfer characteristics of the refrigerant, there by improving the performance of the refrigeration system. Stable nanolubricant has been prepared for the study. The experimental studies indicate that the refrigeration system with nanorefrigerant works normally. It is found that the freezing capacity is higher and the power consumption reduces by 25% when POE oil is replaced by a mixture of mineral oil and alumina nanoparticles. Calculations show that the enhancement factor in the evaporator is 1.53 when nanorefrigerants are used instead of pure refrigerant.
Too much of a good thing: a retrospective study of &bgr;-lactam concentration–toxicity relationships

Objectives To determine the existence of concentration-toxicity relationships for common β-lactam antibiotic adverse effects and define thresholds above which toxicity is more likely. Patients and methods Retrospective review of consecutive patients treated with piperacillin, meropenem or flucloxacillin who underwent therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) at St Vincent's Hospital (Sydney, Australia) between January 2013 and December 2015. Adverse events investigated included neurotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and opportunistic Clostridium difficile infection. Toxicity was measured using observational grading criteria, clinical assessment and relevant serum biomarkers. These findings were correlated with trough TDM measurements at the time of toxicity presentation. Results TDM results from 378 patients (piperacillin = 223, meropenem = 94 and flucloxacillin = 61) were investigated. There was no difference in baseline patient characteristics across antibiotic groups. A statistically significant elevation in mean serum trough concentrations (Cmin) was found in patients diagnosed with neurotoxicity (piperacillin, P < 0.01; meropenem, P = 0.04; flucloxacillin, P = 0.01) and those who developed nephrotoxicity whilst being treated with piperacillin (P < 0.01) or meropenem (P < 0.01). Incidence of hepatotoxicity and C. difficile was not related to Cmin. Threshold concentrations for which there is 50% risk of developing a neurotoxicity event (piperacillin, Cmin >361.4 mg/L; meropenem, Cmin >64.2 mg/L; flucloxacillin, Cmin >125.1 mg/L) or nephrotoxicity (piperacillin, Cmin >452.65 mg/L; meropenem, Cmin >44.45 mg/L) varied across antibiotics. Conclusions Our data reveal an association between toxic concentrations for a number of β-lactam agents and neurotoxic/nephrotoxic effects. We have defined threshold concentrations above which these toxicities become more likely. Clinicians should balance concerns for therapeutic efficacy with potential toxicity when considering aggressive therapy.
SecSDN-Cloud: Defeating Vulnerable Attacks Through Secure Software-Defined Networks

A software-defined network (SDN) is a technology that supports computer network administrators. However, the centralized control plane architecture of SDNs makes them vulnerable to harmful security threats. In this paper, we propose a secure cloud (SecSDN-cloud) architecture that includes user authentication, routing, attack resistance, and third-party monitoring. The goal of this paper is to design an SDN-cloud environment with integrated security that can resist three different attack types: flow table overloading, control plane saturation, and Byzantine attacks. A novel digital signature with chaotic secure hashing is used for user authentication, followed by an enhanced particle swarm optimization multi-class routing protocol to improve the quality of service. Controllers are assigned to switches by integrating an enhanced genetic algorithm with a modified cuckoo search algorithm. The malicious flow identification includes the analysis of five-tuples constructed from features extracted from packets. We implemented the proposed SecSDN-cloud in the OMNeT++ simulator and evaluated its performance in terms of packet loss, end-to-end delay, throughput, latency, and bandwidth.