Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Local road traffic activity and the prevalence, severity, and persistence of wheeze in school children: combined cross sectional and longitudinal study

OBJECTIVES To investigate the relation between local road traffic activity and the occurrence, severity, and persistence of wheeze in children. METHODS Data on wheeze and asthma were collected in a cross sectional questionnaire survey of 22 968 primary school children (age 4–11) and 27 826 secondary school children (age 11–16) in the Nottingham area. Direct measures of road traffic flow were made in the locality of each school and combined with Local Authority traffic data for major roads to estimate local traffic activity in vehicle metres/day/km2. Assessment of the effects of potential confounders was performed in nested case-control groups of 6576 primary and 5936 secondary children. Data on frequency of wheeze were collected for the cases to study disease severity. Longitudinal data on a historical cohort of 883 children who reported wheeze when aged 4–11 in 1988 were used to study the persistence of wheeze into adolescence. RESULTS Unadjusted prevalence of wheeze in the past year within schools varied widely but was not associated with traffic activity in the school locality (weighted regression coefficient β=−0.01, p=0.93 for primary schools, β=−0.18, p=0.26 for secondary schools). The risk of wheeze in individual primary school children was not associated with traffic activity analysed as a continuous variable, although there was some suggestion of a weak, non-linear plateau effect. Similar effects were found for diagnosed asthma and recent cough. There was no evidence of any relation between traffic activity and risk of wheeze in secondary school children. There were positive but non-significant dose related effects of traffic activity on wheeze severity in primary and secondary children and on persistence of wheeze in the longitudinal cohort. CONCLUSIONS Traffic activity in the school locality is not a major determinant of wheeze in children.
A class of fuzzy measures generated from a Dempster-Shafer belief structure

Here the Dempster]Shafer belief structure is viewed as providing partial information about the underlying fuzzy measure associated with a uncertain variable. In this perspective there exists many possible fuzzy measures that can be associated with a Dempster]Shafer belief structure. Typically only two of these measures have been made explicit, those being the measure of belief and plausibility. Here we introduce a whole class of fuzzy measures that can be associated with a Dempster]Shafer belief structure. As an aid to choosing between these myriad of possibilities we discuss the entropy of a fuzzy measure. Q 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ipilimumab-induced colitis: experience from a tertiary referral center

Background: Ipilimumab is an anticytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of malignant melanoma. It can cause immune-mediated inflammatory adverse events, including diarrhoea and even intestinal perforation or death in clinical trials but there is a dearth of data on postmarketing outcomes. Methods: A total of 546 patients attending for treatment of metastatic melanoma between 1 January 2009 and 31 August 2015 were identified by interrogation of the oncology database. A total of 83 of these patients received ipilimumab. Clinical information was extracted from chart reviews, endoscopy and radiology reports, and prescription data. Results: A total of 83 patients received ipilimumab. Only 19.3% (n = 16) of patients developed a diarrhoeal illness not attributable to other causes. The median grade of diarrhoea among included patients was 2 (range 1–4). In two cases, diarrhoea settled spontaneously without any specific treatment. A total of 87.5% of patients received antidiarrhoeal agents such as loperamide or codeine. These resolved symptoms in all patients with grade 1 diarrhoea. For other treatment, 50% patients received systemic glucocorticosteroids and 31.3% required infliximab. Infliximab resolved symptoms in 100% of cases compared with 50% for systemic glucocorticosteroids. Conclusions: The rate of diarrhoea related to ipilimumab in real-world practice is substantial, but below the range observed in data from RCTs. Grade 1 colitis can usually be managed symptomatically, without recourse to stopping ipilimumab. When diarrhoea was grade 2 or above, results from glucocorticosteroids use proved disappointing; but infliximab has been shown to work well. Further research is required into the earlier use of infliximab as an effective treatment for ipilimumab-induced diarrhoea.
Symmetric Objects are Hardly Ambiguous

Given any two images taken under different illumination conditions, there always exist a physically realizable object which is consistent with both the images even if the lighting in each scene is constrained to be a known point light source at infinity. In this paper, we show that images are much less ambiguous for the class of bilaterally symmetric Lambertian objects. In fact, the set of such objects can be partitioned into equivalence classes such that it is always possible to distinguish between two objects belonging to different equivalence classes using just one image per object. The conditions required for two objects to belong to the same equivalence class are very restrictive, thereby leading to the conclusion that images of symmetric objects are hardly ambiguous. The observation leads to an illumination-invariant matching algorithm to compare images of bilaterally symmetric Lambertian objects. Experiments on real data are performed to show the implications of the theoretical result even when the symmetry and Lambertian assumptions are not strictly satisfied.
Ileal losses of nitrogen and amino acids in humans and their importance to the assessment of amino acid requirements.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Irreversible amino acid losses at the human ileum are not taken into account when tracer-derived amino acid requirements are calculated because the data available are scarce. We have investigated amino acid losses at the ileal level in humans after ingestion of a protein meal. METHODS Thirteen volunteers ingested a single meal of 15N milk or soy proteins. The appearance of 15N and 15N amino acids in the ileal effluents collected using an ileal tube was monitored for 8 hours. RESULTS In the soy group, higher losses of endogenous nitrogen, especially originating from amino acids, were observed, as well as a higher flow rate of dietary non-amino acid nitrogen. With soy protein, the digestibilities of valine, threonine, histidine, tyrosine, alanine, and proline were significantly lower than with milk. Ileal losses of leucine, valine, and isoleucine amounted to 12, 10, and 7 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1), respectively. Threonine ileal loss (9-12 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) was particularly high compared with the current amino acid requirement. CONCLUSIONS Amino acid losses at the human terminal ileum are substantial and depend on the type of dietary protein ingested. Although it remains unclear whether intact amino acids are absorbed in the colon, we suggest that ileal losses should be considered an important component of amino acid requirements.
Is the mucosal route of administration essential for probiotic function? Subcutaneous administration is associated with attenuation of murine colitis and arthritis

Background: We and others have reported the prophylactic efficacy of oral consumption of probiotic lactobacilli in the interleukin 10 knockout (IL-10 KO) model of colitis. It has not been demonstrated that the oral route is essential for probiotic efficacy. Aims: (i) To determine the effect of parenteral administration (subcutaneous) of Lactobacillus salivarius 118 on colitis of IL-10 KO mice; and (ii) to determine if observed responses are disease specific. Methods: (i) IL-10 KO mice were injected subcutaneously with L salivarius 118 or saline over 19 weeks. At sacrifice, the bowels were histologically scored. Isolated splenocytes were cultured in vitro and cytokine levels measured. (ii) In the collagen induced arthritis model, DBA/1 mice were injected subcutaneously with the probiotic or saline. At sacrifice, paw thickness was measured and joints were histologically scored. Results: (i) Colonic inflammatory scores were significantly decreased in IL-10 KO mice injected with L salivarius 118 compared with controls (p<0.05). Proinflammatory cytokine production from stimulated splenocytes was significantly lower for the probiotic group whereas stimulated transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) levels were significantly increased (p<0.05). (ii) Scoring of arthritis and paw thickness were significantly improved in the group of mice injected with L salivarius 118 compared with controls. Conclusions: (1) Subcutaneous administration of L salivarius 118 significantly attenuated colitis in the IL-10 KO model and suppressed collagen induced arthritis, suggesting that the oral route may not be essential for probiotic anti-inflammatory effects and that responses are not disease specific. (2) The probiotic effect was associated with reduced production of proinflammatory (T helper 1) cytokines and maintained production of anti-TGF-β.
Judgment and decision-making research in accounting and auditing: The role of knowledge and memory in audit judgment

Over the past decade, growing interest in the role of knowledge as a determinant of audit judgment performance has developed from three sources. First, observations that experienced auditors are paid more and assigned to what appear to be more demanding and important tasks (e.g., Gibbins, 1984) were not supported by consistent findings of experience–related performance differences (Wright, 1988; Bedard, 1989). This anomaly led to the realization that predicting and understanding the causes of experience effects requires more systematic analysis. In particular, it underscored the need to specify the knowledge necessary to complete different judgment tasks; when, how, and how well the knowledge would normally be acquired; and the cognitive process(es) through which the knowledge would be brought to bear on the decision task (Frederick and Libby, 1986; Abdolmohammadi and Wright, 1987). Second, increasing interest in less–structured audit judgment tasks (e.g., Einhorn, 1976; Kida, 1984; Libby, 1985; Biggs et al., 1988) such as analytical risk assessment, fraud detection, and going–concern judgments, focused attention on the role of the auditor's task–specific knowledge in problem recognition, hypothesis generation, and information search (cf. Libby, 1981,1983; Gibbins, 1984; Waller and Felix, 1984a). Third, while the above studies focused on general knowledge of audit phenomena, other researchers (e.g., Plumlee, 1985; Moeckel and Plumlee, 1989; Frederick, 1991) addressed the fact that memory for evidence gathered during a particular engagement has important implications for decision performance.
Gravitational collapse in an expanding background and the role of substructure - II. Excess power at small scales and its effect on collapse of structures at larger scales

We study the interplay of clumping at small scales with the collapse and relaxation of perturbations at larger scales using N-body simulations. We quantify the effect of collapsed haloes on perturbations at larger scales using the two-point correlation function, moments of counts in cells and the mass function. The purpose of the study is twofold and the primary aim is to quantify the role played by collapsed low-mass haloes in the evolution of perturbations at large scales; this is in view of the strong effect seen when the large scale perturbation is highly symmetric. Another reason for this study is to ask whether features or a cut-off in the initial power spectrum can be detected using measures of clustering at scales that are already non-linear. The final aim is to understand the effect of ignoring perturbations at scales smaller than the resolution of N-body simulations. We find that these effects are ignorable if the scale of non-linearity is larger than the average interparticle separation in simulations. Features in the initial power spectrum can be detected easily if the scale of these features is in the linear regime; detecting such features becomes difficult as the relevant scales become non-linear. We find no effect of features in initial power spectra at small scales on the evolved power spectra at large scales. We may conclude that, in general, the effect on the evolution of perturbations at large scales of clumping on small scales is very small and may be ignored in most situations.
Taking the crime out of sex work: New Zealand sex workers’ fight for decriminalisation

Introduction ~ Gillian Abel and Lisa Fitzgerald Part one: Lead up to the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act (2003): Of whalers, diggers and 'soiled doves: a history of the sex industry in New Zealand ~ Jan Jordan History of the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective ~ Catherine Healy, Calum Bennachie and Anna Reed Lobbying for decriminalisation ~ Tim Barnett, Catherine Healy, Anna Reed and Calum Bennachie The Prostitution Reform Act ~ Gillian Abel, Catherine Healy, Calum Bennachie and Anna Reed Several sides to this story: feminist views of prostitution reform ~ Alison Laurie Part two: Implementation and impact of the Prostitution Reform Act (2003): the first five years: Review of the PRA ~ Paul Fitzharris with Aline Taylor Brothel operators' and support agencies' experiences of decriminalisation ~ Elaine Mossman The (continuing) regulation of prostitution by local authorities ~ Dean Knight CSoM study methodology and methods ~ Gillian Abel, Lisa Fitzgerald and Cheryl Brunton Becoming inspectors of brothels: public health authorities' experience of implementing the PRA ~ Cheryl Brunton The media and the PRA ~ Lisa Fitzgerald and Gillian Abel Risk and risk management in sex work post PRA: a public health perspective ~ Gillian Abel and Lisa Fitzgerald Decriminalisation and stigma ~ Gillian Abel and Lisa Fitzgerald Conclusion ~ Gillian Abel and Lisa Fitzgerald.
Sneaky kid and its aftermath : ethics and intimacy in fieldwork

Part 1 Foreword Part 2 Introduction Part 3 Part One Chapter 4 Chapter 1: Adequate Schools and Inadequate Education: The Life History of a Sneaky Kid Chapter 5 Chapter 2: The Brad Saga Continues Chapter 6 Chapter 3: The Return Chapter 7 Chapter 4: Out Part 8 Part Two Chapter 9 Chapter 5: More Truth, More Consequences Chapter 10 Chapter 6: The Rebound Chapter 11 Chapter 7: A Play on Words Chapter 12 Chapter 8: Drawing Lessons Part 13 Appendix: A play, "Finding My Place: The Brad Trilogy" Part 14 References and Further Reading Part 16 Name Index Part 17 Subject Index
Probabilistic cooperation of connectionist expect modules: validation on a speaker identification task

The author presents and evaluates a modular connectionist system for speaker identification. Modularity has emerged as a powerful technique for reducing the complexity of connectionist systems and allowing prior knowledge to be incorporated into their design. Thus, for systems where the amount of training data is limited, modular systems incorporating prior knowledge are likely to generalize significantly better than a monolithic connectionist system. An architecture is developed which achieves speaker identification based on the cooperation of several connectionist expert modules. When tested on a population of 102 speakers extracted from the DARPA-TIMIT database, perfect identification was observed. In a specific comparison with a system based on multivariate autoregressive models, the modular connectionist approach was found to be significantly better in terms of both identification accuracy and speed. <<ETX>>
A 28mW 10b 80MS/s pipelined ADC in 0.13/spl mu/m CMOS

This paper describes the implementation of a fully integrated pipelined ADC implemented in a standard 0.13/spl mu/m CMOS technology. In contrast to a standard 1.5bit pipeline architecture several design changes are proposed. The resolution of 10 bit and the low power of 28 mW have been achieved by using a multi bit architecture without a dedicated front-end sample and hold. The multi bit architecture leads to the low opamp count of three for the complete ADC compared to eight of a standard 1.5 bit architecture. The power consumption of this work is less than half compared to previous as stated in A. Abo and P. Gray (1999), L. Singer et al. (2000), B. M. Min et al. (2003) and S. M. Yoo et al. (2003). The proposed architecture works up to input signal frequencies of 150 MHz. Additionally there is an interstage scaling applied to all stages. This scaling is very effectively implemented by using the same unary cell for all stages. The cell is used multiple at higher stages.
Two-Flexible-Fingers Gripper Force Feedback Control System for Its Application as End Effector on a 6-DOF Manipulator

Flexible manipulators have many advantages over rigid robots when used in grasping tasks, owing to the characteristic flexibility of the materials used in their construction, which allow them to absorb energy during impact and make them controllable in order to limit the force applied during contact. In this paper, a two-flexible-finger gripper with a simple sensory feedback system is proposed. A generalized proportional-integral controller is implemented to acquire high control accuracy, while eliminating the need for derivatives of system output. The performance of this force feedback control system is investigated when mounted on a 6-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) manipulator and grasping different objects. The experimental results indicate that the system proposed is able to manipulate different types of objects (both rigid and flexible) in an industrial environment by perfectly controlling the applied contact torque.
Risks of testosterone replacement therapy in ageing men

Testosterone has been available to practitioners for several decades. However, testosterone prescriptions have increased in recent years partly because of the introduction of newer delivery systems that are topical and have good bioavailability. In the US alone, ∼ 2 million prescriptions for testosterone were written in 2002. This represents a 30% increase from 2001 and a 170% increase from 1999. There has also been a 500% increase in prescription sales in the past 10 years. The rise in prescriptions may be in part due to the increasing recognition of hypogonadism in ageing males or andropause. Treatment relating to hypogonadism has relieved symptoms and improved the quality of life of many individuals. Epidemiological studies point toward an association with increased morbidity and mortality, with low testosterone states in ageing males. For example, there is a higher prevalence of depression, coronary heart disease, osteoporosis, fracture rates, frailty and even dementia with low testosterone states. Recently, there have been some concerns raised regarding the long-term safety of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) from the Institute of Medicine. Current evidence suggests no causal relationship between prostate cancer and physiological dosing of testosterone, especially with careful selection and monitoring of patients. Cardiovascular risks have, overall, been neutral, although suggestions have been made that there are positive vasodilatory properties with testosterone. Mild eythrocytosis can be a common side effect of TRT, but thromboembolic events have rarely been reported in the literature. This paper addresses the evidence to date regarding the safety aspects of TRT. The medical-legal implications of TRT for men at this point in time is also discussed.
Continuities and disruptions in Islamic education: Biographies of shogirds from Tajikistan

The circumstances in which Islam has been able to survive the atheistic policies of the Soviet Union have been much debated throughout the last two decades. The study of authorities and institutions has highlighted numerous well-known successful religious authorities and groups that maintained religious networks throughout that period. However, many religious individuals have found navigating this period more problematic. What about those students who started their studies, but then succumbed to the political waves of suppression and conflict, and never satisfactorily completed their education? What have they become and how did they use the knowledge they did acquire? I have investigated these questions by means of biographies of ordinary people who took Islamic lessons at some point in their lives. Those presented in this article reveal the three central relations that helped religious education to adapt to the various political changes: the dual teacher-student ( ustod-shogird ) relationship, the social group (village community) and the network of scholars. The educational system of rotating students among religious scholars continues to this day to be the main available avenue for religious education for thousands of young men who continue to navigate their educational career through different political epochs.
Structure and function of embryonic growth plate in the absence of functioning skeletal muscle

Normal growth and development of the skeleton require the presence of viable, actively contracting skeletal muscle throughout the fetal period. A chick embryo model of midgestation chemical paralysis and secondary muscle atrophy was used to test the hypothesis that functioning muscle stimulates the growth of long bones by influencing the proliferation, differentiation, and hypertrophy of chondrocytes in cartilage of the epiphysis and growth plate. Paralysis did not alter the overall developmental stage of the long bone or the organization of the growth plate. Compared with controls, however, uptake of bromodeoxyuridine in the paralyzed chick was reduced by 27‐55% in the chondroepiphysis and uppermost zone of the tibial growth plate, indicating reduced proliferation of chondrocytes. A specific reduction in the size of the proliferative zone and a reduced number of proliferating cells were also observed. By contrast, in the second, post‐proliferative zone of the growth plate, the height of the zone was unchanged and its area was only slightly reduced compared with controls. Finally, median hypertrophic cell profile area, a measure of cell size, was not significantly affected by paralysis, although frequency analysis revealed modest numerical reductions in the population of the largest hypertrophic chondrocytes in the paralyzed group. These data suggest that the role of functioning fetal muscle in maintaining proper skeletal growth may be mediated primarily through specific stimulation of the recruitment or proliferation of immature chondrocytes, or of both.