Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Access to Basic Amenities Influence Health Status? Evidence from a Household Survey in Three States of India

Social determinants of health (SDH) are extremely important for a developing country like India that is battling a double burden of disease with exceptionally low levels of resources allocated for the health sector. This article adds to the evidence on the linkages between health status and SDH, with special focus on basic amenities, such as housing, water and sanitation. Based on data collected through a large sample household survey covering eight districts in three states of India, the study reports the status of basic amenities, disease burden and explores a link between the two. The study finds that access to basic amenities does affect the likelihood of a communicable disease in a statistically significant manner. The policy implication is that any successful communicable disease prevention agenda must take into account cross-cutting interventions involving multiple sectors, such as housing, water and sanitation. A sustained focus on these can rein in a lot of avoidable morbidity and mortality. In addition, it also has the potential for direct and indirect cost savings for the individual as well as the state.
Saturation current improvement in 1200 V normally-off SiC VJFETs using non-uniform channel doping

Excellent performance and record inverter efficiency have been reported for 1200 V normally-off silicon carbide (SiC) vertical channel junction field effect transistors (VJFETs) with uniform channel doping. Optimally designed normally-off SiC VJFETs typically have a threshold voltage of approximately +1 V and pentode-like output characteristics with clear saturation. Some applications require significant surge or pulsed current capability thus it is desirable to increase saturation current density while maintaining normally-off operation. This paper reports the use of non-uniform channel doping in a normally-off SiC power VJFET to achieve a 28–48 % increase in saturation current and 13 % decrease in on-resistance compared to the uniform channel case. This results in a specific on-resistance of 2.5 mfl·cm2 and saturation current density of 1275 A·cm-2 at 25 °C. Forward drain leakage at Vgs= 0 V and Vds= 1100 V (measurement setup limit) is very similar for both channel doping profiles and remains less than 55 uA (1.75 mA·cm−2) at 150 °C for the non-uniform channel SiC VJFET. The total switching energy for non-uniform channel devices was 194 (µ compared to 190 (jJ for uniform channel devices.
[Effects of hypercholesterolemia on contrast media-induced nephrotoxicity in rats].

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of short- and long-term dietary hypercholesterolemia on contrast media-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. METHODS The male Wistar rats were fed either a normal rodent diet or a high cholesterol diet. At the end of 2 and 8 weeks, 8 rats from each group received a tail vein injection of either Iohexol injection (groups NC and HC) or vehicle (groups N and H). Blood lipid, renal function, renal hemodynamics, renal and urinary prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and thromboxane B2 (TXB2), renal nitric oxide and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined at Day 1 following the administration of contrast media. RESULTS The dosing of contrast media induced obviously increased serum creatinine compared with normal rats ((185 ± 28) vs (53 ± 3) µmol/L, P < 0.01) and severe renal tubular necrosis in rats with a high cholesterol diet for 8 weeks but did not in normal-diet rats or rats with a high cholesterol diet for 2 weeks. The renal and urinary levels of PGE2 and TXB2 increased significantly in rats of groups H and HC at the end of 8 weeks. The renal production of nitric oxide decreased while the concentration of MDA increased markedly in groups HC and H at the end of 8 weeks. CONCLUSION Long-term hypercholesterolemia appears to be a risk factor of contrast media-induced acute renal failure. And it may be associated with the disorder of intrarenal prostaglandins and the abnormality of renal nitric oxide system as induced by lipid peroxidation.
Validity and reliability of self-reported retrospectively collected data on sick leave related to musculoskeletal diseases.

OBJECTIVES The aim was to study the reliability and validity of retrospective data, collected by self-report, on sick leave related to musculoskeletal diseases. METHODS The study groups consisted of 66 and 306 subjects, for the reliability and validity studies, respectively. They were all part of a wider study of risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders, the REBUS study, conducted in Stockholm in 1993. Reliability was tested using a test-retest design regarding self-reported sick leave related to musculoskeletal diseases in 1970-1993. The validity study comprised the period 1990-1994. Self-reported and registered sick-leave data related to musculoskeletal diseases were collected and analyzed regarding concordance. Data about current musculoskeletal disorders and different work-related conditions were collected and analyzed regarding possible effect- and exposure-dependent misclassification. RESULTS The test-retest reliability study showed the percentage of agreement to be between 0.88 and 0.97, and the kappa values were between 0.73 and 0.93. The validity study of the concordance between the self-reported and registered data showed high agreement and specificity, but the sensitivity was sometimes lower. All the kappa values exceeded 0.50. No effect- or exposure-dependent misclassification was found. CONCLUSIONS The validity of retrospectively collected self-reported sick-leave data was sufficient for use as a measure of musculoskeletal morbidity in the analyses of associations with work-related conditions. Because of the relatively low sensitivity, such data will underestimate the prevalence of sick leave and should not be used for surveys of morbidity.
Benefits of prior acoustic segmentation for automatic speaker segmentation

The paper investigates the interest of segmentation in acoustic macro classes (like gender or bandwidth) as front-end processing for the segmentation/diarization task. The impact of this prior acoustic segmentation is evaluated in terms of speaker diarization performance in the particular context of NIST RT'03 evaluation (done on the HUB4 broadcast news corpora). It is rarely discussed in the literature, but our work shows that the application of prior acoustic segmentation, in a similar way to the automatic speech recognition task, may be very useful to the speaker segmentation task. Experiments were conducted using two different kinds of speaker segmentation systems developed individually by the LIA and CLIPS laboratories in the framework of the ELISA consortium. For both systems, improvement was observed when combined with prior acoustic segmentation. However, a larger impact, in terms of performance, is observed on the LIA system based on an ascending/HMM approach compared to the CLIPS system based on speaker turn detection.
Constitutive activated STAT3 is an essential regulator and therapeutic target in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal carcinoma is among the most common cancers worldwide and a leading cause of cancer death [1]. Large numbers of studies indicated that chronic inflammation is closely associated with its development [21, 25]. Furthermore, the JAK/STAT pathway, which plays a critical role in inflammation and immunity, has been implied in a number of malignancies [11]. It has been shown that targeting the pathway affected the growth, apoptosis, and metastasis of cultured esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells [26]. We found in the present study that STAT3 is constitutively activated in a subgroup of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines and primary tumors. Altered expressions of STAT3 target genes were found in these tumors by using RNAseq and qPCR analysis. Cytokines that activate STAT3 affected the expression of STAT3 target genes and promoted the growth of the ESCC cells, which could be blocked by STAT3 inhibitor and specific siRNA. Inhibition of STAT3 also suppressed the growth and colony formation, and induced apoptosis in the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells containing constitutively activated STAT3. Furthermore, the STAT3 inhibitor effectively blocked the growth of patient-derived tumor xenografts that harbored phosphorylated STAT3, but acted less effective on the xenografts derived from primary tumors that contained low levels of activated STAT3. These results indicated that activated STAT3 plays a critical role in the survival and growth of a subgroup of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and may serve as a target for precision therapeutic intervention.
The Patient Portal of the Personal Cross-Enterprise Electronic Health Record (PEHR) in the Rhine-Neckar-Region

Over the last years we stepwise implemented our vision of a personal cross-enterprise electronic health record (PEHR) in the Rhine-Neckar-Region in Germany. The patient portal is one part of the PEHR architecture with IHE connectivity. The patient is enabled to access and manage his medical record by use of the patient portal. Moreover, he can give his consent regarding which healthcare providers are allowed to send data into or read data from his medical record. Forthcoming studies will give evidence for improvements and further requirements to develop.
Plasma lipids in two indigenous Arctic populations with low risk for cardiovascular diseases

The distribution of plasma lipids and their sociodemographic and metabolic correlates were investigated in two Arctic indigenous populations based on two health surveys conducted during 1990–1991 among adults in eight Inuit communities in the Keewatin region of the Northwest Territories, Canada (n = 387), and in four communities in the Chukotka region in the Russian Far North (n = 362). For comparison, data from the Canadian Heart Health Survey were used. The age‐sex‐specific mean total and low‐density lipoprotein (LDL)‐cholesterol levels among Inuit in northern Canada either do not differ significantly from the Canadian national population, or, in the case of younger Inuit women, are higher than in Canadians. This represents a temporal change from the results of earlier studies. Chukotka Natives tend to have the lowest total cholesterol (TC) and LDL values of the three populations. The two indigenous populations still enjoy considerably lower levels of triglycerides (TG) and higher levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol than observed in Canada, with the exception of younger Inuit women whose mean TG levels are not significantly different from those of Canadians. The proportion of individuals at risk for ischemic heart disease because of high TG (≥2.3 mmol/L) is 20% among Canadian men but only 2% and 0% among the Arctic Natives, and 11% among Canadian women compared to 6% and 3% in the Keewatin and Chukotka regions, respectively. Such sociodemographic factors as education and marital status do not have a substantial and consistent effect on plasma lipid levels. Women with higher education have lower HDL (in Keewatin) and higher TG (in Chukotka), significant only at the 0.10 level. Among Chukotka men those who reported a lineage without nonindigenous admixture have a higher HDL level (P = 0.048). No difference between the admixed and nonadmixed can be found in the Keewatin. Smoking status has no significant effect on any of the lipid fractions in either population. The two Arctic populations demonstrate an association of some plasma lipids with blood pressure and indices of obesity and central fat patterning commonly observed in other populations. However, plasma glucose does not increase in tandem with increasing levels of lipids, contrary to that observed in the general Canadian population. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for esophageal/gastroesophageal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Esophageal/gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma is increasingly treated with trimodality therapy. We present our experience using carboplatin/paclitaxel and radiotherapy followed by surgery. METHODS Consecutive patients with distal esophageal/GEJ adenocarcinoma (≥T2 or N+) treated from July 2010 to October 2011 were identified. Treatment included neoadjuvant carboplatin/paclitaxel with concurrent radiotherapy (CRT) to 50.4 Gy using an IMRT technique and then Ivor Lewis esophagogastrectomy (ILE). PET/CT was performed prior to and after CRT. Patient/treatment characteristics and tumor response were analyzed. RESULTS Over this timeframe, 16 patients completed trimodality therapy. All were male, median age of 60 years (45-72 years). All tumors were grade 2-3 with mean tumor length of 4.4 cm (1-9 cm). A median of 6 cycles (5-9 cycles) neoadjuvant carboplatin/paclitaxel were administered. Average time from diagnosis to CRT completion was 76 days (44-141 days) and 60 days (35-92 days) from CRT end to surgery. Neoadjuvant CRT was well tolerated with mean weight loss of 3.9 kg. All pts had R0 resections. No anastomotic leaks or perioperative mortality occurred. Mean hospital stay was 13 days (8-28 days). Pathologic complete response (pCR) was seen in 38% of patients, microscopic residual disease (isolated tumor cells or <2 mm) in 31%, and macroscopic residual disease remained in 31%. Mean SUV reduction was 41% (0-100%). Of 11 patients with ≥35% SUV decrease, 45% had pCR and 27% had microscopic residual disease. Three patients had signet ring features. Of these, 2 had no SUV reduction and all had gross residual disease, including the only patient with positive nodal disease. CONCLUSIONS Trimodality therapy utilizing concurrent carboplatin/paclitaxel and radiotherapy to 50.4 Gy followed by surgery was well tolerated and resulted in significant pathologic complete response or minimal residual disease. Further investigation of predictive factors for response is needed to best tailor therapy in the management of esophageal/GEJ adenocarcinoma.
Understanding Rape and Sexual Assault

During the past 20 years, researchers have documented the widespread problem of rape in American society. Approximately one in four women are raped in their adult lifetime, which causes severe psychological distress and long-term physical health problems. The impact of sexual assault extends far beyond rape survivors as their family, friends, and significant others are also negatively affected. Moreover, those who help rape victims, such as rape victim advocates, therapists, as well as sexual assault researchers, can experience vicarious trauma. Future research and advocacy should focus on improving the community response to rape and the prevention of sexual assault.
Risk factors for burns in children: crowding, poverty, and poor maternal education

Objective: To characterize the presentation of burns in children and risk factors associated with their occurrence in a developing country as a basis for future prevention programs. Design: Case-control study. Setting: Burn unit of the National Institute of Child Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño) in Lima, Peru. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to all consenting guardians of children admitted to the burns (cases) and general medicine (controls) units during a period of 14 months. Guardians of patients were questioned regarding etiology of the injury, demographic and socioeconomic data. Results: 740 cases and controls were enrolled. Altogether 77.5% of the cases burns occurred in the patient's home, with 67.8% in the kitchen; 74% were due to scalding. Most involved children younger than 5 years. Lack of water supply (odds ratio (OR) 5.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1 to 12.3), low income (OR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0 to 3.9), and crowding (OR 2.5, 95%CI 1.7 to 3.6) were associated with an increased risk. The presence of a living room (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.8) and better maternal education (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.9) were protective factors. Conclusions: To prevent burns interventions should be directed to low socioeconomic status groups; these interventions should be designed accordingly to local risk factors.
Sequences within the poliovirus internal ribosome entry segment control viral RNA synthesis.

The 5′ untranslated region of poliovirus RNA has been reported to possess two functional elements: (i) the 5′ proximal 88 nucleotides form a cloverleaf structure implicated in positive‐strand RNA synthesis during viral replication, and (ii) nucleotides 134 to at least 556 function as a highly structured internal ribosome entry segment (IRES) during cap‐independent, internal initiation of translation. We show here that the IRES itself is bifunctional and contains sequences necessary for viral RNA synthesis per se. For this purpose, we used a dicistronic poliovirus RNA in which the translation of the viral non‐structural (replication) proteins is uncoupled from the poliovirus IRES. In this system, RNA synthesis is readily detectable in transfected cells, even when the poliovirus IRES is inactivated by point mutation. However, deletion of the major part of the poliovirus IRES renders viral‐specific RNA synthesis undetectable. Using the same system, we show that a three nucleotide deletion at position 500 in the 5′ untranslated region drastically affects both translation efficiency and RNA synthesis. Furthermore, disruption of the secondary structure of the IRES around nucleotide 343 has minimal effects on IRES function, but dramatically reduces viral RNA replication. Taken together, these results provide direct evidence that sequences essential for viral RNA synthesis are located in the 3′ region of the poliovirus IRES.
A comparative study-efficacy and safety of combined spinal epidural anesthesia versus spinal anesthesia in high-risk geriatric patients for surgeries around the hip joint

Context: Combined spinal epidural anesthesia (CSEA) has a significant advantage by enabling the use of low dose intrathecal local anesthetic, with knowledge that the epidural catheter may be used to extend the block as necessary. CSEA is useful in high-risk geriatric patients by providing greater hemodynamic stability. Aim: This study is designed to compare the clinical effects of CSEA versus spinal anesthesia in high-risk geriatric patients undergoing surgeries around the hip joint. Materials and Methods: Sixty patients aged >65 years, American Society of Anaesthesiology III and IV were randomly allocated into two equal groups. Group A (n = 30) received CSEA with 1 ml (5 mg) of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine with 25 μg fentanyl through spinal route, and the expected incompleteness of spinal block was managed with small incremental dose of 0.5% isobaric bupivacaine through epidural catheter, 1-1.5 ml for every unblocked segment to achieve T10 sensory level. Group B (n = 30) received spinal anesthesia with 2.5 ml (12.5 mg) of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine and 25 μg fentanyl. Result: Both the groups showed rapid onset, excellent analgesia and good quality motor block. Group A showed a significantly less incidence of hypotension (P < 0.01) along with the provision of prolonging analgesia as compared to Group B. Conclusion: CSEA is a safe, effective, reliable technique with better hemodynamic stability along with the provision of prolonging analgesia compared to spinal anesthesia for high-risk geriatric patients undergoing surgeries around the hip joint.
Investigating the major causes of scope creep in real estate construction projects in Ghana

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causes of scope creep on project completion in the real estate development industry in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Both simple random sampling and convenience sampling techniques were used in selecting the respondents for the study. The respondents were experts working in the real estate development industry in Ghana. Findings Results from the study showed that the most critical factors that cause scope creep in the Ghanaian real estate development industry are client changes, unforeseen risks and unclear scope. Mitigating measures for addressing these factors were proposed. Research limitations/implications This paper is limited to causes of scope creep in the real estate development industry in Ghana based on data collected from only real estate development firms in Accra. Due to geographic constraints, the researcher was unable to sample real estate development companies across the entire country. The finding of this study may not be generalised since causes of scope creep can be unique to individual country contexts. Practical implication This paper has documented the critical causes of scope creep and its major impacts on project completion in the real estate development industry in Ghana. The results will help project managers in the industry to appreciate the causes of scope creep and its effect on project completion as well as increase the quality of economics on real estate management and reduce the costs and risks of housing of delivery in the country. Originality/value The paper examined the causes and mitigation of project scope creep in the Ghanaian context.
Impact of the Combined Integration of Wind Generation and Small Hydropower Plants on the System Reliability

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the integration of wind generation, together with small hydropower plants (SHPs), in the reliability of the power system. In order to preserve the characteristics of the time series of the variable energy sources (wind and river inflows) and the variable load, the analyses are based on the sequential Monte Carlo simulation. By calculating the reliability indices, we intend to evaluate how the uncertainty of wind energy production impacts on system planning, especially with the reduction of capacity of reservoirs associated with SHPs. We also intend to evaluate the existence of complementarity between wind and hydro-generation, or even between different wind generation and/or the load. Finally, we intend to analyze how the correlation between these energy sources can benefit the supply of the future foreseen demand.
Association between Computed Tissue Density Asymmetry in Bilateral Mammograms and Near‐term Breast Cancer Risk

This study investigated association between bilateral mammographic density asymmetry and near‐term breast cancer risk. A data base of digital mammograms acquired from 690 women was retrospectively collected. All images were originally interpreted as negative by radiologists. During the next subsequent screening examinations (between 12 and 36 months later), 230 women were diagnosed positive for cancer, 230 were recalled for additional diagnostic workups and proved to be benign, and 230 remained negative (not recalled). We applied a computerized scheme to compute the differences of five image features between the left and right mammograms, and trained an artificial neural network (ANN) to compute a bilateral mammographic density asymmetry score. Odds ratios (ORs) were used to assess associations between the ANN‐generated scores and risk of women having detectable cancers during the next screening examinations. A logistic regression method was applied to test for trend as a function of the increase in ANN‐generated scores. The results were also compared with ORs computed using other existing cancer risk factors. The ORs showed an increasing risk trend with the increase in ANN‐generated scores (from 1.00 to 9.07 between positive and negative case groups). The regression analysis also showed a significant increase trend in slope (p < 0.05). No significant increase trends of the ORs were found when using woman's age, subjectively rated breast density, or family history of breast cancer. This study demonstrated that the computed bilateral mammographic density asymmetry had potential to be used as a new risk factor to improve discriminatory power in predicting near‐term risk of women developing breast cancer.