Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using zero-inflated models to explain chronic illness, pain, and complementary and alternative medicine use.

OBJECTIVE To extend knowledge of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by understanding how poor health influences both trying CAM and number of CAM types used. METHODS Using the 2002 National Health Interview Survey's Supplemental Section, zero-inflated models were employed to examine CAM use across 5 domains. RESULTS Results indicate that level of pain is the only consistent predictor of both the likelihood of trying CAM and how many types of CAM are used. Pain increased the odds ratio and number of CAM types used across all domains. Findings, however, were mixed for health status and chronic conditions. Only prayer was associated with higher odds ratio (OR=1.705, P<.001) and number of CAM types used for chronic illnesses (OR=1.024, P<.01). CONCLUSIONS Expanding to zero-inflated models demonstrates variation in CAM use behaviors. Pain is the only consistent predictor of both trying CAM and the number of CAM types used. Chronic illness is only consistently influential for prayer.
Expression of individual mutations and haplotypes in the galactocerebrosidase gene identified by the newborn screening program in New York State and in confirmed cases of Krabbe's disease

Newborn screening (NBS) for Krabbe's disease (KD) has been instituted in several states, and New York State has had the longest experience. After an initial screening of dried blood spots, samples from individuals with galactocerebrosidase (GALC) values below a given cutoff level were subjected to additional testing, including sequencing of the GALC gene. This resulted in the identification of mutations that had previously been found in confirmed KD patients and of variants that had never previously been reported. Some individuals had variants considered to be polymorphisms, alone or on the same allele as another mutation. To help with counseling of families on the risk for a newborn to develop KD, expression studies were conducted with these variants identified by NBS. GALC activity was measured in COS1 cells for 140 constructs and compared with mutations that had previously been seen in confirmed cases of KD. When a polymorphism was present on the same allele as the variant, expressed activity was measured with and without the polymorphism. In some cases the presence of the polymorphism greatly lowered the measured GALC activity, possibly making it disease causing. Although it is not possible to predict conclusively whether a variant is severe and will result in infantile KD if two such variants are present or whether a variant is mild and will result in late‐onset disease, some variants clearly are not disease causing. This is the largest expression study of GALC variants/mutations found in NBS and confirmed KD cases. This work will be helpful for counseling families of screen‐positive newborns found to have low GALC activity. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The speculative method of transient state analysis with a variable integration step

In the article the speculative method of the analysis of transient states appearing in systems described by a large system of linear or nonlinear ordinary differential equations is presented. This method is based on decomposition of the total time of the transient analysis on a given number of subintervals, in which computations are conducted in parallel with the use of one of wellknown numerical methods of solving ordinary differential equations system. In previous papers (2001) the application of the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method with a fixed integration step was presented. In this paper the application of the same method, but with a variable integration step, is shown. The change of the method allows one to reduce the time of computations, but requires a new method of determination of initial conditions in particular subintervals and a new method of division of the total time of transient state analysis to be worked out. As an example of application, the analysis of dynamics of an asynchronous slip-ring motor is presented.
Antinociception by Epidural and Systemic &agr;2-Adrenoceptor Agonists and Their Binding Affinity in Rat Spinal Cord and Brain

This study was designed primarily to relate the antinociceptive and hemodynamic effects of clinically available &agr;2-adrenoceptor agonists to their binding affinity for &agr;2-adrenoceptors in the spinal cord and brain. In rats with chronic indwelling epidural catheters, the percentage maximal possible effect on tail-flick latency was measured after epidural or IM dexmedetomidine (DXM), clonidine (CL), or tizanidine (TZ) administration. To examine their binding affinities, isolated spinal cord and brain membranes with an &agr;2 agonist were incubated with 3H-UK14304, a selective &agr;2 agonist, and the radioactivity in the reaction mixtures was measured by liquid scintillation spectrometry. Epidural DXM (0.5–10 &mgr;g), CL (10–500 &mgr;g), and TZ (5–500 &mgr;g) all produced dose-dependent antinociceptive effects; the rank order of potencies was DXM > CL > TZ, the same as for their systemic administration. The antinociceptive effects were blocked by epidural yohimbine. The receptor binding affinities expressed as the concentration that inhibits 50% for spinal cord and brain, respectively, were 0.25 and 1.3 nM (DXM), 10.8 and 12.5 nM (CL), and 48.2 and 96.8 nM (TZ). The changes in arterial blood pressure and heart rate evoked by antinociceptive doses did not correlate with the rank order of antinociceptive potencies. The relative antinociceptive potencies of epidural &agr;2 agonists may depend on their binding affinities to &agr;2-adrenoceptors in the spinal cord, but their cardiovascular effects may result from actions both inside and outside the central nervous system. Implications Spinal antinociception caused by the epidural administration of &agr;2 agonists is well correlated with their binding affinity to spinal &agr;2-adrenoceptors.
Prediction of RFID Performance in Supply Chains

This paper discusses the challenges to wide-spread radio frequency identification (RFID) adoption in supply chains using the technology s-curve and the concept of buying hierarchy. A survey on RFID uptake in New Zealand is used in the discussion. We found that early adopters are faced with challenges that can be overcome by considering them early in the development stage of RFID. We look at how this set of challenges can be aligned to the development stage and proposed four issues that require early attention in order for a mass adoption to take place.
Aflatoxin M1 effects on Xenopus laevis development.

BACKGROUND The principal Aflatoxin B(1) (AFB(1)) hydroxylated metabolite excreted in milk is Aflatoxin M(1) (AFM(1)) classified in group 2B by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Human exposure to AFM(1) is due to the consumption of contaminated dairy products and partly to endogenous production through AFB(1) liver metabolism. METHODS Since no data are available on AFM(1) embryotoxicity, its lethal and teratogenic potential was investigated using the Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus (FETAX). Stage-8 blastulae were exposed to AFM(1) at 1, 4, 16, 64, and 256 microg/L concentrations until stage 47, free-swimming larva. RESULTS A slight increase of mortality and malformed larva percents was found in AFM(1)-exposed groups but these differences were not statistically significant in comparison with the controls. CONCLUSIONS Therefore, AFM(1) is a non-embryotoxic compound when evaluated with a FETAX model at concentrations under the conditions tested. However, AFM(1) merits further studies using mammals as experimental models to identify a possible risk during human pregnancy.
Very late stent thrombosis with bare-metal stent: identifying severe stent malapposition and underexpansion by intravascular ultrasound

ABSTRACT A 60-year-old man with a history of implantation of two bare-metal stents 2 years prior presented to the emergency department with new-onset chest pain. He has been regularly taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta blockers and aspirin. Aspirin was suspended for 10 days prior to the current hospitalization in order to perform surgery to remove a kidney tumor. He underwent coronary angiography, which revealed a right coronary artery with a distal intraluminal defect within the stents, suggesting thrombus. Intravascular ultrasound demonstrated a severe malapposition and underexpansion throughout the entire length of the stents containing thrombus. In this case, the mechanisms of very late stent thrombosis after bare-metal stent most likely were a combination of mechanical factors (severe stent undersizing during the index procedure) and pharmacological factors (aspirin discontinuation).
Ferroelectric‐Driven Performance Enhancement of Graphene Field‐Effect Transistors Based on Vertical Tunneling Heterostructures

A vertical graphene heterostructure field-effect transistor (VGHFET) using an ultrathin ferroelectric film as a tunnel barrier is developed. The heterostructure is capable of providing new degrees of tunability and functionality via coupling between the ferroelectricity and the tunnel current of the VGHFET, which results in a high-performance device. The results pave the way for developing novel atomic-scale 2D heterostructures and devices.
Evolving technology for thermal therapy of cancer

This paper is intended as a succinct review of technology used for clinical hyperthermia therapy for cancer, as culled from a presentation at the special workshop on Thermal Medicine, Heat Shock Proteins, and Cancer at the Society for Thermal Medicine conference in Spring 2005. Following a brief overview of thermal therapy treatment options and available mechanisms for heating tissue, the paper focuses on the evolution of equipment from basic single element heating devices of the early 1980s to adjustable multi-element heating devices currently in use or in final stages of development. Representative devices from the past, present and near future are cited for further investigation by the interested reader. The paper concludes with a summary of general trends in the evolution of clinical hyperthermia techniques and a statement of current challenges remaining for the field.
VIŠEDIMENZIONALNI PRISTUP U ISTRAŽIVANJU RELIGIOZNOSTI: SMJERNICE ZA ISTRAŽIVANJA U HRVATSKOJ

U istraživanjucrkvenogtipa religioznostivrlo su ranozapočele rasprave o samoj naravi religije, religijskog pripadanja i religioznosti jesu li to zasebne, jedinstvene ili kompleksne, višedimenzionalne pojave s različitim i, moguće, nepovezanim elementima. Dimenzionalni pristup sve se više razvijao, kako su istraživači prepoznavali raznolike oblike religioznosti. Danas se više i ne propituje jednodimenzionaianprema višedimenzionalnom pristupu, već radije uvjeti pod kojima je određeni analitički pristup prikladan. U radu je prikazan razvoj višedimenzionalnih istraživanja religioznosti u SAD-u, s obzirom na to da su se na osnovi njihovih iskustava počela razvijati slična istraživanja u Europi. Analiza najznačajnijih radova ukazala je na neketeorijske i metodologijskeproblemekoji mogu biti korisne smjernice u budućim istraživanjimacrkvenogtipa religioznosti u Hrvatskoj.
Remedial Strategies of T-NPC Three-Level Asymmetric Six-Phase PMSM Drives Based on SVM-DTC

In this paper, novel remedial direct torque control (DTC) schemes are proposed for open-circuit faults in T-type neutral-point-clamping (T-NPC) three-level asymmetric six-phase permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. First, a simplified space vector modulation (SVM) is designed and applied for DTC-controlled asymmetric six-phase drive, in such a way that both good current harmonic performance and fast dynamic response are available. Based on the SVM-DTC scheme, a remedial strategy is proposed for the open-circuit faults in phase windings. The key is to derive the relationship between the stator fluxes and the stator voltages of all phases under faulty condition. Then, a derived perturbation term is compensated for normal voltage references, and the fault-tolerant scheme is, thus, implemented without changing control structure of normal condition. The remedial DTC schemes are also studied and proposed for open-switch faults in T-NPC six-phase drives. The modulation methods are redesigned for the faults in half-bridge switches and NPC switches. The experiments are carried out on a laboratory prototype to verify the validity and performance of the proposed fault-tolerant control schemes.
Towards Classifying Human Phonemes without Encodings via Spatiotemporal Liquid State Machines: Extended Abstract

Classifying human production of phonemes without additional encoding is accomplished at the level of about 77% using a version of reservoir computing. So far this has been accomplished with: (1) artificial data (2) artificial noise (designed to mimic natural noise) (3) natural human data with artificial noise (4) natural human data with its natural noise and variance albeit for certain phonemes. This mechanism, unlike most other methods is done without any encoding of the signal, and without changing time into space, but instead uses the Liquid State Machine paradigm which is an abstraction of natural cortical arrangements. The data is entered as an analogue signal without any modifications. This means that the methodology is close to "natural" biological mechanisms.
Migraine and Stress: A Daily Examination of Temporal Relationships in Women Migraineurs

This study examined daily temporal relationships between stress, cognitive appraisal, coping, and migraine in a group of young women migraineurs sampled from a general population. Participants (N=20) meeting International Headache Society 1 criteria for migraine with or migraine without aura provided headache activity, perceived stress, cognitive appraisal, and coping strategy data across 2 months of data collection. A time‐series analytic approach was used to cross‐correlate daily stress, appraisal, and coping data with daily headache data controlling for factors that can inflate correlations in data collected across time. Analyses revealed that between 50% and 70% of subjects showed significant, substantial, and meaningful temporal correlations between their daily stress and their daily migraine activity. Furthermore, these data support the hypothesis that stress and migraine are reciprocally related (ie, cyclically influencing each other across time). In addition, despite some measurement concerns, our data suggest that cognitive appraisal and coping are also related to migraine activity in a reciprocal fashion.
Bullying as a predictor of offending, violence and later life outcomes.

AIM The main aim of this paper is to investigate to what extent self-reported bullying at age 14 predicts later offending, violence and other life outcomes. METHOD In the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, 411 South London males were followed up from age 8-10 to age 48-50, using repeated face-to-face interviews and searches of criminal records. RESULTS Bullying at age 14 predicted violent convictions between ages 15 and 20, self-reported violence at age 15-18, low job status at age 18, drug use at age 27-32, and an unsuccessful life at age 48. These results held up after controlling for explanatory and behavioural childhood risk factors at age 8-10. CONCLUSIONS Bullying might increase the likelihood of these later outcomes. Interventions that decrease bullying would most likely be followed by decreases in violent offending, drug use, and unsuccessful lives.
Pollicization of the index finger in Fanconi anaemia: appearances and functionality 40 years after the intervention

Fanconi anaemia (FA) is an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome resulting from disruption of a polygenic DNA damage response pathway with variable congenital and developmental abnormalities. Radial ray and thumb abnormalities are classical diagnostic features. These can vary in their clinical severity, but often have significant impact on development and hand usage in later life. Absence or severe hypoplasia of the thumbs can be surgically managed by pollicization with ante-position of the index finger. Very long term outcome and performance in adult life is not well documented. Here we illustrate functionality and appearances of the hands of a 47-year-old woman diagnosed with FA at the age of 3 years because of right thumb absence, severe hypoplasia of the left thumb and thrombocytopenia. Surgery on both hands was carried out shortly after the diagnosis. Clinical documentation from the 1960s and 1970s is unavailable. After completing school she worked in a responsible office-based position. She married, and after several years living abroad, returned to our region and is now followed up in our FA service. She has mild thrombocytopenia with a platelet count of 117 9 10/l, but otherwise normal peripheral blood cell counts with a moderately hypoplastic bone marrow. There is no evidence of mosaicism with persistent FA characteristic G2 arrest spontaneously and with low dose mitomycin C (MMC). At the age of 47 years her hands appear as illustrated. Frequent and purposeful use of the pollicized index finger generated a thenar-like bulk between the opposed index finger and the second finger. Magnetic resonance imaging illustrates the detailed anatomy. Coronal T1 images (A & B) demonstrate normal position of digits 3, 4 and 5 (A – solid arrows) with transposition of the 2nd metacarpal (A – dashed arrow) to create a pseudo 1st metacarpal. The pseudo 1st proximal phalanx (B – dashed arrow) is seen adjacent to a tissue mass placed at the site of the original location of the 2nd metacarpo-phalangeal joint (B – solid arrow). A whole forearm maximum intensity projection from fatsaturated T1 weighted images (C) clearly demonstrates the relationship between the pseudo 1st finger position (dashed arrow), and 3rd, 4th and 5th fingers (solid arrows) with interposed fat (open arrow). Her ante-positioned index fingers had excellent functionality. An illustration of her handwriting is shown in the lower panel (A – insert). To our knowledge this is the longest follow-up ever documented of a pollicization of an index finger in FA, with a very satisfactory long-term outcome.
A Paradigm of Fibroblast Activation and Dermal Wound Contraction to Guide the Development of Therapies for Chronic Wounds and Pathologic Scars.

SIGNIFICANCE Delayed wound healing and pathologic scarring are abnormal processes that can be thought of as occurring on a wound healing continuum, where insufficient wound contraction leads to nonhealing wounds, and overexuberant wound contraction leads to scarring. Chronic nonhealing wounds, including diabetic foot wounds, decubitus ulcers, and venous stasis ulcers, affect millions of people annually in the United States and costs billions of dollars. Similarly, pathologic scaring affects more than 40 million Americans annually and also costs billions of dollars. CRITICAL ISSUES While there are multiple factors that contribute to chronic nonhealing wounds and pathologic scars, a derangement in wound contraction is common to both. In this article, we will present a paradigm of dermal wound contraction, derived from clinical observations and basic science evidence, which pertains to chronic nonhealing wounds and pathologic scars. RECENT ADVANCES We will review how select therapies currently under investigation and in development fit the paradigm. FUTURE DIRECTIONS The paradigm will facilitate translational research and enable the development of future innovative therapies.
Improved Accuracy of Component Positioning with Robotic-Assisted Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty: Data from a Prospective, Randomized Controlled Study.

BACKGROUND Higher revision rates have been reported in patients who have undergone unicompartmental knee arthroplasty compared with patients who have undergone total knee arthroplasty, with poor component positioning identified as a factor in implant failure. A robotic-assisted surgical procedure has been proposed as a method of improving the accuracy of component implantation in arthroplasty. The aim of this prospective, randomized, single-blinded, controlled trial was to evaluate the accuracy of component positioning in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty comparing robotic-assisted and conventional implantation techniques. METHODS One hundred and thirty-nine patients were randomly assigned to treatment with either a robotic-assisted surgical procedure using the MAKO Robotic Interactive Orthopaedic Arm (RIO) system or a conventional surgical procedure using the Oxford Phase-3 unicompartmental knee replacement with traditional instrumentation. A postoperative computed tomographic scan was performed at three months to assess the accuracy of the axial, coronal, and sagittal component positioning. RESULTS Data were available for 120 patients, sixty-two who had undergone robotic-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty and fifty-eight who had undergone conventional unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Intraobserver agreement was good for all measured component parameters. The accuracy of component positioning was improved with the use of the robotic-assisted surgical procedure, with lower root mean square errors and significantly lower median errors in all component parameters (p < 0.01). The proportion of patients with component implantation within 2° of the target position was significantly greater in the group who underwent robotic-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty compared with the group who underwent conventional unicompartmental knee arthroscopy with regard to the femoral component sagittal position (57% compared with 26%, p = 0.0008), femoral component coronal position (70% compared with 28%, p = 0.0001), femoral component axial position (53% compared with 31%, p = 0.0163), tibial component sagittal position (80% compared with 22%, p = 0.0001), and tibial component axial position (48% compared with 19%, p = 0.0009). CONCLUSIONS Robotic-assisted surgical procedures with the use of the MAKO RIO lead to improved accuracy of implant positioning compared with conventional unicompartmental knee arthroplasty surgical techniques. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
RNAi in Plants: An Argonaute-Centered View

Argonaute (AGO) family proteins are effectors of RNAi in eukaryotes. AGOs bind small RNAs and use them as guides to silence target genes or transposable elements at the transcriptional or posttranscriptional level. Eukaryotic AGO proteins share common structural and biochemical properties and function through conserved core mechanisms in RNAi pathways, yet plant AGOs have evolved specialized and diversified functions. This Review covers the general features of AGO proteins and highlights recent progress toward our understanding of the mechanisms and functions of plant AGOs.