Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of problem behaviours in atypically developing infants and toddlers as assessed with the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits (BISCUIT)

Objective: Compares infants and toddlers with intellectual and developmental conditions in regard to the presence of challenging behaviour. Methods: Parents and caregivers to 140 children ranging from 17–35 months with five different conditions (Down syndrome (n = 23), developmental delay (n = 18), prematurity (n = 56), Cerebral Palsy (n = 15) and Seizure disorder (n = 28)) were administered the BISCUIT-Part 3. An ANOVA on overall scores and a MANOVA on the sub-scale scores were conducted to determine if groups differed significantly. Results: Results found no significant differences on total scores or differences on the sub-scales of the BISCUIT-Part 3: Aggressive/Destructive, Stereotypic and Self-Injurious. Some trends in individual item endorsement were found. Conclusions: It is possible that differences among individuals with these disorders are not apparent until later in life. These results emphasize the importance of monitoring challenging behaviours in all at-risk infants and toddlers to ensure that early interventions to treat these challenging behaviours are possible.
Lymphoproliferative disorders in rheumatoid arthritis: clinicopathological analysis of 76 cases in relation to methotrexate medication.

OBJECTIVE Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with or without methotrexate (MTX) medication occasionally develop lymphoproliferative disorders (MTX-LPD and non-MTX-LPD, respectively). The hyperimmune state of RA itself or the immunosuppressive state induced by MTX administration might contribute to development of LPD. Our objective was to characterize MTX-LPD in comparison to non-MTX-LPD and sporadic LPD in patients with RA. METHODS We compared MTX-LPD to non-MTX-LPD and sporadic LPD by evaluating 48 cases of MTX-LPD, 28 non-MTX-LPD, and 150 sporadic LPD. RESULTS Later onset age of LPD and female predominance were evident in patients with RA-LPD compared to sporadic LPD. The interval between the diagnosis of RA and LPD in MTX-LPD (median 132 mo) was significantly shorter than that in non-MTX-LPD (240 mo). The frequency of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and positive rate of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in RA-LPD was significantly higher than in sporadic LPD (57.9% vs 42.7%, 27.6% vs 9.9%, respectively). After withdrawal of MTX, 11 of the MTX-LPD cases showed a spontaneous regression of tumors. The 5-year survival rate in RA-LPD (59.2%) was significantly worse than that in sporadic LPD (74.6%). CONCLUSION The majority of cases of RA-LPD show similar clinicopathological characteristics irrespective of MTX medication, except for spontaneous regression of LPD after withdrawal of MTX in MTX-LPD, and a shorter interval between the diagnosis of RA and LPD in MTX-LPD than in non-MTX-LPD. RA-LPD cases showed younger age of onset, female predominance, unfavorable prognosis, and higher frequencies of DLBCL and EBV positivity compared to sporadic LPD.
New constructions of Bernoulli and Gaussian sensing matrices for compressive sensing

Compressive Sensing (CS) is a new methodology to reconstruct sparse signals from a few number of measurements. These measurements are captured by a sensing matrix, which has a direct impact on the performance of the reconstruction algorithms. Among the sensing matrices proposed in the literature, Bernoulli and Gaussian random sensing matrices are the most prominent. In this work, we propose to improve these two sensing matrices following a trivial method to enhance their columns orthogonality property. Extensive theoretical comparisons with Bernoulli, Gaussian and partial Hadamard sensing matrices are carried out to show the power of the proposed sensing matrices. In that, the new sensing matrices provides a considerable gain in terms of the Rate of Exact Reconstruction (RER).
Estimation of lateral displacement of electric vehicle to an alignment of wireless power transmitters

Dynamic charging is a scenario that electric vehicles (EVs) is powered while running on wireless power transfer (WPT) transmitter-embedded road. The displacement between transmitter and receiver of a wireless power transfer system determines the efficiency and transmitted power. This paper proposes a method to estimate lateral displacement from vehicle to a transmitter using signal from receiver side and motion sensors. This paper applies the Unscented Kalman filter (UKF). The estimation method is validated by simulation and experiment with an actual electric vehicle.
Physiological importance of aquaporin water channels

Aquaporins (AQP) are a family of at least ten homologous water transporting proteins in mammals that are expressed in many epithelial, endothelial and other tissues. Abnormalities in humans and mice lacking AQPs provide direct evidence for their physiological importance. Humans lacking AQP1 or AQP2 manifest polyuria with defective urinary concentrating ability and humans with mutations in MIP (AQP0) develop cataracts. Transgenic knockout mice lacking AQP1 or AQP3 are also remarkably polyuric, and knock-in mice expressing a mutant AQP2 have severe nephrogenic diabetes insipidus resulting in impaired neonatal survival. Other interesting phenotypes in AQP knockout mice include reduced pain sensation, reduced intraocular pressure, defective corneal fluid transport and impaired dietary fat processing (AQP1), dry skin (AQP3), protection from brain swelling and impaired hearing/vision (AQP4), and reduced fluid secretion by salivary and airway submucosal glands (AQP5). However, many phenotype studies were negative, such as normal airway/lung and skeletal muscle function despite AQP expression, indicating that tissue-specific aquaporin expression does not indicate physiological significance. The general paradigm from studies on transgenic mouse models of AQP deletion is that AQPs facilitate rapid near-isosmolar transepithelial fluid absorption/secretion, as well as rapid vectorial water movement driven by osmotic gradients. The transgenic mouse studies suggest that aquaporin inhibitors may have clinical indications as diuretics and in the treatment of cerebral edema, elevated intraocular pressure, and other conditions of abnormal fluid homeostasis.
Interconversion pharmacokinetics of eplerenone, a selective aldosterone blocker, and its lactone-ring open form.

The interconversion pharmacokinetics of eplerenone and its lactone-ring open form, SC-70303, were examined in dogs using a stable isotope method. [13CD3]EP and SC-70303 were coadministered orally (10 mg/kg) and intravenously (5 mg/kg) as aqueous solutions under fasted conditions. After I.V. administration of [13CD3]EP, the mean AUC of [13CD3]EP was 16.0 h. microg/mL, while the C(max), T(max), and AUC for [13CD3]SC-70303 acid were 0.744 microg/mL, 0.5 h, and 3.49 h. microg/mL, respectively. After I.V. administration of SC-70303, the AUC for SC-70303 acid was 6.36 h. microg/mL, while the C(max), T(max), and AUC for EP were 2.26 microg/mL, 0.5 h, and 9.48 h. microg/mL, respectively. After oral administration of [13CD3]EP, the C(max), T(max), and AUC for [13CD3]EP were 6.01 microg/mL, 0.5 h, and 27.7 h. microg/mL, respectively, and the corresponding values for [13CD3]SC-70303 acid were 0.972 microg/mL, 0.75 h, and 5.52 h. microg/mL, respectively. After oral administration of SC-70303, the C(max), T(max), and AUC for EP were 1.38 microg/mL, 0.83 h, and 9.29 h. microg/mL, respectively, and the corresponding values for SC-70303 acid were 0.330 microg/mL, 0.67 h, and 2.19 h. microg/mL, respectively. The systemic availability was 90% for [13CD3]EP and 17.5% for SC-70303 acid. EP and SC-70303 acid were rapidly interconvertible in the dog. The percentage of dose converted to [13CD3]SC-70303 acid following I.V. administration of [13CD3]EP was 55.0%, while the percentage of dose converted to EP following I.V. administration of SC-70303 was 60.2%.
Conjugal Transfer of Polychlorinated Biphenyl/Biphenyl Degradation Genes in Acidovorax sp. Strain KKS102, Which Are Located on an Integrative and Conjugative Element

ABSTRACT A polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)/biphenyl degradation gene cluster in Acidovorax sp. strain KKS102, which is very similar to that in Tn4371 from Cupriavidus oxalaticus A5, was transferred to several proteobacterial strains by conjugation. The mobilized DNA fragment consisted of 61,807 bp and carried genes for mating-pair formation (mpf), DNA transfer (dtr), integrase (int), and replication-partition proteins (rep-parAB). In the transconjugants, transferred DNA was integrated at ATTGCATCAG or similar sequences. The circular-form integrative and conjugative element (ICE) was detected by PCR, and quantitative PCR analyses revealed that, in KKS102 cells, the ratio of the circular form to the integrated form was very low (approximately 10−5). The circular form was not detected in a mutant of the int gene, which was located at the extreme left and transcribed in the inward direction, and the level of int transcriptional activity was much higher in the circular form than in the integrated form. These findings clearly demonstrated that the genes for PCB/biphenyl degradation in KKS102 cells are located on an ICE, which was named ICEKKS1024677. Comparisons of similar ICE-like elements collected from the public database suggested that those of beta- and gammaproteobacteria were distinguishable from other ICE-like elements, including those in alphaproteobacteria, with respect to the gene composition and gene organization.
The value of options for time charterparty extension: an artificial neural networks (ANN) approach

ABSTRACT The most frequently associated options in the physical shipping market are options to extend the charter period on time charters and additional shipment options on contracts of affreightment. The value of freight options, in practice, is estimated mostly by referring to forward curves. An option on freight has different properties from its financial counterparts, and the straightforward adoption of theoretical models does not produce promising results. In this paper, extension options, which have the property of options on futures, were transformed into regular European options before the application of the Black-Scholes model (BSM). The efficient market hypothesis, which justifies the parity of the performance of a long-term charter to that of repetitive short-term charters, worked as the basis for the transformation. The option values determined by the BSM were compared with actual realized values. Additionally, the artificial neural networks (ANN) was employed to derive the option values. This study is meaningful as the first-time application of both the closed-form solution and the ANN to the valuation of physical freight options. The research results can contribute to the quality of chartering decisions. The results could also be used in quantifying credit risk, as extension options tend to be granted to charterers with more creditability.
Accounting Students’ Perceptions of Effective Teaching and Approaches to Learning: Impact on Overall Student Satisfaction

This study is concerned with the ways to improve the quality of learning experiences of accounting students. Drawing on the effective teaching and student approach to learning literature, we hypothesise that effective teaching and students&#8217; approach to learning (deep versus surface learning) are two important predictors of the quality of the learning experience. The hypotheses were tested using survey data of second&#8208;year undergraduate students enrolled in two core accounting subjects at an Australian university. The data were analysed using the partial least&#8208;squares structural equation&#160;modelling approach. The study aims to make a useful contribution to theory and teaching practice.
Radiofrequency Ablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Assistant Techniques for Difficult Cases

Purpose: To confirm the safety and effectiveness of techniques to assist radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for difficult cases, we retrospectively evaluated successful treatment rates, early complications and local tumor progressions. Patients and Methods: Between June 1999 and April 2009, a total of 341 patients with 535 nodules were treated as difficult cases. Artificial pleural effusion assisted ablation was performed on 64 patients with 82 nodules. Artificial ascites-assisted ablation was performed on 11 patients with 13 nodules. Cooling by endoscopic nasobiliary drainage (ENBD) tube-assisted ablation was performed on 6 patients with 8 nodules. When the tumors were not well visualized with conventional B-mode ultrasonography (US), contrast-enhanced US-assisted ablation with Levovist® or Sonazoid® or virtual CT sonography-assisted ablation was performed. Contrast-enhanced US-assisted ablation was performed on 139 patients with 224 nodules and virtual CT sonography-assisted ablation was performed on 121 patients with 209 nodules. Results: In total, complete ablation was achieved in 514 of 535 (96%) nodules in difficult cases. For RFA with artificial pleural effusion, artificial ascites and ENBD, complete response was confirmed in all cases. For contrast-enhanced US- and CT sonography-assisted ablation, complete response was 95%. Early complications were recognized in 24 cases (4.5%). All cases recovered with no invasive treatment. Local tumor recurrence was investigated in 377 nodules of 245 patients, and 69 (18%) nodules were positive. Tumor recurrences in each assisted technique were 14.7% in artificial pleural effusion cases, 7% in artificial ascites, 12.5% in ENBD tube cases, 31% in virtual CT sonography, and 8.5% in contrast-enhanced US. Conclusion: Although local tumor progression needs to be carefully monitored, assisted techniques of RFA for difficult cases are well tolerated and expand the indications of RFA.
DRMDA: deep representations‐based miRNA–disease association prediction

Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) are confirmed to be important molecules within many crucial biological processes and therefore related to various complex human diseases. However, previous methods of predicting miRNA–disease associations have their own deficiencies. Under this circumstance, we developed a prediction method called deep representations‐based miRNA–disease association (DRMDA) prediction. The original miRNA–disease association data were extracted from HDMM database. Meanwhile, stacked auto‐encoder, greedy layer‐wise unsupervised pre‐training algorithm and support vector machine were implemented to predict potential associations. We compared DRMDA with five previous classical prediction models (HGIMDA, RLSMDA, HDMP, WBSMDA and RWRMDA) in global leave‐one‐out cross‐validation (LOOCV), local LOOCV and fivefold cross‐validation, respectively. The AUCs achieved by DRMDA were 0.9177, 08339 and 0.9156 ± 0.0006 in the three tests above, respectively. In further case studies, we predicted the top 50 potential miRNAs for colon neoplasms, lymphoma and prostate neoplasms, and 88%, 90% and 86% of the predicted miRNA can be verified by experimental evidence, respectively. In conclusion, DRMDA is a promising prediction method which could identify potential and novel miRNA–disease associations.
Worker training. by Jeff Borland

tag=1 data=Worker training. by Jeff Borland tag=2 data=Borland, Jeff tag=3 data=The Australian Economic Review, tag=5 data=92 tag=6 data=4th Qtr October/November 1990 tag=7 data=74-80. tag=8 data=EMPLOYMENT tag=10 data=Currently considerable concern is being expressed over the quantity and quality of worker training in Australia. tag=11 data=1991/3/2 tag=12 data=91/0152 tag=13 data=CAB
Effects of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphism on the Left-Ventricular Function and Mass in Patients with Acromegaly

In this study we have investigated the contribution of the ACE genotype to the development of left-ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and systolic and diastolic dysfunctions in acromegalic patients. The study group consisted of 30 acromegalic patients (21 women and 9 men, age: 37.9 ± 10.8 years, disease duration: 9.0 ± 6.9 years). The distribution of the DD, ID and II genotypes was 40.0 (n = 12), 46.6 (n = 14) and 13.3% (n = 4), respectively, being similar to frequencies observed in a healthy population. Plasma ACE levels were 55.0 ± 12.0 (45–84), 28.7 ± 15.7 (8–58) and 24.5 ± 12.0 (16–33) U/l in patients with the DD, ID and II genotype, respectively. The mean serum ACE activity in the DD genotype was significantly higher than in the heterozygous group (p < 0.0001). Serum ACE activity showed a significant negative association with the mean growth hormone level (r = –0.52, p = 0.007). The LV early diastolic flow velocity/LV presystolic flow velocity (E/A) ratios were 1.2 ± 0.4 for the DD genotype, 1.3 ± 0.3 for the ID genotype and 0.7 ± 0.1 for the II genotype. The E/A ratio was considerably lower in acromegalic patients with the II genotype compared to the other genotypes (p = 0.03). The LV mass index (LVMI) values were 131.5 ± 4.2 g/m2 for the DD genotype, 141.7 ± 50.3 g/m2 for the ID genotype and 159.6 ± 48.2 g/m2 for the II genotype. However, there was no significant difference in LVMI among allelic groups. All other indices of systolic and diastolic function were not statistically different in the acromegalic patients. The present data fail to support a role of ACE gene polymorphism in determining LVH in acromegalic patients. However, the I allele may prove as a useful marker predicting the development of diastolic dysfunction in acromegalic patients.
Reversal of SSRI-induced female sexual dysfunction by adjunctive bupropion in menstruating women: a double-blind, placebo-controlled and randomized study

A significant number of patients undergoing treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) report sexual dysfunction. SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction adversely affects quality of life and patient adherence to and compliance with treatment regimens. This trial examined the efficacy and safety of adjunctive bupropion in the treatment of SSRI-induced female sexual dysfunction. Sexual function was assessed by using the sexual function domains of the Female Sexual Function Index (primary efficacy outcome measure) and the Clinical Global Impression Scale adapted for sexual function (secondary efficacy outcome measure). End point treatment satisfaction was assessed using a Visual Analog Scale. A total of 218 women (25–45 years old) with SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction were randomized to receive 12 weeks of double-blind fixed dosed treatment with bupropion sustained release 150 mg b.i. d. (n = 109) or placebo (n = 109). The mean (SD) for Female Sexual Function Index total score was higher in the bupropion sustained release group (25.9 (5.12), 95% confidence interval (CI) 22.2–29.4) than in the placebo group (17.2 (4.9), 95% CI 15.8–20.1) (p = 0.001). Mean (SD) Clinical Global Impression Scale score for the bupropion group (2.4 (0.6), 95% CI 2.0–3.6) was significantly lower than that for the placebo group (4.2 (0.8), 95% CI 3.4–5.4) (p = 0.001). At the end of the trial the mean (SD) scores for desire (4.1 (0.7), 95% CI 3.5–4.8) (p = 0.001), arousal (4.4 (0.6), 95% CI 3.7–4.8) (p = 0.01), lubrication (4.4 (0.4), 95% CI 3.3–4.8) (p = 0.001), orgasm (4.4 (0.5), 95% CI 3.7–4.7) (p = 0.001), and satisfaction (4.2 (0.7), 95% CI 3.4–4.8) (p = 0.001) were significantly higher in the bupropion group. The highest improvement was observed in sexual desire, followed by lubrication. Compared with baseline, desire and lubrication domains increased by 86.4% (95% CI 64.9–102.2%, p = 0.001) and 69.2% (95% CI 44.7–82.6%, p = 0.001) in the bupropion group. Adjunctive treatment with bupropion sustained release during a 12-week period significantly improved key aspects of sexual function in women with SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction.
Trends in fall-related ambulance use and hospitalisation among older adults in NSW, 2006-2013: a retrospective, population-based study.

Objective and importance of study: To describe characteristics and temporal trends of fall-related ambulance service use and hospital admission in older adults in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Such information will facilitate a more targeted approach to planning and delivery of health services to prevent falls and their adverse sequelae in different groups of older adults. STUDY TYPE Retrospective population-based descriptive study. METHODS Fall-related ambulance use and hospital admissions for all falls and injurious falls in NSW residents aged ≥65 years between 2006 and 2013 were obtained from two discrete sources of routinely collected data. Rates of use are presented descriptively. RESULTS There were 314 041 occasions of fall-related ambulance use by older adults and 331 311 fall-related hospitalisations, of which 69% (n = 227 753) were for injurious falls. Fractures accounted for 57% of injurious hospitalisations. Slips and trips were the most common mechanism of falls requiring hospitalisation (52%). Residents of aged care facilities had a greater proportion of fall injury hospitalisations compared with people living in the community (85% and 65%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Rates of fall-related ambulance use and hospitalisation were similar and continued to increase over time. Increased effort is needed to prevent falls and associated injury among older people in NSW, particularly among people living in aged care facilities. Ongoing monitoring of rates and the characteristics of people who fall are needed to determine the long-term impact of fall prevention interventions.
The flow‐cytometric determination of basophil activation induced by aspirin and other non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is useful for in vitro diagnosis of the NSAID hypersensitivity syndrome

Background Hypersensitivity reactions to non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), manifested by cutaneous symptoms and/or airway manifestations represent 20–25% of all hypersensitivity reactions to drugs. Today, it is still claimed that no in vitro diagnostic tests exist for that condition and that the only way to confirm the diagnosis is a provocation challenge.
An Actuarial Mathematics Approach to Option Pricing

We derive and test a new option pricing method based on statistics. We show how such a method allows to a) analytically price options with risk measures - such as Value-at-Risk or Expected Shortfall - on assets with stochastic volatility; and b) build several new structural models for the credit spread. We discuss how the method entails a new put-call parity relation, and how the option price is affected by the issuer’s credit spread. Finally, we discuss several extensions to the formalism developed here, such as to assets with interdependencies, and to any model for the asset’s returns distribution.