Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Gestational Weight Gain Guidelines for Women With Normal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between gestational weight gain and adverse pregnancy outcomes among women with normal prepregnancy body mass index. METHODS: We conducted a population-based cohort study of women with normal prepregnancy body mass index who delivered full-term singletons using Missouri birth certificate data for 1999–2001. The cohort was divided into three groups (less than recommended [less than 25 lb], n=16,852; recommended [25–35 lb], n=37,292; more than recommended [more than 35 lb], n=40,552) based on Institute of Medicine gestational weight gain guidelines. Logistic regression was used to adjust for known confounders. RESULTS: Compared with women gaining 25–35 lb, women gaining less than 25 lb during pregnancy had lower odds for preeclampsia (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49–0.64), cephalopelvic disproportion (aOR 0.64, 95% CI 0.55–0.75), failed induction (aOR 0.68, 95% CI 0.59–0.78), cesarean delivery (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.78–0.87), and large for gestational age infants (aOR 0.40, 95% CI 0.37–0.44) and increased odds for small for gestational age infants (aOR 2.14, 95% CI 2.01–2.27). Likewise, women gaining more than 35 lb had lower odds for small for gestational age infants (aOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.45–0.50) and increased odds for preeclampsia (aOR 1.88, 95% CI 1.74–2.04), failed induction (aOR 1.51, 95% CI 1.39–1.64), cesarean delivery (aOR 1.35, 95% CI 1.29–1.40), and large for gestational age infants (aOR 2.43, 95% CI 2.30–2.56). CONCLUSION: Our study shows that adherence to the current Institute of Medicine guidelines results in lower risks for adverse pregnancy, labor, and delivery outcomes when comparing all outcomes collectively. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II
A second common mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene: an additional risk factor for neural-tube defects?

Recently, we showed that homozygosity for the common 677(C-->T) mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, causing thermolability of the enzyme, is a risk factor for neural-tube defects (NTDs). We now report on another mutation in the same gene, the 1298(A-->C) mutation, which changes a glutamate into an alanine residue. This mutation destroys an MboII recognition site and has an allele frequency of . 33. This 1298(A-->C) mutation results in decreased MTHFR activity (one-way analysis of variance [ANOVA] P < .0001), which is more pronounced in the homozygous than heterozygous state. Neither the homozygous nor the heterozygous state is associated with higher plasma homocysteine (Hcy) or a lower plasma folate concentration-phenomena that are evident with homozygosity for the 677(C-->T) mutation. However, there appears to be an interaction between these two common mutations. When compared with heterozygosity for either the 677(C-->T) or 1298(A-->C) mutations, the combined heterozygosity for the 1298(A-->C) and 677(C-->T) mutations was associated with reduced MTHFR specific activity (ANOVA P < .0001), higher Hcy, and decreased plasma folate levels (ANOVA P <.03). Thus, combined heterozygosity for both MTHFR mutations results in similar features as observed in homozygotes for the 677(C-->T) mutation. This combined heterozygosity was observed in 28% (n =86) of the NTD patients compared with 20% (n =403) among controls, resulting in an odds ratio of 2.04 (95% confidence interval: .9-4.7). These data suggest that the combined heterozygosity for the two MTHFR common mutations accounts for a proportion of folate-related NTDs, which is not explained by homozygosity for the 677(C-->T) mutation, and can be an additional genetic risk factor for NTDs.
Space, Time, and Hurricanes: Investigating the Spatiotemporal Relationship Among Social Media Use, Donations, and Disasters

Social media is generated both in space and time, and in the context of disaster situations it can provide minute-by-minute and location-by-location awareness of the event and users’ concerns and feelings about crises. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between social media data, web donations, and traditional media coverage. We start by examining the temporal relationships, then move on to spatial relationships and patterning. Finally, we explore spatiotemporal patterns, examining the confluence of these patterns. Our results indicate that social media can be used as an indicator of both spatial and temporal patterns of real world events such as donations to a large not-for-profit. Our models can be used to make recommendations to managers about how to target marketing messaging appropriately given the current state of social media.
A game theoretic approach to distributed control of homogeneous multi-agent systems

A distributed multi-agent system consisting of homogeneous agents is considered in this paper. Distributed differential games and their solutions in terms of Nash equilibria are defined for such systems, both in a linear quadratic setting and in a general, nonlinear setting. As with standard differential games, obtaining exact solutions for nonlinear distributed differential games requires solving coupled partial differential equations, closed-form solutions for which are not readily available in general. A systematic method for constructing approximate solutions for a nonlinear distributed differential game with two players is provided. The method requires solving algebraic equations only and is illustrated on a numerical example.
Trainingssteuerung des Freizeitläufers unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Herzfrequenz

Die vorliegende empirische Arbeit widmet sich in einer Hauptuntersuchung und drei flankierenden Untersuchungsabschnitten den Moglichkeiten und Grenzen der Belastungssteuerung beim freizeitsportlichen Laufen. Untersucht wurden u.a. der Einfluss von Belastungsdauer, Umgebungstemperatur und Musik auf kardiozirkulatorische und biomechanische Parameter. Die Belastungsintensitat betrug in Abhangigkeit vom jeweiligen Untersuchungsdesign 85%, 90% oder 95% der Geschwindigkeit bei einer Blutlaktatkonzentration von 4 mmol. Besondere Beachtung und praxisnahe Empfehlungen werden unter Berucksichtigung der aktuellen Studienlage zum Parameter Herzfrequenz gegeben. Dabei wird auf das Phanomen Cardiodrift, dem Anstieg der Herzfrequenz bei gleichbleibender Geschwindigkeit, besonders eingegangen.
Outcome of trabeculectomy surgery in primary open angle glaucoma.

OBJECTIVES Retrospective study to evaluate the short term outcome and contributing prognostic factors of trabeculectomy in terms of intraocular pressure in Omani patients of South Batinah region with primary open-angle glaucoma. METHODS This study involved retrospective evaluation of 18 patients (22 eyes) with primary open angle glaucoma who underwent primary trabeculectomy between February 2005 and February 2008. All patients were aged over 40 years and were Omani. Follow-up for all subjects lasted at least 6 months or more [Average follow up 388 days with standard deviation of 182]. Successful control of Intraocular pressure (IOP) was defined as achieving IOP of 21 mmHg or less without medication (complete success). RESULTS The results are presented with particular emphasis being placed only on intraocular pressure (IOP) control. The tonometric success rate of trabeculectomy in controlling the IOP at 21mmHg or less without any medication was 46% [complete successes], 18% had qualified success [Post operative IOP 21 mm Hg or less with one topical medication], while 36% trabeculectomies failed to show desired results. CONCLUSION The results of this retrospective study underline that the procedure of trabeculectomy has moderate success in controlling the intra ocular pressure in the study population. The procedure failed to show the desired result in almost one third of the patients (36%) and topical medical treatment was reinstated in these patients with either two or three drugs. However these results lead to the following question: Should trabeculectomy be the therapy of first choice in the early stage of glaucoma?
A randomized, open-label, crossover study comparing the effects of oral versus transdermal estrogen therapy on serum androgens, thyroid hormones, and adrenal hormones in naturally menopausal women

Objective: To compare the changes induced by oral versus transdermal estrogen therapy on the total and free serum concentrations of testosterone (T), thyroxine (T4), and cortisol (C) and the concentrations of their serum binding globulins sex hormone-binding globulin, thyroxine-binding globulin, and cortisol-binding globulin in naturally menopausal women. Design: Randomized, open-label, crossover. Interventions included a 6-week withdrawal from previous hormone therapy (baseline), followed in randomized order by 12 weeks of oral conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) (0.625 mg/d) and 12 weeks of transdermal estradiol (TD E2) (0.05 mg/d), with oral micronized progesterone (100 mg/d) given continuously during both transdermal estrogen therapy regimens. Results: Twenty-seven women were enrolled in the study, and 25 completed both treatment periods. The mean(SD) percentage changes from baseline of sex hormone-binding globulin, total T, and free T with oral CEE were +132.1% (74.5%), +16.4% (43.8%), and −32.7% (25.9%), respectively, versus +12.0% (25.1%), +1.2% (43.7%), and +1.0% (45.0%) with TD E2. The mean (SD) percentage changes of thyroxine-binding globulin, total T4, and free T4 with oral CEE were +39.9% (20.1%), +28.4% (29.2%), and −10.4% (22.3%), respectively, versus +0.4% (11.1%), −0.7% (16.5%), and +0.2% (26.6%) with TD E2. The mean (SD) percentage changes of cortisol-binding globulin, total C, and free C with oral CEE were +18.0% (19.5%), +29.2% (46.3%), and +50.4% (126.5%), respectively, versus −2.2% (11.3%), −6.7% (30.8%), and +1.8% (77.1%) with TD E2. Concentrations of all hormones and binding globulins were significantly different (P ≤ 0.003) during administration of oral versus transdermal estrogen therapy, except for free T4 and free C. Conclusions: Compared with oral CEE, TD E2 exerts minimal effects on the total and free concentrations of T, T4, and C and their binding proteins.
Complete kinetic mechanism for recycling of the bacterial ribosome

How EF-G and RRF act together to split a post-termination ribosomal complex into its subunits has remained obscure. Here, using stopped-flow experiments with Rayleigh light scattering detection and quench-flow experiments with radio-detection of GTP hydrolysis, we have clarified the kinetic mechanism of ribosome recycling and obtained precise estimates of its kinetic parameters. Ribosome splitting requires that EF-G binds to an already RRF-containing ribosome. EF-G binding to RRF-free ribosomes induces futile rounds of GTP hydrolysis and inhibits ribosome splitting, implying that while RRF is purely an activator of recycling, EF-G acts as both activator and competitive inhibitor of RRF in recycling of the post-termination ribosome. The ribosome splitting rate and the number of GTPs consumed per splitting event depend strongly on the free concentrations of EF-G and RRF. The maximal recycling rate, here estimated as 25 sec−1, is approached at very high concentrations of EF-G and RRF with RRF in high excess over EF-G. The present in vitro results, suggesting an in vivo ribosome recycling rate of ∼5 sec−1, are discussed in the perspective of rapidly growing bacterial cells.
The progression from hypertension to congestive heart failure.

OBJECTIVES - To study the relative and population-attributable risks of hypertension for the development of congestive heart failure (CHF), to assess the time course of progression from hypertension to CHF, and to identify risk factors that contribute to the development of overt heart failure in hypertensive subjects. DESIGN - Inception cohort study. SETTING - General community. PARTICIPANTS - Original Framingham Heart Study and Framingham Offspring Study participants aged 40 to 89 years and free of CHF. To reflect more contemporary experience, the starting point of this study was January 1, 1970. EXPOSURE MEASURES - Hypertension (blood pressure of at least 140 mm Hg systolic or 90 mm Hg diastolic or current use of medications for treatment of high blood pressure) and other potential CHF risk factors were assessed at periodic clinic examinations. OUTCOME MEASURE - The development of CHF. RESULTS - A total of 5143 eligible subjects contributed 72422 person-years of observation. During up to 20.1 years of follow-up (mean, 14.1 years), there were 392 new cases of heart failure; in 91% (357/392), hypertension antedated the development of heart failure. Adjusting for age and heart failure risk factors in proportional hazards regression models, the hazard for developing heart failure in hypertensive compared with normotensive subjects was about 2-fold in men and 3-fold in women. Multivariable analyses revealed that hypertension had a high population-attributable risk for CHF, accounting for 39% of cases in men and 59% in women. Among hypertensive subjects, myocardial infarction, diabetes, left ventricular hypertrophy, and valvular heart disease were predictive of increased risk for CHF in both sexes. Survival following the onset of hypertensive CHF was bleak; only 24% of men and 31% of women survived 5 years. CONCLUSIONS - Hypertension was the most common risk factor for CHF, and it contributed a large proportion of heart failure cases in this population-based sample. Preventive strategies directed toward earlier and more aggressive blood pressure control are likely to offer the greatest promise for reducing the incidence of CHF and its associated mortality.
Adjusting for covariates in logistic regression models

To the Editor We read with interest the paper by Kuo and Feingold (henceforth K&F) ‘‘What’s the best statistic for a simple test of genetic association in a case-control study’’ [Kuo and Feingold, 2010], in which the authors compared the power of three logistic regression models to detect genetic effects, concluded that ‘‘the most commonly used approach to handle covariates—modeling covariate main effects but not interaction—is almost never a good idea,’’ and recommended modeling only the genetic factors without covariate adjustment in genome-scanning. We feel that the issue of covariate adjustment in logistic regression models was oversimplified and the conclusion was unjustified. In this letter, we attempt to explain the observations found by K&F using established results in the statistical literature, to confirm the theoretical results in the genetic association study scenario by mimicking and extending the simulation study performed by K&F, and to discuss their implication on covariate adjustment in genome-scanning. The impact of covariate adjustment on the precision of regression coefficient estimators in classic linear models depends on multiple correlations between variables; however, adjusting for covariates in logistic regression models always leads to a loss of precision. Denote by Y a quantitative trait, by G a genotype, and by E a covariate, e.g. an environmental factor. Suppose we fit to data two linear regression models E(Y|G) 5 a1b1G and EðYjG;EÞ 1⁄4 a01b1G1b 0 2E. The asymptotic relative precision (ARP) of the estimator b̂1 to b̂1 can be derived as
Zebrafish response to robotic fish: preference experiments on isolated individuals and small shoals

Recently developed bioinspired robots imitate their live counterparts in both aspect and functionality. Nevertheless, whether these devices can be integrated within the ecological niche inspiring their design is seldom tested experimentally. An elemental research question concerns the feasibility of modulating spontaneous behaviour of animal systems through bioinspired robotics. The following study explores the possibility of engineering a robotic fish capable of influencing the behaviour of live zebrafish (Danio rerio) in a dichotomous preference test. While we observe that the preference for the robotic fish never exceeds the preference for a conspecific, our data show that the robot is successful in attracting both isolated individuals and small shoals and that such capability is influenced by its bioinspired features. In particular, we find that the robot's undulations enhance its degree of attractiveness, despite the noise inherent in the actuation system. This is the first experimental evidence that live zebrafish behaviour can be influenced by engineered robots. Such robotic platforms may constitute a valuable tool to investigate the bases of social behaviour and uncover the fundamental determinants of animal functions and dysfunctions.
Recognition of pneumolysin by Toll-like receptor 4 confers resistance to pneumococcal infection

Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the leading causes of invasive bacterial disease worldwide. Fragments of the cell wall and the cytolytic toxin pneumolysin have been shown to contribute substantially to inflammatory damage, although the interactions between pneumococcal components and host-cell structures have not been elucidated completely. Results of a previous study indicated that cell-wall components of pneumococci are recognized by Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 but suggested that pneumolysin induces inflammatory events independently of this receptor. In this study we tested the hypothesis that pneumolysin interacts with surface proteins of the TLR family other than TLR2. We found that pneumolysin stimulates tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-6 release in wild-type macrophages but not in macrophages from mice with a targeted deletion of the cytoplasmic TLR-adapter molecule myeloid differentiation factor 88, suggesting the involvement of the TLRs in pneumolysin recognition. Purified pneumolysin synergistically activated macrophage responses together with preparations of pneumococcal cell walls or staphylococcal peptidoglycan, which are known to activate TLR2. Furthermore, when compared with wild-type macrophages, macrophages from mice that carry a spontaneous mutation in TLR4 (P712H) were hyporesponsive to both pneumolysin alone and the combination of pneumolysin with pneumococcal cell walls. Finally, these TLR4-mutant mice were significantly more susceptible to lethal infection after intranasal colonization with pneumolysin-positive pneumococci than were control mice. We conclude that the interaction of pneumolysin with TLR4 is critically involved in the innate immune response to pneumococcus.
Interruptions and multi-tasking: moving the research agenda in new directions

When the media-savvy US psychiatrist Edward Hallowell first asked people to imagine how they would perform on a tennis court with two, three or even more balls in play, it seemed obvious that, no matter how talented or fit, everyone would be hard pressed to keep up, let alone execute any precision shots.1 Dr Hallowell's book, CrazyBusy , went a long way towards raising popular awareness of something that many people felt intuitively. That is, that multi-tasking—and the associated interruptions that demand we either switch between competing tasks or load one task on top of another, say by talking on the phone while responding to emails—really was contributing to feeling frantic. Yet, since the book's publication in 2006, we've just kept raising the ‘busy-ness’ bar in our daily personal and professional lives. Email ushered in expectations that the instantaneous delivery of messages would elicit similarly instant responses. Now, in the communications-saturated environment of texting, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter, frequent interruptions and multi-tasking are so familiar that the absence of instant ‘connectivity’ can cause mild anxiety—or, for some of us, dismay and distress. But, despite the many unquestionable benefits of extraordinary connectivity, and the unprecedented access to information and interaction it enables, the cognitive and social demands of the rapidly evolving digital communication landscape come at a cost. In healthcare organisations, the relentless, competing demands for clinicians’ attention are not merely another source of workplace stress, but represent an issue that goes to the very heart of patient safety and quality of care. Studying communication patterns in the healthcare sector is not only vital—it's fascinating. Healthcare delivery is largely reliant on the flow of clear, concise and accurate information across the many complex webs that link patients, different healthcare professionals and support staff via paper- and computer-based systems. …
Chemical Constituents and Antioxidant Activity of a Polar Extract from Pituranthos battandieri Maire

Phytochemical investigation of the n-butanol soluble part of the aqueous-MeOH extract of the aerial parts of Pituranthos battandieri Maire collected from the region of Bechar in the south-west of Algeria, led to the isolation and structural elucidation of mannitol 1, xanthotoxol 2, 8-(6’,7’-dihydroxygeranyloxy)-psoralen 3 and isorhamnetin 3-O-ß-Dglucopyranoside (cacticin) 4. The structures were established by spectral analyses, mainly ESI-HRMS, UV and NMR experiments (H, C, DEPT, COSY, HSQC and HMBC) and comparison with literature data. All these compounds were described for the first time from this endemic species. The free radical scavenging activity of this extract was determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging activity models. Antihemolytic property was performed using H2O2 induced red blood cell hemolysis model. Antiperoxidative effect was evaluated using lipid peroxidation-ammonium thiocyanate model. Both DPPH and H2O2 assays indicated antioxidant ability of n-BuOH extract of P. battandieri (BEPB), that were reflected by IC50 values 876.16±7.96 μg/mL and 603.8±71.06 μg/mL, respectively. In addition, the results of the present study clearly indicated that BEPB inhibited rat erythrocytes hemolysis induced by H2O2 in a dose dependent way with IC50 value 782.38±89.97 μg/mL. The inhibition of lipid peroxides generated from linoleic acid was recorded at IC50: 496.04±117.06 μg/mL. The antiperoxidative and the antihemolytic activities of P. battandieri appear as a consequence of synergistic interactions between active constituents among them mannitol 1, the furanocoumarins 2 and 3, and the flavonoid 4.