Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The transition clinic in chronic kidney disease care

Abstract People with advanced chronic kidney disease and evidence of progression have a high risk of renal replacement therapy. Specialized transition clinics could offer a better option for preparing these patients for dialysis, transplantation or conservative care. This review focuses on the different aspects of such transition clinics. We discuss which patients should be referred to these units and when referral should take place. Patient involvement in the decision-making process is important and requires unbiased patient education. There are many themes, both patient-centred and within the healthcare structure, that will influence the process of shared decision-making and the modality choice. Aspects of placing an access for haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis are reviewed. Finally, we discuss the importance of pre-emptive transplantation and a planned dialysis start, all with a focus on multidisciplinary collaboration at the transition clinic.
Smoking, air pollution, and lung cancer risk in the Nurses’ Health Study cohort: time-dependent confounding and effect modification

Abstract The proportional hazards (PH) model is commonly used in epidemiology despite the stringent assumption of proportionality of hazards over time. We previously showed, using detailed simulation data, that the impact of a modest risk factor cannot be estimated reliably using the PH model in the presence of confounding by a strong, time-dependent risk factor. Here, we examine the same and related issues using a real dataset. Among 97,303 women in the prospective Nurses’ Health Study cohort from 1994 through 2010, we used PH regression to investigate how effect estimates for cigarette smoking are affected by increasingly detailed specification of time-dependent exposure characteristics. We also examined how effect estimates for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a modest risk factor, are affected by finer control for time-dependent confounding by smoking. The objective of this analysis is not to present a credible estimate of the impact of PM2.5 on lung cancer risk, but to show that estimates based on the PH model are inherently unreliable. The best-fitting model for cigarette smoking and lung cancer included pack-years, duration, time since cessation, and an age-by-pack-years interaction, indicating that the hazard ratio (HR) for pack-years was significantly modified by age. In the fully adjusted best-fitting model for smoking including pack-years, the HR per 10-µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was 1.06 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.90, 1.25); the HR for PM2.5 in the full cohort ranged between 1.02 and 1.10 in models with other smoking adjustments, indicating a residual confounding effect of smoking. The HR for PM2.5 was statistically significant only among former smokers when adjusting for smoking pack-years (HR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.00, 1.82 in the best-fitting smoking model), but not in models adjusting for smoking duration and average packs (pack-years divided by duration). The association between cumulative smoking and lung cancer is modified by age, and improved model fit is obtained by including multiple time-varying components of smoking history. The association with PM2.5 is residually confounded by smoking and modified by smoking status. These findings underscore limitations of the PH model and emphasize the advantages of directly estimating hazard functions to characterize time-varying exposure and risk. The hazard function, not the relative hazard, is the fundamental measure of risk in a population. As a consequence, the use of time-dependent PH models does not address crucial issues introduced by temporal factors in epidemiological data.
Colostrum provision and care of calves among smallholder farmers in the Kaziranga region of Assam, India

Smallholder cattle farming in Assamese villages is sub-optimal in terms of calf survivability, growth, age at first service, and milk yield. Proper understanding of the local situation is essential to formulate appropriate, locally driven, livestock keeper education to sustainably improve animal health, welfare and productivity. In-depth interviewing and direct observation were used to understand the farming strategies, husbandry practices and challenges to health and productivity in a cluster of typical villages in the Kaziranga region of Assam, India, where resource use is balanced between the needs of humans and livestock, with competition from wild species. Knowledge of the importance of colostrum consumption by calves is poor. Timely consumption of sufficient colostrum (locally called “phehu”) by calves was clearly sub-optimal in the majority of households. The reasons behind this are nuanced, but the practice of collecting colostrum from newly calved cows to make confectionery for human consumption is an important contributory factor. Care of the umbilicus of the newborn is not routine practice in the locality. Local women are the key group assisting with young and sick animals, including cases of simple dystocia and retained foetal membranes. Cows are usually milked once daily, to attempt to balance the needs for milk of household with those of the calf, which can result in suboptimal nutrition for calves. There are clear opportunities to improve animal health and productivity through locally provided farmer education, particularly with reference to colostrum provision, and the engagement of women farmers in any such programme is key to success.
Literalität und Gesundheit

Einleitung Zu den zentralen Herausforderungen von Public Health gehört, die Gesundheitskompetenz der Bevölkerung zu stärken, doch ebenso, das Gesundheitssystem nutzerfreundlicher zu gestalten und es so zu verändern, dass die Anforderungen an die Nutzer möglichst gering sind und zugleich ihre Gesundheitskompetenz verbessert wird.
CHK1 Inhibition Is Synthetically Lethal with Loss of B-Family DNA Polymerase Function in Human Lung and Colorectal Cancer Cells

These findings demonstrate how the therapeutic benefit of CHK1 inhibitors may potentially be enhanced and could have implications for patient selection and future development of new combination therapies. Checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) is a key mediator of the DNA damage response that regulates cell-cycle progression, DNA damage repair, and DNA replication. Small-molecule CHK1 inhibitors sensitize cancer cells to genotoxic agents and have shown single-agent preclinical activity in cancers with high levels of replication stress. However, the underlying genetic determinants of CHK1 inhibitor sensitivity remain unclear. We used the developmental clinical drug SRA737 in an unbiased large-scale siRNA screen to identify novel mediators of CHK1 inhibitor sensitivity and uncover potential combination therapies and biomarkers for patient selection. We identified subunits of the B-family of DNA polymerases (POLA1, POLE, and POLE2) whose silencing sensitized the human A549 non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and SW620 colorectal cancer cell lines to SRA737. B-family polymerases were validated using multiple siRNAs in a panel of NSCLC and colorectal cancer cell lines. Replication stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis were increased in human cancer cells following depletion of the B-family DNA polymerases combined with SRA737 treatment. Moreover, pharmacologic blockade of B-family DNA polymerases using aphidicolin or CD437 combined with CHK1 inhibitors led to synergistic inhibition of cancer cell proliferation. Furthermore, low levels of POLA1, POLE, and POLE2 protein expression in NSCLC and colorectal cancer cells correlated with single-agent CHK1 inhibitor sensitivity and may constitute biomarkers of this phenotype. These findings provide a potential basis for combining CHK1 and B-family polymerase inhibitors in cancer therapy. Significance: These findings demonstrate how the therapeutic benefit of CHK1 inhibitors may potentially be enhanced and could have implications for patient selection and future development of new combination therapies.
FINAL PROGRESS REPORT PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DELAY IN DIAGNOSIS AMONG LOCALLY ADVANCED BREAST CANCER PATIENTS - A PILOT STUDY

demographic factors associated with delay in patient presentation with breast disease, 3-5 little research has been published about women’s own reasons for delay in diagnosis. To address this issue, we plan to submit a grant application (R01) to the National Cancer Institute for a population-based study of reasons for delay in diagnosis among women with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) using data from the Iowa Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. The proposed R01 also will assess differences in psychosocial and demographic variables between LABC (stages IIB, III, and IV) and non-LABC (stages I and IIA) patients, because we expect these two groups of patients to differ on many of the variables of interest. Results from the R01 should be helpful in developing interventions to encourage earlier detection among women at higher risk for presenting with late-stage breast cancer. We requested funding from the Longer Life Foundation to conduct a necessary pilot study to strengthen a future R01 application. The Specific Aims of the pilot study were to: 1) test for differences in response (i.e., participation) rates between LABC and non-LABC patients and between two recruitment strategies, 2) test for recall bias by evaluating the correct reporting of mode of detection (abnormal mammogram vs. palpable mass or other breast symptoms), type of surgery (if any), and receipt of radiation therapy, and testing for differences in correct recall between the two recruitment strategies, and 3) pilot the interview measures.
Effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy on patients suffering from Depression, Fatigue and Social isolation

Background: Depression is a medical illness that disturbs feelings, mood and physical health. Depression and other psychiatric issues may be the reason for fatigue and social isolation. Depression, fatigue and social isolation together can affect person’s life, quality of life and social wellbeing. Basic Body Awareness therapy is movement based method which enhances awareness and quality of movement to make a person more aware of his/her movement patterns and body. This therapy addresses the interaction of body and mind by the use of simple and slow movements, it is also a well-known therapy to treat mental health and behavior problems. Materials and method: 20 participants with ages between 30-50 years were included in the study. The participants received Basic Body Awareness therapy session for 40 mins/ twice a week for 4 weeks. The outcome measures were assessed before and after the intervention by Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, Fatigue Assessment Scale and Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. Result: The Basic Body Awareness therapy showed highly significant decrease in the Depression (‘t’ = 10.162,’p’ = 0.001) Fatigue (‘t’ = 10.145,’p’ = 0.001) and Social Isolation (‘t’ = 12.645, ‘p’= 0.001) in participants after giving the therapy for 4 weeks. Conclusion: The present study concluded that Basic Body Awareness therapy for 4 weeks, a physiotherapeutic approach as an add-on treatment for depression has significant effect on the condition. This therapy is effective in reducing the severity of depression, fatigue and social isolation.
Outcomes of Children Receiving In-hospital Resuscitation

ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. iii LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF FIGURES. xi LIST OF APPENDICES. xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. xiii PREFACE. xv RESEARCH AIMS. 1 CHAPTER 1: PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES. 2 BACKGROUND. 4 CHAPTER 2: PAEDIATRIC CRITICAL ILLNESS, RESUSCITATION, AND FACTORS AFFECTING SURVIVAL. 5 2.1 CRITICAL ILLNESS IN CHILDREN. 5 2.2 RESUSCITATION OF CRITICALLY ILL CHILDREN. 7 2.3 FACTORS POTENTIALLY AFFECTING OUTCOMES OF CRITICAL ILLNESS IN CHILDREN. 11 CHAPTER 3: OUTCOMES BEYOND PICU SURVIVAL. 17 3.1 HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE. 17 3.2 LONGITUDINAL ASSESSMENT OF MORBIDITY IN OTHER POPULATIONS. 20 CHAPTER 4: OUTCOME ASSESSMENT IN CRITICALLY ILL CHILDREN. 21 4.1 ASSESSMENT OF COGNITIVE AND FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES. 22 4.1. 1 Ratings of cognitive functioning. 22
Kurgan Clays in the Production of Ceramic Materials

The properties of overburden rocks in the extraction of dolomite in the form of red-burning clay from the Kurgan region are investigated to determine its suitability in the production of various types of ceramic materials and products. A full technological study of the clay raw material sample was carried out: the mineral, chemical, particle size composition, as well as plasticity, drying behavior, attitude to sintering, and mechanical strength after burning. It is examined how rheological characteristics affect the control of the technological process. The suitability of clay under consideration, both in majolica ceramics and ceramic bricks production, has been established. The technological parameters for the ceramic bricks production are developed.
Young Modulus at High Temperatures

The dependence of the young modulus of metals and alloys on the high temperature must be taken into account in metallurgy in the hot rolling of steel sheet on sheet-rolling mills, hot flattening of steel sheet in the sheet straightening machines, press forming forgings from hot steel sheet, hot volume stamping of metal products, and so on. For example, on the mill 5000 by SMS Siemag, the sheet-rolling of steel strips from the hot slabs at the stand Quarto (the maximum force of 120 MN) occurs at a temperature from 750 °С to 1050 °С, but the pre-flattening of hot steel strip on the five-roller sheet-straightening machine by SMS Siemag occurs usually in the temperature range from 600 °С to 760 °С. In this paper, based on the analysis of experimental data about the dependence of the young modulus for various steel alloys, the analytical dependence of the young modulus on temperature is obtained.
Cast Iron and Steel Smelting in Induction Crucible Furnaces of Industrial Frequency

A brief analysis of the cast iron and steel smelting in induction furnaces of industrial and medium frequency has been carried out. The analysis of the used metal scrap for the smelting of synthetic iron in induction melting furnaces with a padded lining of a lining mixture, based on quartzite, is carried out. The requirements for temperature melting modes, which are regulated by this type of melting furnaces developers, are reflected. The advantages and disadvantages of using induction crucible furnaces of industrial and medium frequency are considered. The features of smelting synthetic pig iron in Russia are noted, the main of which are the following: the absence of cast iron scrap, which makes it necessary to use a metal scrap from a single steel scrap, and use temperature melting conditions above 1450 ° C; use a lining based on quartzite, as the cheapest, but sharply reducing its resistance to the operation of the furnace at such melting temperatures (from 300-350 to 200-250 smelts). The actuality of the possibility of steel smelting in induction crucible furnaces of industrial frequency with the use of acid lining, based on the Pervouralsk quartzite, is substantiated. It is explained by the fact that existing foundries are equipped mainly with induction melting furnaces of industrial frequency, and the use of induction melting furnaces of medium frequency requires considerable material costs.
Morphological and Structural Properties of Sol-Gel Derived ZnO Thin Films Spin-Coated on Different Substrates

In this work, ZnO thin films were prepared by the low-cost sol-gel deposition method onto six different substrates (glass, ITO coated glass, sapphire (Al2O3), p-Si, p-GaN and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) to study the effects of these substrates on the morphological and structural properties of the produced films. Precursor solution is Zinc acetate dihydrate based dissolved in ethanol with monoethanolamine (C2H7NO) added to act as a stabilizing agent to the sol. The corresponding ZnO thin films were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results revealed distinct morphological and structural properties of ZnO thin films deposited on each substrate. The most uniform morphology was identified on glass, owing to the acquisition of the averagely stable grain sizes (58 nm – 61 nm) and thin film thicknesses (280 nm – 325 nm). High resolution XRD analysis showed that the films deposited on glass, ITO, p-Si, and p-GaN were attributed to hexagonal crystallite structures while the films deposited on sapphire and PET substrates exhibited amorphous phases. Amongst the samples, the ZnO thin film spin coated on p-Si demonstrated preferred orientation in (002) direction.
Feliway ® spray assessment to handle stress in cats in veterinary consultation

iii Resumo . iv Table of contents . v Index of tables . vii Index of charts . viii Index of images . ix Index of abbreviations and symbols . x Introduction . xi Chapter I – Literature review. 1 1 – The Feline patient . 1 1.1 Origins and Domestication . 1 1.2 Social Organization . 2 1.3– Inter-cat and cat-human relationship . 4 1.3.1Relationship with conspecifics . 4 1.3.2 – Relationship with humans . 5 1.4 Factors influencing cat’s socialisation towards humans . 8 1.5 Communication . 10 1.5. 1 Visual Communication . 11 1.5. 2 Vocal Communication . 15 1.5. 3– Olfactory Communication . 17 1.5. 3.1– Pheromones . 18 1.5. 3.2 – Urine marking . 22 1.5. 3.3 Rubbing . 24 1.5. 3.4 – Scratching . 24 1.5. 3.5 – Faecal marking . 25 2– Stress . 26 2.1– Definition and physiology . 26 2.2– Stressors . 29 2.3– Behavioural measures of Stress . 31 3– Decreasing cats’ stress at the veterinary practice . 34 4– Pheromonatherapy in cats . 38 4.1– Applications of F3 . 39
Preparation and Microwave Absorption Property of the Core-Nanoshell Composite Materials Doped with Nd

The core-nanoshell composite materials doped with Nd were prepared by a solid-state reaction method. The core is magnetic fly-ash hollow cenosphere, and the shell is the nanosized ferrite doped with Nd. The thermal decomposition process of the sample was carried out by the thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis ( TG-DTA ). The morphology and components of the composite materials were investigated by the X-ray diffraction analysis ( XRD ), scanning electron microscope ( SEM ) and energy disperse spectroscopy ( EDS ). The microwave absorption property was investigated by vector network analyzer ( VNA ). The results indicated that the exchange-coupling interaction happens between ferrite of magnetic fly-ash hollow cenosphere and nanosized ferrite coating. The exchange-coupling interaction enhances magnetic loss of composite materials. So, in the frequency between 1 MHz and 1 GHz, the absorbing effectiveness of the core-nanoshell composite absorbers can achieve –31 dB, it is better than single material and is consistent with requirements of the microwave absorbing material at the low-frequency absorption.
DeepTingle

DeepTingle is a text prediction and classification system trained on the collected works of the renowned fantastic gay erotica author Chuck Tingle. Whereas the writing assistance tools you use everyday (in the form of predictive text, translation, grammar checking and so on) are trained on generic, purportedly"neutral"datasets, DeepTingle is trained on a very specific, internally consistent but externally arguably eccentric dataset. This allows us to foreground and confront the norms embedded in data-driven creativity and productivity assistance tools. As such tools effectively function as extensions of our cognition into technology, it is important to identify the norms they embed within themselves and, by extension, us. DeepTingle is realized as a web application based on LSTM networks and the GloVe word embedding, implemented in JavaScript with Keras-JS.
A fast self-similarity matrix-based method for shrew DDoS attack detection

ABSTRACT Shrew DDoS attack mainly targets the TCP’s retransmission timeout (RTO) mechanism that handles severe cases of congestion and packet losses. This attack is very hard to detect due to its stealthy nature and low-rate in volume which if remained undetected can affect the legitimate TCP flows. In this paper, we propose a fast shrew DDoS attack detection method based on self-similarity matrix (SSM) that measures the self-similarity of network traffic across multiple time scales over a subset of relevant features. The method can detect any presence of shrew attack in-line with the incoming traffic samples and thus identify the attack flows. We experimented our method over real-life low-rate datasets for multiple scenarios and the results demonstrate its efficiency both in terms of detection accuracy and speed.
Balanced Covariance Estimation for Visual Odometry Using Deep Networks

—Uncertainty modeling is one of the recent trends in deep learning. Even though the uncertainty modeling is important in many applications, it has been overlooked until recently. In this paper, we propose a method of learning covariance for visual odometry. Unlike the existing supervised learning based uncertainty estimation, we introduce an unsupervised loss for uncertainty modeling. The learned uncertainty includes epistemic (model-driven) and aleatoric (data-driven) uncertainties.
Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. R® is a registered trademark. iii Preface The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury is interested in determining the efficacy and comparative effectiveness of integrative medicine approaches for several health conditions. This systematic review assesses the safety and efficacy of mindfulness meditation as an intervention to alleviate chronic pain. The review will be of interest to military health policymakers and practitioners, civilian health care providers, and policymakers, payers, and patients. None of the authors has any conflicts of interest to declare. Abstract This systematic review synthesized evidence on mindfulness meditation interventions for the treatment of chronic pain (PROSPERO 2015:CRD42015025052). In June 2015, we searched four electronic databases, as well as bibliographies of existing systematic reviews, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing the efficacy and safety of mindfulness to treat adults with chronic pain. Two independent reviewers screened identified literature using predetermined eligibility criteria, abstracted study-level information, and assessed the quality of included studies. Outcomes of interest included changes in pain symptoms, use of analgesics, health-related quality of life, and adverse events. Efficacy meta-analyses used the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method for random-effects models. The quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. In total, 28 RCTs met inclusion criteria; three of these RCTs reported on safety. Interventions ranged in length from three to 12 weeks, and the median duration was eight weeks. We found low quality evidence (due to substantial unexplained heterogeneity among studies) that mindfulness meditation is associated with a small decrease in pain compared with control in 24