Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maternal fish oil supplementation during lactation is associated with reduced height at 13 years of age and higher blood pressure in boys only

Abstract Dietary long-chain n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA) in infancy may have long-term effects on lifestyle disease risk. The present follow-up study investigated whether maternal fish oil (FO) supplementation during lactation affected growth and blood pressure in adolescents and whether the effects differed between boys and girls. Mother–infant pairs (n 103) completed a randomised controlled trial with FO (1·5 g/d n-3 LCPUFA) or olive oil (OO) supplements during the first 4 months of lactation; forty-seven mother–infant pairs with high fish intake were followed-up for 4 months as the reference group. We also followed-up 100 children with assessment of growth, blood pressure, diet by FFQ and physical activity by 7-d accelerometry at 13·5 (sd 0·4) years of age. Dried whole-blood fatty acid composition was analysed in a subgroup (n 49). At 13 years of age, whole-blood n-3 LCPUFA, diet, physical activity and body composition did not differ between the three groups. The children from the FO group were 3·4 (95 % CI 0·2, 6·6) cm shorter (P=0·035) than those from the OO group, and tended to have less advanced puberty (P=0·068), which explained the difference in height. There was a sex-specific effect on diastolic blood pressure (P sex×group=0·020), which was driven by a 3·9 (95 % CI 0·2, 7·5) mmHg higher diastolic blood pressure in the FO compared with the OO group among boys only (P=0·041). Our results indicate that early n-3 LCPUFA intake may reduce height in early adolescence due to a delay in pubertal maturation and increase blood pressure specifically in boys, thereby tending to counteract existing sex differences.
Combined Adequacy and Static Security Considerations in Transmission System Reinforcement

There is growing interest in designing and applying deterministic techniques that include probabilistic considerations in order to assess increased system stress due to the restructured electricity environment. The overall reliability framework proposed in this paper incorporates the deterministic N-1 criterion in a probabilistic framework, and results in the joint inclusion of both adequacy and static security considerations in system planning. The combined framework is achieved using system well-being analysis and traditional adequacy assessment. System well-being analysis is used to quantify the degree of N-1 security and N-1 insecurity in terms of probabilities and frequencies. Traditional adequacy assessment is incorporated to quantify the magnitude of the severity and consequences associated with system failure. A sequential Monte Carlo simulation approach is utilized in this paper for bulk electric system reliability assessment. The combined adequacy and security framework presented in this paper can assist system planners to realize the overall benefits associated with a system reinforcement option based on the degree of adequacy and security, and therefore facilitate the decision making process. Possible reinforcement alternatives for a test system are examined using reliability cost/reliability worth considerations.
Distinct effects of p38alpha deletion in myeloid lineage and gut epithelia in mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND & AIMS p38Alpha is a mitogen-activated protein kinase that mediates inflammatory responses, but its role in inflammatory bowel disease is unclear. The effects of p38alpha inhibitors have been inconsistent in animal models and clinical studies of inflammatory bowel disease, possibly arising from the different functions of p38alpha in different tissues or cell types. We investigated the effects of p38alpha inhibition in myeloid versus colonic epithelium. METHODS We studied mice with myeloid cell-specific and intestinal epithelial cell-specific disruption of p38alpha (LtrLys(Cre)-p38alpha(Delta/Delta) mice and Villin(Cre)-p38alpha(Delta/Delta) mice), as well as p38beta, gamma, and delta knockout. Colitis was induced using dextran sodium sulfate or trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). RESULTS Mice with myeloid cell-specific deletion of p38alpha had less inflammation and an improved disease condition compared with wild-type mice, whereas mice with intestinal epithelial cell-specific deletion of p38alpha had increased progression of colitis that resulted from disrupted intestinal epithelial homeostasis. The distinct effects of p38alpha disruption in different tissue types might underlie the unsuccessful therapeutic application of p38 inhibitors to colitis. We found that a gamma-secretase inhibitor, which functions opposite that of a p38 inhibitor in the regulation of intestinal epithelial homeostasis, can significantly improve the effects of a p38 inhibitor in reducing colitis. CONCLUSIONS p38Alpha has distinct functions in mouse myeloid cells versus colonic epithelium; these differences should be taken into consideration in defining the role of p38alpha in inflammation and developing p38 inhibitors as therapeutics.
Multi-variable dynamic power management for the GPU subsystem

In this work, we present a control-theoretic algorithm to improve the energy efficiency of the GPU targeting deadline-driven graphics applications. Our algorithm dynamically controls multiple power knobs within the GPU (DVFS and number of active slices) that have different control time granularities. We developed a multi-rate predictive control to overcome the time granularity constraints in the control variables and reduce runtime overhead. To enable predictive control, we developed runtime analytical predictive models for performance and power of the GPU, that take input from hardware counters and temperature sensor readings. We evaluated our approach on the latest generation of Intel Core i5 platform. Our experimental results demonstrate significant average GPU energy savings of 25% compared to the state-of-the-art algorithm at negligible performance overhead.
Broadband data transport protocol for metro Ethernet services

Ethernet is seizing a great role in packet-based metro networks. With the growth of carrier-grade Ethernet it is becoming essential to have a transport protocol that can aid the QoS mechanisms offered by metro Ethernet services while simultaneously taking advantage of the full available bandwidth. For the past three decades much work has been performed to make up for the shortcomings of standard TCP. Most of this work has been based on the tweaking of the additive increase multiplicative decrease (AIMD) parameters. The Ethernet Services transport protocol (ESTP) takes a different approach by making the AIMD parameters vary dynamically based on the traffic policing parameters and congestion feedback that is available at the transport layer. This capability helps the transport protocol make efficient decisions influenced by the network conditions and therefore increasing the utilization efficiency and the overall transmission throughput. It is demonstrated that the increase can be achieved while maintaining fairness over different priority transmissions and a significant increase in utilization is obtained. Two types of scheduling modes are analyzed: strict priority and weighted fair scheduling.
Scatter denoising technique using Fourier domain filtering and integral imaging

Scatter denoising is a challenging project for removing noise under scattered media conditions such as fog and turbid water. In the previous studies, blurring caused by scattering media particles in fog or turbid water was solved by low-pass filtering or by removing the estimated scattering media and then amplifying the brightness with the photon-counting algorithm. However, these methods lose the accurate color information of the object by low-frequency filtering or using the probability-based photon-counting algorithm. Moreover, it is difficult to obtain shape information of an object under heavy turbidity. To solve this problem, we propose a new algorithm of scatter removal by combining Fourier domain filtering and integral imaging. To prove the proposed method, we carry out numerical analysis of experimental results by previous method and our proposed method.
Patient Education About Treatment in Cancer Care: An Overview of the Literature on Older Patients' Needs

An increasing number of older people are treated for cancer. Several factors, such as comorbidity and sensory deficits, occur more frequently in older patients than in younger patients. In addition, their life circumstances, values, and preferences may differ. These factors ask for tailored nurse-older patient communication. This article reviews recent literature on the specific needs of older patients with cancer in the treatment phase of the disease. No studies addressed treatment-related needs of older patients specifically. Seventeen studies controlled for age showed that many older patients want as much information on disease and treatment as possible, but they are less interested in details than younger patients. Furthermore, older patients reported less need for information on sexual consequences and psychosocial support. The results remain difficult to interpret because of variation in study designs and questionnaires. Moreover, none of the studies controlled for age-related variables. Studies that illuminate the unique needs of older patients with cancer in the treatment phase of the disease are strikingly limited given the demographics of cancer in our society. Research is needed that explicitly investigates these needs and the influence of age-related changes in cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functioning.
Robust Performance Rule Design for Stochastic Nonlinear Systems with Model Uncertainty

This paper develops the theory of robust performance rule from the view of dissipation to deal with a large class of stochastic nonlinear systems with model uncertainty. In particular, we introduce the notion of dissipation associated with deterministic nonlinear systems to the uncertain stochastic nonlinear systems, and utilize it as a basis for the development of Hinfin control. After discussing the properties of dissipation, on the basis of exact stochastic nonlinear systems, we establish the connection between the L2, -gain of the uncertain stochastic nonlinear systems and the solution to a certain HJI inequality. Owing to the difficulty of the HJI partial differential equation, we consider the robust performance rule problem of the model satisfying some proper matching condition.In the situation,we can obtain the Hinfin control law of the system without solving the HJI equation.
Regime‐Dependent Effects of Uncertainty on Inflation and Output Growth: Evidence from the United Kingdom and the United States

Employing a bivariate regime switching model, this paper attempts to examine the regime‐dependent effects of inflation uncertainty and output growth uncertainty on inflation and output growth. Using monthly data of the United Kingdom and the United States, we provide evidence that both nominal and real uncertainty exert regime‐dependent impacts on inflation. Furthermore, in case of both the countries, inflation uncertainty has adverse impact on output growth mainly during the period of economic contraction. Also, for these two countries, it can be argued that higher real uncertainty significantly reduces output growth only in their respective low output growth regimes.
The absolute de Rham-Witt complex

This note is a brief survey of the absolute de Rham-Witt complex. We explain the structure of this complex for a smooth scheme over a complete discrete valuation ring of mixed characteristic (0, p) and its relation to the sheaf of p-adic vanishing cycles and refer to the papers [3, 8, 9, 5, 7, 6] for details. We do not discuss the relative de Rham-Witt complex of Langer-Zink which is closely related to crystalline cohomology. The reader is refered to the papers [15, 16, 7] for this material and for a comparison of the two complexes. In more detail, let K be a field that is complete with respect to a discrete valuation, let V be the valuation ring, and let k be the residue field. Let m and e be the maximal ideal and the ramification index of V such that pV = m. We assume that K has characteristic 0 and that k is perfect of odd characteristic p, but we allow the ramification index e to be any positive integer. Let X be a smooth V -scheme, and let U and Y be the generic and special fibers.
Implementation of new curriculum reform in secondary education of Kazakhstan: Study of teachers’ perspectives

The curriculum inherited from the Soviet Union was criticized for being centralized, rigid, inflexible, overloaded and knowledge-based (Yakavets, 2014; Fimyar, 2014). After the collapse of the Soviet Union curriculum change has become a major issue in education in Kazakhstan (Yakavets, 2014). As one of the responses to this issue, in 2001 the Government of Kazakhstan initiated several substantive reforms (Yakavets & Dzhadrina, 2014). In 2016 Kazakhstan initiated a new curriculum reform in mainstream schools of the country, aiming to develop learner’s personality obtaining basics of higher-order thinking skills (SESPE, 2015). The number of empirical studies about teachers’ views as well as about factors affecting the implementation of the recent curriculum reform in Kazakhstan is very limited. The purpose of this study is to examine primary school teachers’ perspectives on the new curriculum reform and factors influencing the implementation. The research questions explore how teachers implement the new primary curriculum reform; what factors support the implementation; and what factors constrain the implementation. A qualitative research method was used, within it the collective case studies were conducted to do in-depth examination of two cases: a rural and an urban mainstream school. Maximum variation purposeful sampling was used to select twelve teachers as the participants. Data were mainly collected through eighteen individual semi-structured interviews. The secondary data collection tool was document analysis. Findings show that the teachers are experiencing many changes. Most of them are positive about them, as they see that their teaching is improved and pupils became more motivated through inquiry-based and student-centered learning. Though some factors help teachers implement the new curriculum reform (professional development, teacher collaboration, beliefs about pupils’ greater learning), there are also barriers hindering the implementation such as increased workload, paperwork and lack of time. They are caused by greater lesson preparation, introduction of criteria-based assessment and complexity of the new curriculum IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW CURRICULUM REFORM viii content. Teachers also lack the resources for implementation and face with the issues of learner diversity and big class sizes. The main difference between the rural and urban contexts is that unexpectedly, but rural teachers are more enthusiastic about recent changes compared to their urban colleagues.
Risk Monitoring Through Better Knowledge-Based Risk Processes

Knowledge-based risk processes are becoming a key factor in the effective monitoring of risk. Therefore, knowledge-based risk processes and knowledge-based risk repositories are extensively used in information technology (IT) projects to successfully support risk monitoring. The aim of this paper is to propose a model that describes the integration of knowledge-based risks (via the processes of knowledge-based risk identification, analysis, evaluation and education) and knowledge-based risk repositories to support risk monitoring. This research paper utilizes the quantitative research method through questionnaires and the combined responses of 135 people employed in ten IT companies across Jordan. We applied smart partial least squares (PLS) software to analyze all our hypotheses. Our findings suggest that there is a constructive effect to acclimating knowledge-based risk identification, knowledge-based risk analysis and knowledge-based risk education when improving the risk monitoring mediation of a given knowledge-based risk repository.
Acute septic cholelithiasic cholecystitis and adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder; an interesting association.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS Primary carcinoma of the gallbladder may present as acute lithiasic cholecystitis that leads to severe septic complications. The correlation between severe sepsis of the gallbladder and primary carcinoma is unclear. The goal of the present study is to examine the relation between severe septic complications of lithiasic cholecystitis and primary carcinoma of the gallbladder. PATIENTS AND METHODS A group of 72 patients (22 males, 50 females, age range: 45-99, mean age: 68.6 years), with severe septic cholelithiasic cholecystitis was treated with emergency surgery after failure of conservative treatment, and patients found with primary carcinoma of the gallbladder were registered. The resectability and operability of the tumor were studied, as well as tumor staging and overall patient survival. RESULTS During urgent surgery for severe septic lithiasic cholecystitis, 12 patients (12/72, 16.6%) were found with gallbladder carcinoma. Patients with septic acute lithiasic cholecystitis and carcinoma had a higher mean age compared to those without carcinoma (74.8 vs. 67.4 yrs). Eleven of 12 (91.6%) carcinomas were inoperable, despite resectability of 8 out of 12 (66.6%), and overall patient survival was limited to a few months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS Severe septic complications in elderly patients with a long-standing history of gallbladder stones may co-exist with primary carcinoma of the gallbladder. The percentage of a gallbladder carcinoma detected in septic patients reaches up to 16.6%. Even if these patients have a poor general health, surgical intervention is a solution when they appear with severe septic clinical symptoms caused by gallstones or carcinoma, in order to avoid lethal sepsis. The possibility of a carcinoma hidden in the gallbladder must be in mind during surgery. Imaging studies before surgery may detect the carcinoma; in most cases carcinomas are inoperable, although colecystectomy may be performed during surgery.
Amsterdam house price ripple effects in the Netherlands

Purpose: This paper examines the existence of the ripple effect from Amsterdam to the housing markets of other regions in the Netherlands. It identifies which regional housing markets are influenced by house price movements in Amsterdam. Design/methodology/approach: The paper considers the ripple effect as a lead-lag effect and a long-run convergence between the Amsterdam and regional house prices. Using the real house prices for second-hand owner-occupied dwellings from 1995q1 to 2016q2, the paper adopts the Toda-Yamamoto Granger Causality approach to study the lead-lag effects. It uses the ARDL-Bounds cointegration techniques to examine the long-run convergence between the regional and the Amsterdam house prices. The paper controls for house price fundamentals to eliminate possible confounding effects of common shocks. Findings: The cumulative evidence suggests that Amsterdam house prices have influence on (or ripple to) all the Dutch regions, except one. In particular, the Granger Causality test concludes that a lead-lag effect of house prices exists from Amsterdam to all the regions, apart from Zeeland. The cointegration test shows evidence of a long-convergence between Amsterdam house prices and six regions: Friesland, Groningen, Limburg, Overijssel, Utrecht and Zuid-Holland. Research limitations/implications: The paper adopts an econometric approach to examine the Amsterdam ripple effect. More sophisticated economic models that consider the asymmetric properties of house prices and the patterns of interregional socio-economic activities into the modelling approach are recommended for further investigation. Originality/value: This paper focuses on the Netherlands for which the ripple effect has not yet been researched to our knowledge. Given the substantial wealth effects associated with house price changes that may shape economic activity through consumption, evidence for ripples may be helpful to policy makers for uncovering trends that have implications for the entire economy. Moreover, our analysis controls for common house price fundamentals which most previous papers ignored.
Product options for enhanced retirement income

Abstract A new stream of research proposes how people can increase their income in retirement by pooling their mortality risk. How one of these mortality risk-sharing rules could be implemented in practice, as part of a retirement income scheme, is considered. A potential advantage of the scheme is that a retiree’s housing wealth can be monetised to provide an income stream. This would mean that retirees can continue living in their home, without needing to downsize. It may be most attractive to the millions of single pensioners, particularly those who are “asset-rich and cash-poor”. Other types of assets that could be included and how to mitigate selection risks are assessed. A way of smoothing the raw mortality credits in order to make the scheme more appealing to potential members is proposed. An illustrative premium calculation suggests that the cost of the smoothing is very small compared to the potential attractiveness of an enhanced, smoothed income.
Fetal nuchal translucency: ultrasound screening for chromosomal defects in first trimester of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE--To examine the significance of fetal nuchal translucency at 10-14 weeks' gestation in the prediction of abnormal fetal karyotype. DESIGN--Prospective screening study. SETTING--The Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, King's College Hospital, London. SUBJECTS--827 fetuses undergoing first trimester karyotyping by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--Incidence of chromosomal defects. RESULTS--The incidence of chromosomal defects was 3% (28 of 827 cases). In the 51 (6%) fetuses with nuchal translucency 3-8 mm thick the incidence of chromosomal defects was 35% (18 cases). In contrast, only 10 of the remaining 776 (1%) fetuses were chromosomally abnormal. CONCLUSION--Fetal nuchal translucency > or = 3 mm is a useful first trimester marker for fetal chromosomal abnormalities.