Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal precursors of young adult light smoking among African Americans and Puerto Ricans.

INTRODUCTION Studies have consistently documented the importance of examining light smoking among African American and Latino adolescent and adult smokers. Little is known, however, about the psychosocial antecedents of adolescent and young adult light smoking in these racial/ethnic minority groups. METHODS This study examined the longitudinal interrelationships and pathways leading to light smoking among African Americans (n = 288) and Puerto Ricans (n = 262). Specifically, we assessed parental factors, perceived discrimination, peer smoking, personality factors, and light smoking in late adolescence as precursors to light smoking among African American and Puerto Rican young adults. RESULTS The results of structural equation modeling showed that a history of greater parental smoking, less parental educational attainment, and more perceived discrimination were each mediated by peer smoking and the youth's maladaptive personality and behavior in late adolescence. The youth's maladaptive personality and behavioral characteristics and light smoking in late adolescence, in turn, predicted light smoking in young adulthood. There were no significant racial/ethnic or gender differences in the pathways to light smoking. DISCUSSION Findings highlight the longitudinal pathways to light smoking among African Americans and Puerto Ricans. The results suggest that effective prevention and cessation programs must address peer and parental social influences, perceived discrimination, and especially, emotional and behavioral problems in late adolescence to reduce light smoking among late adolescents and young adults in these racial/ethnic groups.
Aminodiol HIV protease inhibitors. 1. Design, synthesis, and preliminary SAR.

A series of HIV protease inhibitors containing a novel C2 symmetrical "aminodiol" core structure were prepared from amino acid starting materials. The ability of the aminodiols to inhibit HIV replication in cell culture is comparable to their ability to inhibit the isolated enzyme, a result compatible with good cell membrane penetration by this class of compounds. Optimization of the structure-activity in this series led to aminodiol 9a (Ki = 100 nM; ED50 (HIV-1) = 80 nM) containing P1/P1 benzyl and P2/P2 Boc substituents. Compound 9a is a selective inhibitor of HIV protease versus other aspartyl proteases such as human renin, human cathepsin D, and porcine pepsin. In addition, 9a is equipotent against HIV-1 and HIV-2 in cell culture and demonstrates similar activity in infected T-lymphocytes and PBMCs. After i.v. and oral administration in rats, 9a displayed significant oral bioavailability (ca. 40%) and a promising plasma elimination half-life (4 h).
CORE - A Context-based Approach for Rewriting User Queries

When users access data-oriented applications, they aim to obtain useful information. Sometimes, however, the user needs to reformulate the submitted queries several times and go through many answers until a satisfactory set of answers is achieved. In this scenario, the user may be in different contexts, and these contexts may change frequently. For instance, the place where the user submits a given query may be taken into account and thereby may change the query itself and its results. In this work, we address the issue of personalizing query answers in data-oriented applications considering the context acquired at query submission time. To this end, we propose a query rewriting approach, which makes use of context-based rules to produce new related expanded or relaxed queries. In this paper, we present our approach and some experimental results we have accomplished. These results show that, by considering the acquired user context, it really enhances the precision and recall of the obtained answers.
Frenotomy for tongue‐tie in Australian children, 2006–2016: an increasing problem

D. The Possum d.gov. au j doi: 10.5 Clinically significant tongue-tie in breastfeeding pairs was overlooked during the second half of the 20th century. Tongue-tie (and the newer diagnoses of upper lip tie and posterior tongue-tie) have received increased attention following the resurgent commitment of women to breastfeeding over the past decade and the growth in numbers of breastfeeding support professionals. We retrospectively investigated temporal trends in frenotomy rates in Australia for children aged 0e4 years by analysing de-identified Medicare data for the period 2006e2016 (tongue-tie surgery item codes: 30278, 30281, 52081, 52084). The population of children aged 0e4 years was estimated from Australian Bureau of Statistics census data. Categorical data were analysed in c tests, using Stata 14.1 (StataCorp). The Children’s Health Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee granted an ethics review waiver for the study. During 2006e2016, 52 473Medicare frenotomy items for 0to 4-year-old children were recorded; the rate increased from 1.22 per 1000 population in 2006 to 6.35 per 1000 in 2016. The highest rate was for the Australian Capital Territory in 2016 (16.5 per 1000 population; Box 1). The frenotomy rate increased significantly across the study period in the ACT (by 3710%), Western Australia (530%), New South Wales (487%) and Queensland (474%), but not in Tasmania (Box 2).
On tropical and nonnegative factorization ranks of band matrices

Matrix factorization problems over various semirings naturally arise in different contexts of modern pure and applied mathematics. These problems are very hard in general and cause computational difficulties in applications. We give a survey of what is known on the algorithmic complexity of Boolean, fuzzy, tropical, nonnegative, and positive semidefinite factorizations, and we examine the behavior of the corresponding rank functions on matrices of bounded bandwidth. We show that the Boolean, fuzzy, and tropical versions of matrix factorization become polynomial time solvable when restricted to this class of matrices, and we also show that the nonnegative rank of a tridiagonal matrix is easy to compute. We recall several open problems from earlier papers on the topic and formulate many new problems.
Biotrickling Filtration of Nitric Oxide

ABSTRACT A biotrickling filter with blast-furnace slag packings (sizes = 20-40 mm and specific surface area = 120 m2/m3) was utilized to treat NO in an air stream. The operational stability, as well as the effects of gas empty-bed retention time (EBRT) and nutrient addition on the removal ability of NO, were tested. Approximately six weeks were required for the development of a biofilm for NO degradation, and a two-week organic carbon deficiency resulted in the detachment of biofilms from the packing surfaces. A steady removal rate of 80% was attained at specified influent NO concentrations of 892 to 1237 ppm and an EBRT of 118 sec. The effluent NO concentration diminished exponentially with enlarging EBRT, with influent NO concentrations of 203-898 ppm, and EBRTs of 25 to 118 sec. Nutrient addition is essential for efficient removal of the influent NO. Mass ratios of C: P: N = 7: 1: 30 and NaHCO3: NO-N = 6.3 could be used for practical applications.
Melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in psoriatic patients treated with high-dose phototherapy

Abstract Objectives: The carcinogenic effect of plus ultraviolet A (PUVA)-therapy in psoriatic patients has been widely demonstrated, while data on the safety of narrow band (311 nm) ultraviolet B (nb-UVB) are scarce. We investigated the occurrence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in psoriatic patients treated with nb-UVB or PUVA-therapy. Methods: This retrospective study included patients affected by psoriasis, who had been treated with nb-UVB or PUVA-therapy. Clinical data and phenotypic risk factors were collected and a total body examination was performed at a routine appointment during the study period. Results: We examined 92 patients (60 males and 32 females; mean age: 53.5 years, range: 20–83 years) treated with PUVA-therapy (42/92, 45%) or with nb-UVB (50/92, 55%) for 1–28 years (mean: 7.1 years). Among patients treated with PUVA, nine skin tumors (one melanoma, seven basal cell carcinoma (BCCs) and one squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)) were detected in 2/42 (4.7%) patients, while in the nb-UVB group, 14 skin tumors including two melanomas, four BCCs, and eight SCCs were diagnosed in 6/50 (12%) patients. Conclusions: A noteworthy number of NMSC were diagnosed in this Mediterranean population of patients exposed to high-dose UV treatment. A thorough risk-benefit evaluation should always be done before UV treatment and patients should be carefully monitored for skin cancer during and after treatment discontinuation.
Clipping versus Coiling for Intracranial Aneurysms: Recent Trends

Background: Cerebral aneurysms are relevant conditions, and the best therapeutic approach in a patient with Ruptured and Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysm has been debated in the last decades. Coil Embolization therapy has increasingly gained popularity over Surgical Clipping. Objectives: The aim of this analysis was to review the surgical and endovascular strategies for intracranial aneurysms, and to find out if one intervention is more suitable than other. Methods: A literature review was carried out identifying studies published from 2002-2017 through Pubmed using the keywords listed below. 75 articles were selected to write this review. Results: The International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial contributed to a change in practice of Intracranial Aneurysms. Endovascular Coiling reduced in 7,4% the proportion of patients who died or became dependent, even if the incidence of late rebleeding was higher at 1 year compared to Neurosurgery (2,9% vs. 0,9%). At 18 years the excess risk of rebleeding has not resulted in a significant worse outcome. Endovascular treatment is usually suitable for anterior and posterior circulating aneurysms. Middle cerebral aneurysms are generally treated through clipping. Asymptomatic Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms smaller than 7 mm usually benefit from simple observation. Despite its benign natural history the number of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms treated has increased overtime. Higher mortality is associated with Neurosurgery compared to Endovascular strategy. Anaesthesia applied in surgical clipping is similar to the one applied in endovascular. The most common approaches are general anaesthesia and conscious sedation. Conclusions: There is strong evidence to indicate that Endovascular Coil embolization is associated with better outcomes compared to Neurosurgical Clipping in patients amenable to either strategy. Despite the major technical advances in imaging and endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms, surgical clipping is still the most efficient treatment for medial cerebral artery aneurysms.
Reproductive Toxicity of Quinalphos on Female Albino Rats:Effects on Ovary and Uterus

Quinalphos is a toxic organophosphate pesticide having a wide applicability to control pests in a number of vegetable crops like ladyfinger, brinjal, cauliflower etc. due to its good penetrative properties and long residual action in animals. The present investigation was carried out to determine its toxic effects on reproduction in the female albino rats. Technical quinalphos (2 mg/kg body weight) was administered orally to female albino rats for 15 and 30 days respectively. The weight of ovary decreased significantly in 30 day treated group. In the same group the corpus luteum also decreased significantly. The histologic observations of the ovary revealed the presence of less number of healthy follicles and more number of atretic follicles. There was a non significant decrease in the surface follicles and corpus luteum of treated rats. Gross morphology of uterus had shown significant increase in epithelial cell height and changes in lumen length even. There was a decline in the number of uterine glands with decreased thickness of myometrium. Hence quinalphos at dose concentration of 2mg/kg body weight is toxic for female reproduction.
Information technology and performance management for build‐to‐order supply chains

Purpose – This paper aims to address the growth and importance of build‐to‐order (BTO) supply chains, which allow consumers and supply chain participants to select, configure, purchase and view order delivery status. The paper supports BTO as a source of critical competitive advantage to many organizations.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses an interpretivist case study research strategy that exploits multiple research methods. It presents an overview of supply chain management (including BTO‐centric approaches) and performance management and then focuses on a case study in which an aerospace components company was attempting to become a BTO enterprise. Thenceforth, the paper analyses key business drivers of using performance management systems (PeMS), and how supply chain‐oriented organizations can best leverage IT and PeMS solutions in this regard.Findings – The case study has highlighted the need for the evaluation of PeMS implementation solutions regardless of their typology; wholly vendor‐b.
Performance Evaluation of WeChat Video Call Service in Live HSPA + Network

In this paper, a field test platform called OTTCAP (OTT Services Capture and Analyze Platform) is developed for capturing and analyzing QoS (Quality of Service) and QoE (Quality of Experience) parameters of OTT (over-the-top) services in HSPA+ (Evolved High Speed Packet Access) networks, including Network-Level and Application-Level QoS parameters, terminal parameters and wireless environment parameters. With the help of OTTCAP, the performance of WeChat video call service is compared and analyzed in both directions under three typical scenarios from the perspectives of QoS and QoE. The results, methods and tools of this paper can be used by operators and OTT services providers for network and service optimization. Keywords-Field Test; HSPA+; OTT; QoS; QoE; WeChat
Reviews : Pharmacotherapy of adolescent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: challenges, choices and caveats

A recent increase in stimulant treatment of adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been documented. Challenges in treating adolescent ADHD with methylphenidate or dextroamphetamine include compliance with frequent dosing, abuse potential and wear-off or rebound effects. Co-morbid anxiety, occurring in at least 30 percent of ADHD youths, is associated with lower rate of response to stimulants. The effective alternatives, tricyclic antidepressants or pemoline, are each associated with rare but serious toxicity. Bupropion has recently proven effective in controlled trials. Other noradrenergic or dopamine-enhancing agents such as venlafaxine and nicotine show some benefit in open trials. The need for more options in pharmacotherapy of ADHD is evidenced by rapid adoption in clinical practice of alternative and adjunctive medication despite lack of controlled research on efficacy and safety. The indications for long-term stimulant treatment of ADHD present some controversy, and highlight a need for more research on safety and efficacy through the lifespan. Thresholds for diagnosis are much lower with DSM than with ICD, and thresholds for treatment are contentious, given the performance-enhancing effects of stimulants in normal students. The endpoint for treatment is unclear, as stimulants are also effective in adult ADHD. Based on short- and intermediate-term studies to date, stimulant medication is clearly more efficacious than cognitive and behavioral strategies for the symptoms of ADHD. Longer term research is needed to determine whether sustained stimulant therapy will reduce the adverse emotional, behavioral and academic consequences of inattention and impulsivity in adolescents and adults.
CD98hc (SLC3A2), a novel marker in renal cell cancer

Background In a variety of malignant diseases, molecular targeting represents a therapeutic option, whereby, when compared with chemotherapy, fewer side effects are thought to be expected. Especially in renal cell cancer (RCC), tyrosine kinase‐inhibitors have been established as useful and highly effective therapy. However, tyrosine kinase‐inhibitors currently approved for RCC treatment lack single molecule specificity and bear a variety of side effects of the gastro‐intestinal tract, skin, heart and haematopoietic system. Therefore, the identification of novel cell surface markers is sought, which might lead to novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in cancer.
Can Longevity Risk Alleviate the Annuitization Puzzle? Empirical Evidence from Survey Data

This paper provides new evidence on individual preferences over annuities and lump sum payments based on hypothetical questions posed in the DNB Household Survey in 2010. In contrast to the majority of papers in the annuitization puzzle literature, this study controls explicitly for the subjective survival probability (SSP) which, as a perceived measure of longevity risk, is key in deciding about whether to annuitize. We model this decision in a life-cycle framework in the spirit of Brown and Poterba (2000) and compute a utility-based measure of annuity value for singles and couples. However, we depart from them in the way we account for the uncertainty of the time horizons agents face in this decision. We find that people expecting to live longer claim to prefer the annuity. This finding is robust to controlling for bequest motives and for far-off target ages. In addition, we find that individual preferences are consistent with subjective survival probabilities but not with actuarial ones. Combined with the empirical evidence that individuals tend to underestimate systematically their life expectancy, our findings have strong policy implications. Most importantly, helping individuals better estimate their longevity risk may resolve the annuitization puzzle more effectively than forcing their actions. Jel–Classification: C5; C8; D12; G11
Object Store Based Simulation Interworking

The CoSMoS project is building generic modelling tools and simulation techniques for complex systems. As part of this project a number of simulations have been developed in many programming languages. This paper describes a framework for interconnecting simulation components written in different programming languages. These simulation components are synchronised and coupled using a shared object space. This approach allows us to combine highly concurrent agent-based simulations written in occam-π, with visualisation and analysis components written in flexible scripting languages such as Python and domain specific languages such as MATLAB.
Characterization of a locus determining the mucoid status of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: AlgU shows sequence similarities with a Bacillus sigma factor

Overproduction of the exopolysaccharide alginate by Pseudomonas aeruginosa results in mucoid colony morphology and is an important virulence determinant expressed by this organism in cystic fibrosis. Mucoidy is transcriptionally regulated by signal transduction systems and histone-like elements. One point of convergence of regulatory elements controlling mucoidy is the algD promoter. A newly described genetic locus required for algD transcription was characterized in this study. This DNA region, cloned from a nonmucoid PAO strain, was initially isolated on the basis of its ability to suppress mucoidy when present on a plasmid. The suppressing activity was observed in several mucoid PAO derivatives, including strain PAO568, in which the mapped muc-2 mutation is responsible for its mucoid phenotype, and in close to 40% of cystic fibrosis strains tested. Protein expression studies detected two polypeptides with apparent molecular masses of 27.5 and 20 kDa encoded by the region required for the suppression activity. The gene encoding the polypeptide with an apparent molecular mass of 27.5 kDa, termed algU, was further characterized. A functional chromosomal copy of algU was found to be necessary for the expression of mucoidy. Insertional inactivation of algU on the chromosome of the mucoid strain PAO568 abrogated alginate production and algD transcription. DNA sequence analysis revealed sequence similarity of the predicted algU gene product with sigma H (Spo0H), a sigma factor involved in the control of sporulation and competence in Bacillus spp. Physical mapping revealed that algU resided on the same SpeI fragment (F) as did the pruAB locus, known to be tightly linked with genetic determinants (muc) which can confer mucoidy in genetic crosses. When the chromosomal algU copy was tagged with a Tcr cassette (algU::Tcr), a tight genetic linkage of algU with pruAB was demonstrated by F116L-mediated generalized transduction. Moreover, algU::Tcr derivatives of PAO568 (originally carrying the muc-2 marker) lost the ability to transfer mucoidy in genetic crosses. These results suggest that algU, a regulator of algD transcription showing sequence similarity to an alternative sigma factor, and the genes immediately downstream of algU may be associated with a locus participating in the differentiation into the mucoid phenotype.
Author inflation leads to a breakdown of Lotka's law

It is empirically shown that, even using the normal or total counting procedure, Lotka's law breaks down when articles with a large, i.e., more than hundred, number of authors are included in the bibliography. The explanation of this phenomenon is that the conditions for an application of the basic success-breeds-success model are not fulfilled any more. Studying articles with many authors means dealing with items (the articles) having multiple sources (the authors), hence Egghe's generalized success-breeds-success model, leading to not necessarily decreasing distributions, explains the observed irregularities.
Adaptive Differential Evolution For Optimal Schedule In Behavioral Level Synthesis

This paper presents the adaptive differential evolution for optimal scheduling in Behavioral level synthesis. The benchmark problem for the scheduling problem taken is Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) benchmark scheduling problem using Integer Linear Programming method. The adaptive scaling factor for mutation operation in differential evolution is implemented. The experiment results evaluate the performance parameters optimal resource schedule. The exploration and exploitation to global optimal scheduling with minimum convergence time and minimum number of computations are presented.
Experimental heatstroke. A model in dogs.

Observations on human beings which indicated that heatstroke was not caused by arrest of sweating but by excessive accumulation of heat in the body permitted development of experimental models in dogs. Examined were 53 mongrel dogs exposed to one of the following: external heat and physical exertion, external heat alone, or physical exertion alone. Dogs whose rectal temperature exceeded 43 C (109.4 F) showed clinical, hematological, biochemical, and anatomopathological manifestations, which were identical to those of heatstroke in man; none of the dogs with rectal temperature below 43 C showed signs of heatstroke. The severity of the heatstroke was positively correlated to the level of the maximal temperature and to its duration. These findings strengthen the concept that heatstroke is caused by the noxious effect of excessive body temperature on the tissues.